The RoundHouse | 5/12/2019 10:15:00 PM

Jed Helker and Zack Penrod met on a recruiting visit and bonded over the long miles that distance runners share, fueled by lines from "Hot Rod" and "The Office."
 
"He and I are great movie quoters," Helker said. "Movie quotes are probably 90 percent of our humor."
 
Penrod calls the quotes situational. They love "Hot Rod," and one of its most popular scenes features star Danny McBride pumped up on green team.
 
"We were just talking about it today – 'I've been drinking green tea all day,' by Rico from Hot Rod," Helker said. "It gets him real amped, gets him ready for workouts, gets him ready for races."
 
From that friendship sprang a distance-running duo that covers Wichita State in the present and prepares it for the future. 
 
Penrod, a junior from Raytown, Mo., won the 1,500 meters in the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Sunday at Cessna Stadium. His time of three minutes, 49.07 seconds set a conference record and gave him his third American title. Helker, a freshman from Norman, Okla., finished sixth with a time 3:56.32. In the 800, Penrod finished fifth (1:512.63) and Helker eighth (1:59.55).
 
"We knew Jed had the talent, probably to be our next great one like Zack," Wichita State assistant coach Kirk Hunter said. "Zack, being a leader like he is, is nurturing Jed into becoming our next great athlete."
 
Helker visited Wichita State during his senior year at Edmond Memorial High School and met Penrod. Penrod noticed that Helker talked more than most visitors. Helker figured Penrod for a good mentor. Their friendship clicked then and grew in August when Helker, who won Oklahoma Class 6A titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 as a senior, joined the Shockers.
 
"During the recruiting process, (Hunter) told me a lot about Zack," Helker said. "Everything clicked. That's a big reason why I came here. Who better to bring me along than the Zack Penrod, winning all these races?"
 
All season, they worked together, encouraged and pushed each other as high-level training partners. Helker went out as a rabbit during the indoor season to set a fast pace for Penrod, who won the mile and finished third in the 800 in the conference indoor meet. 
 
"He's always super-willing to do so," Penrod said. "Jed's really a team player, so I wanted to give back today and try to get him through. Having someone I can rely on and he can rely on me is really important."
 
On Sunday, Penrod attempted to talk Helker through a fast start to the 1,500 with the goal of pushing Helker to a NCAA West Preliminary qualifying time.
 
"It became tough, because of what he was trying to do to help Jed," Hunter said. "He put himself in a tough situation. That caused him to really have to dig down to win that race."
 
Helker couldn't maintain the early pace.
 
"My legs were not under me today, unfortunately," he said. "I just didn't have it that last 500 (meters) and I thought I would. A couple more years. A lot more training and it will be there."
 
Hunter redshirted Helker in cross country and brought him along slowly during the indoor season. He was concerned Helker might go too hard in attempting to keep up with Penrod.
 
"But, Jed was able to work his way into that training rather quickly," Hunter said. "You could just see it coming. The fact that they're willing to help each other the way they do, they sacrifice their own race, to some degree, to help each other is going to make both of them better."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.