There’s certainly a solid group of
guys to watch in the 800 heading into the outdoor season. The headliners will
be John Lewis and Elias Graca who have both gone 1:50 at this point, and you
have to figure could be poised to break into the 1:40’s range. With Graca that
could happen as soon as Sunday morning at the Indoor National meet.
Behind them is AA star Domenic
Peretta, who, with a 1:52 and 4:19, will be the man many in AA are chasing.
Alek Sauer put down a 1:52 up at Penn State while grabbing a medal and he’s a
guy who has a chance mix it up with Lewis and Graca come May. Zach Brehm has a
1:53 to his name, but I’m expecting him to focus more on the mile (he’s the
favorite at 4:11) so look for his name in a few races but I wouldn’t expect him
in the 8 come districts.
Matt Wisner and Khai Samuels
grabbed #5 and #6 at Penn State in 1:54, so they’ll be looking to continue that
momentum into the outdoor season. Brook Wilson and Dylan Eddinger rounded out
the Indoor medalists at 1:55. The group of 1:56 guys who are looking to make an
impact include Andrew Stewart, Connor Holm and Brad Foust.
For some sleeper pick youngsters
look to sophomore Nick Wagner (1:55) and freshman Kamil Jihad (1:57). Jihad was
able to run 1:57 for 10th at indoor states as a freshman, so who
knows how much more he can drop as he develops over the outdoor season.
And if you’re wondering about who
else will finish out the top 3 in AA, watch Mark Arzie and Andrew Koryak. Both
are 1:57 guys and Andrew Koryak came in 12th at Indoor States.
Behind them is miler Nathan Morgan who has run a 1:59, but he’s also done a
4:21 so he should be focusing more on the mile this spring.
-Cummings
Depends on how they decide to run in the 4x8, but don't sleep on Milligan from State College. He ran 1:56-7 range. The same is true of Penncrest. Both Emanuel and Kamat ran 1:54 and 1:56 last year. If they decide to run the open 8, they could potentially medal.
ReplyDeleteIf Graca, Lewis and Ritz square off at the Henderson MOC then we might see sub 1:50. Otherwise I'm just not sure they'll be in a big race together that doesn't involve doubling and qualifiers like states does.
ReplyDeleteBut remember when Magaha ran 1:48, he did it at Abington in April and won by over 5 seconds. So I think it's differently possible, espically for guys who have already ran 1:50's indoor, to throw down a 1;49 in a "small" race
DeleteKeep in mind Brehm has quadrupled at districts the last 2 years. He might not run the 800 at states, but I think he will run it at districts, and we could see a fast time from him there.
ReplyDelete-GBC
PA didn't do very well at Nationals. Ritz PR'd again and Cheltenham pulled out the 4x400 win but other than that, no huge performances, even on the girls side to.
ReplyDeleteComber came in 3rd in the 5k
DeleteWas disappointed with Brehm's return. And well COH ran 4 seconds faster than they did at states, so I wouldn't leave that out. You're right though, SC ran 8:05 in the 4x8, and Graca only ran 1:55. Other guys didn't run that well, but it doesn't bother me much. A lot of these guys were probably peaking for states and were going to nationals for the sake of getting experience on an even bigger stage than states.
ReplyDeleteAs has been mentioned multiple times, most important thing is states and nationals is usually just icing on the cake.
ReplyDeleteAlso Graca got screwed by that huge 800 heat. Way too many kids.
Very true, Graca looked like he was very boxed in for almost the entire race.
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