The 800m should be huge in deciding how the state invitations play out. Some big names are there (Alek Sauer headlining the field with Billy McDevitt), but everyone's eyes should be on the double digit crop of 2:00-2:02 kids with states staring them square in the face. Up until now, the last spot to states hasn't been anywhere near the sub 2 mark I suspected it might be so practically all the MoC qualifiers are in a position where a PR puts them in the mix. As usual, at meets like this where the talent is overflowing and the seeds are from various points in the year, the slow heats are likely going to produce much of the top times and, depending on how crowded each heat is, there could be some heartbreaking falls (like 2013 which rattled a few guys for an extra week).
Among the list of borderline types slotted for an appearance are Beckley-Gray, Boucher, Colbert Jr, Delisle, Dineen, Falasco, Fisher, Francis, Good, Gordon, Holm, Hong, Lindsey, Manyeah, McClellan, Neely, and Shahideh.
Holy moly, what a mouthful.
And that group doesn't include the cream of the crop with Sauer leading a group that includes sub 2 types Jihad, Wolfinger, Wills, McDevitt, Williams and Fortna. It's unclear how many of those guys will be pulling double duty, but Sauer at the very least will be fresh and hoping to make a huge statement. After Graca, Ritz and Lewis laid claim to all time great performances, Sauer likely has his eyes set on Wiseman's freshly set state record.
I'm interested to see how someone like Dan Williams runs as he could be a player in the state medal contender conversation depending on how things shape out for him this weekend.
I'm not sure this race has the star power some of the others do, but this race could be the deepest and will have the most drama, tension and good old fashioned competitive running. And really, that's what it's all about.
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