By Dan Beck, PennTrackXC
Boys' 800 Meter Preview
Bishop Shanahan's Josh Hoey will have a busy day on Sunday. After he runs the mile, he'll toe the line in the 800 meters. He didn;t get his state qualifying time in the event until last week, when he went out and dropped a US#1 of 1:51.49 in racing flats. So Hoey is clearly fit and ready for a big day. Even though he won't be fresh, he still have the best time in the state 3.5 seconds.
The state record and state meet record is 1:50.55 by Kyle Francis, set in 2014. After his performance last week, Hoey is certainly capable of dropping a record-setting time.
The second seed is Liam Conway of Owen J. Roberts. Conway went 1:55.01 to win at the PTFCA Carnival a few weeks back, but he'll also be doubling back from the mile. Look out for Pottsville Area's Collin Ebling. he posted a PA#3 1:55.03 and will be the top-ranked fresh runner in the field. He ran that time at Kevin Dare, so he's no stranger to Penn State, and that could pay off.
David Endres of Central Bucks East will be strong in this field. He ran a massive PR of 1:55.05 to take the win at Ocean Breeze earlier in the season and should have a lot of confidence headed into the race. Neumann Goretti's Kamil Jihad is a veteran and a very solid half miler with a 1:52 outdoor PR to his name. He's won his last three 800s, including a Meet of Champs victory, so watch for Jihad.
Plenty of others will be on the hunt for medals here, including Bishop Shanahan's Jonah Hoey, Ephrata's Tyler Shue, Saint Joseph's Prep's Robert Dupell III, Pennsbury's Aidan Sauer, and Great Valley's Brett Zatlin. This field is deep and the pace of the race between the fast and the slower sections could definitely come into play.
Entries:
Event 12 Boys 800 Meter Run (24)
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Meet Record: 1:50.55 3/1/2014 Kyle Francis, Bensalem
Name Year School
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1 Clark, Michael 12 Methacton
2 Conway, Liam 12 O J Roberts
3 Curry, Lamaj 12 Chester
4 Delisle, Hudson 12 Quakertown
5 Dhillon, Jarnail 12 Upper Darby
6 Dupell III, Robert 12 St Joe Prep
7 Ebling, Collin 12 Pottsville A
8 Eissler, Matt 11 Pennridge
9 Endres, David 11 C B East
10 Gabrielli, Nick 12 Kiski Area
11 Hoey, Jonah 10 Bish Shanahan
12 Hoey, Josh 12 Bish Shanahan
13 Jihad, Kamil 12 Neumann Gore
14 Linares, Javier 12 Pennsbury
15 Ochs, Collin 11 C R South
16 Phillips, Seth 11 Mifflin County
17 Sauer, Aidan 12 Pennsbury
18 Servis, Dylan 11 Twin Valley
19 Shue, Tyler 10 Ephrata
20 Wehrle, Matthew 12 Punxsutawney
21 Wirth, Tyler 11 Wallenpaupack
22 Zatlin, Brett 12 Great Valley
23 Zeh, Ethan 11 Radnor
24 Zelinsky, Jarrett 11 Holy Ghost Prep