Josh Hoey's National Record Revisited

It’s been almost two weeks since Josh Hoey made the country’s jaws drop with his massive national record of 1:47.67 in the 800 meters. The Bishop Shanahan senior has always been a strong distance runner-he had two state championships at 800 and mile wins at the Penn Relays, Millrose Games and Boston Indoor. But this record was unlike anything we’ve seen from him before.

On Boston’s lightening quick track, Josh stormed through the four lap race and held his own in a group of semi-pros and top flight collegiate athletes. His record time was a massive PR indoors or out. He had clocked 1:49.37 last summer at Junior Nationals (his previous best) and owned a 1:51.49 indoor 800 best from February 15^th of this year. However you can throw all those PRs out the window as, in a year of big half mile breakthroughs for many PA stand outs, Josh skipped the 1:48s entirely and shattered Robby Andrew’s national record of 1:49.21 by over a second and a half.

I can still remember Robby’s national record. At the time it was an absurd run-no one had ever broken 1:50 indoors before and he brought it all the way down to 1:49.2. Just a year later, Robby went on to win the indoor NCAA title at 800 and run 1:45 outdoors. He finished runner-up in Eugene to Olympian superstar Andrew Wheating that outdoor season. Andrews has since become a multi-time national team qualifier in the 1500 (including a USA title last year) and a world championship finalist.

Indoors has changed a lot since Andrews broke that record. Although no one could quite eclipse him, guys have been knocking on the door of history starting with Ben Malone’s sub 1:50 as a junior in 2012 and most notably Cameron Cooper’s 1:49.46 just last year. Now, however, it’s Hoey who sits across the standings. This time isn’t just fast for indoor race either, it puts Josh at #7 ever for high schools. He’s within 1.22 seconds of Mike Granville’s legendary 1996 record of 1:46.45. Nobody has been in the 1:46s since Granville did it and the closest we’ve seen anybody get to that record this century is Donovan Brazier (1:47.55 in 2015). Hoey’s in a similar spot with months still left to go.

By the way, when Hoey ran his mark, it put him in the top 70 Americans ever for indoor track. Only 10 guys in the NCAA have faster marks than the Oregon according to TFRRS and he actually beat 2015 NCAA runner up Dylan Capwell head to head during the record. Unsurprisingly, Hoey’s run is a PA record for indoors (by nearly 3 seconds) or outdoors (by almost a full second). PA now has two individual distance state records that were set indoors (Noah Affolder set the two mile record at nationals last year) and Carlisle’s DMR from indoors a year ago is our fastest of that relay on any surface.

Clearly the indoor landscape is changing. Sometimes PA’s top indoor performers struggle to hit those same times outdoors so there will be pressure on Hoey as he moves forward. I’d imagine the big goals for him now would be centered around a few things-national outdoor record in the 800, sub 4 minutes in the mile, making the US Junior World Team for Finland this July. The sub 4 list is short, but it’s been growing at a much more rapid pace in recent years. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hoey chase some fast opportunities-including a run on his future home track out in Oregon and perhaps some local professional races at Princeton, Swarthmore or Penn. That 800 national record will be perhaps the hardest target of them all, but Josh has a huge head start on everyone else who has chased it in history.

I’d love to see Shanahan throw some relays together. Without Josh, they were in the mix for a state title indoors and have the pieces to win the DMR at the Penn Relays like Drew Hunter did with Loudon Valley a few years back. The Shanahan 4x8 could also make a run at a sub 7:40 time or a big Penn Relays performance. They will be qualified for PR based on their 7:49 from December last year.

As I’ve speculated before, I think this may be the end of Josh Hoey at state championship meets. After passing on the indoor state championship this year (and the decision paying off with a national record) he seems likely that he will chase top notch competition during the spring, keep a relatively light race schedule and look to extend his senior into the World Junior Championships this summer. He could be a dark horse medal contender if things break right.

Assuming this is it, Josh will graduate with two individual state championships at 800 and a team title in XC. He has two top 10 finishes in XC at states and has led two different teams into the top 5 in the final standings, including a surprising run from Shanahan this year. He was also the #1 man on PA’s only ever NXN Regional Champions as just a sophomore. Josh anchored DT West to a state medal in the DMR as a freshman, medaled at states in 1600 as a freshman, ran 4:17 for the mile as a freshman. He was 2^nd in the mile indoor, 3^rd in the 1600 outdoors and pulled down two more golds as a member of the DT West 4x4 as a sophomore. He won the Penn Relays mile as a sophomore. Junior year, he grabbed those two state golds at 800 meters and helped Shanahan to a 4x4 state title. Back to back seasons he was a part of the indoor state championship team.

There are no questions about his accomplishments. The only question is: what’s next?