State of the Union

The State of US Distance Running: 800m

The 800m has been a very strong event on the world stage for team USA in recent years. Nick Symmonds made a slew of world championship finals (every one since 2009) and grabbed a silver medal in Moscow. Symmonds and teammate Duane solo man combined to finish 4th and 5th in the London Olympics in the #2 and #3 all time us performances, both under 1:43.00. Last year emerging star Brandon Johnson came within a few ticks of making the world championship final as well in his first big year at 800m. He now sports a pr in the 1:43 range.

But as we look ahead to the 2015 world champs and the 2016 rio Olympics many question marks remain in the 800m crew. Duane soloman is still clearly the best guy in the bunch. He already run 1:43 this year and won his second straight us title in dominating fashion. But soloman has peaking issues. The last two seasons he has been in killer form earlier in the summer only to fade by the crucial meets in August. In 2012 he timed his peak quite well but he has struggled to return to that form. Soloman has been relevant on the US scene since 2008 when he nearly made his first Olympic team so he is starting to get older and that could lead to a fall off in the near future. His front runner tactics also seem to be draining after a whole season of being at the front. He would really benefit from a return to form from a front runner like David rudisha to take some of the burden off his efforts.

Despite all that he is still easily the class of the US right now with Symmonds on the block. He destroyed the field at usas and is still running in the 1:43-1:44 range consistently, an achievement few can boast in the world let alone the United States. He still appears to have his sights set on an American record attempt later this summer. He can get through 600m at record pace no doubt, the questions will always be about whether he can hang on.

The obvious name to bring up when talking about soloman is nick symmonds. The world silver medalist has been MIA for months now after his best season of his career. Symmonds came within about 50m of upsetting mo aman and grabbing a gold medal for the United States last summer but now, after switching from Nike to brooks, he struggled indoors and fell off the face of the earth outdoors with no races on his radar. Last year symmonds was talking American record and 1500m with a chance to try and double 8-15 in rio, but now symmonds is on the shelf. It is unclear what is keeping him from competing: an injury or fatigue or lack of motivation. The guy has been the top of the us since 2008, ran 1:42 and got a silver medal. I'd imagine there isn't much else the guy wants to get of his career now that he is something like 30 years old. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he comes back in 2015 and 2016 and uses his superior strength to get through the rounds at usas and make a team, but as of right now he is just a big question mark. Heck he might even transition to the 15 instead of the 8 and leave a spot wide open on team USA.

Brandon Johnson was the breakout star of 2013 for the us and he came within fractions of a second of making a world championship final after being an out of work 400m hurdler just a few years before. But as quickly as Johnson emerged as a future beast of the 2 lapper, he disappeared off the radar this year. He ran some 1:46 type marks early in the year across the sea but wasn't at the national championships in Sacto and still hasn't run anything like the times he ran a year ago. He went from being in the national title talks to now being just another member of a competitive crop of 800m youngsters.

So if the favorites slip who will be there to take their place? There is a nice mix of talent waiting in the wings headed by Erik sowinski, formerly of Iowa. He was the indoor us champ and has dropped his pr to 1:44 this year. However he has faded off a bit since that 1:44 and may have timed his peak on the early side so that he could get into some euro meets this summer. Sowinski has good speed and can close well but will need to be prepared to run quick on an opening 400m to have any sort of shot at Solomon.

Elijah Greer was ncaa champ indoors and out a year ago and currently is the best young product on the scene. His pr is in the low 1:45s and he has had a couple strong showings on the national scene making the last two us finals.

Charles jock is a guy who has made the world team before, making the squad in 2011 and running his 1:44 mid pr. He followed that with an ncaa title in 2012. Jock struggled for a bit after his big break trying to find his place as a front runner. He looked great at usas up until his fall in the finals that took out basically the entire field. He could be in for a big summer if things break right.

Cas Loxsom was 2nd at this years us champs thanks to jock's fall and currently boasts a pb just north of 1:45. Loxsom isn't afraid to go with a fast pace and is in a training group that features one of the best 800m men in the country's history.

Among the other contenders to make some noise at 800m in the next 2-3 years are Robby Andrews, 2011 ncaa champ and 1:44.71 pr, Tyler mulder, low 1:44s last year with a slew of just misses for us teams, mike rutt of New Jersey New York, and mark wizzo of the brooks beast crew. Andrews is the biggest wildcard of the bunch with his freakish potential, but I have always felt his ceiling would be at 1500m.

If you are looking for some real deep sleepers don't forget about someone like Andres arroyo, a super talent frosh this past year at Florida. He ran 1:47 in high school and qualified for NCAAs this spring and winter. All this in his first season with collegiate coaching. He had great range in high school and that strength will benefit him as he tries to navigate the rounds at a us championships.