The 2017 States Outdoor championship at Union-Endicott HS had many huge races and field performances. One of the biggest races was the seeded section of the girls' 800m race. The field included 2016 runner-up and 2017 Indoor States 1000m winner Kaitlin Ryan of Bronxville, West Babylon's Paige Keefer who was 4th in the 2016 race and 2nd in the 600m at States that March, Our Lady of Lourdes' Caroline Timm who in 2017 was 2nd in NB indoor Nationals Mile and 5th in the NBON Mile, Syosset's Reilly Siebert who was undefeated in 800m and 1500m action in Section 8, Ursuline sophomore Lily Flynn who in March had been runner-up in a States 1000m event that she would win in her junior and senior years, and John Jay-Cross River's Brooke Nohilly who was 3rd in the States 600m.
Coming in though with the best 800m time from a win the Section 2 State Qualifier was Shenendehowa's Hannah Reale. She had been runner-up in the seeded 5th section to Sage Hurta the year before, and finished 3rd overall to Ryan who had won the 4th section. Like Ryan, Reale was undefeated on the season and had done well indoors with a 3rd in the States 1000m behind Ryan and Flynn and a 3rd behind Virginia's Rachel McArthur and Ryan in the NBIN 800m.
Another big battle between Reale and Ryan was expected, and that's what we got. Filming conditions from high up in the bleachers were not optimal, so we needed to do a wide pan.
