800m Questions

Well I am not sure exactly what to write about this week, so I thought it would be interesting to bring you guys more history, since well that is my major. If you guys don’t find it enjoyable to read feel free to express as much in the comment section, with appropriate language, thank you.

Since 2006 it has taken sub 1:57.01 to medal at the state meet in the open 800m. I was really surprised by this as I scrolled through state meet results this morning. Rob McNally of Upper Darby ran 1:57.01 to place 8^th back in 2006 and he was the slowest 8^th place finisher from 2006-2013. This season looks to continue the sub 1:57 medal trend as we have possibly the steepest competition in years going into the state meet. 

Back in 2009 Tom Mallon broke the state record running 1:51.79 in an incredible effort, but this was shown up just two years later as Wade Endress, coming off a Mile victory, just barely broke it, clocking 1:51.73. It was usually quite rare for a runner to break 1:55 indoors until recent years when 2011 started a trend with 4 runners breaking the mark, but last season the boys 800m runners upped the anti with 4 runners breaking 1:54!

What makes this all so amazing is that already this season 3 runners have broken 1:54 in the open 800m, two of them at Lehigh. . . a flat track compared to Penn State’s banked track, along with a 1:53.0 split from Will Cather who has run 1:54.05 in the open 800m on a banked track. Ahead of him is: Joseph Logue (1:53.67B), Kyle Francis (1:53.85), and Jeffrey Wiseman (1:53.95). Amazingly this list does not include 8^th place finisher from indoors last season, John Lewis (1:57.19) or outdoor 800m champion Zach Brehm who just negative split a 1:58.41 at Lehigh this past weekend.

Maybe there is something in the water this season with fast times, but this brings up two questions:

1) Will the State Meet Record (1:51.73) be broken?

2) Will 8 runners go under 1:57.02 for the 9^th consecutive year?

We still have a few weekends to find out, but here’s how I see it: 3 of the 4 runners (Francis, Wiseman, and Cather) all love to take races out fast, while Logue enjoys sitting back and kicking. Brehm is a big guy who will go with any pace as well. I think there is no doubt we will see this race go out in 53/54 meaning they will need to come back in 57/58 to get the record. For this group, that seems quite possible, but we have to remember that this time would be a PR for any of these runners other than Logue who ran 1:51.59 outdoors two years ago.

As far as the 8 runners under 1:57 it seems we have 5 guys going for the Meet Record so I put all of them under 1:57. John Lewis broke it last season as he placed 8^th, but I see him running in the open 400m, so I doubt we’ll see him race the open 800m because it makes more sense for his team’s points. That leaves us with the following possibilities: Alek Sauer (1:57.17), Dylin Wilhoite (1:57.82), Nick Smart (1:58.02), Kyle Adams (1:58.07), Graham Allen (1:58.79), Frank Brophy (1:58.84), and Joe Sullivan (1:59.23).

Pennsbury runners do quite well for themselves at track states and Sauer has looked very strong all season, plus he would only need to drop .18 off his PB this season. Behind him is Wilhoite who looks to continue the strength of Penn Hills at the state meet over the 800m distance. These boys always seem to peak well at states and he needs just under a second to drop. 

Nick Smart has run very even all season and split 1:56 earlier this season on a relay and has run some very even splits to get that 1:58. On a fast pace with his speed/strength combo this XC medalist should be in a good position to break 1:57 as well. That gives us 3 strong candidates, but are there some other runners who could step up if a wrench is thrown into the race? Kyle Adams has split 1:57 already this season and ran that open time in December. His team is looking for a top 3 finish and the points could be valuable, so look for him to run gutsy.

 Frank Brophy is a 400m runner converted to the 800m which I always like to see and has had a strong season so far, despite only running the event once. He could have a huge breakout race and surprise everyone if he can put everything together over half a mile. Joe Sullivan also has a PR of 1:56.94, and not to forget Malvern Prep’s Dan Ferraiolo who has had an up and down season, but does hold a PR of 1:55.80 and is qualified for the state meet, so watch for him as a sleeper…

--ForrestCRN