Hey everybody! Hope I'm not the only one suffering from post XC depression already. Nonetheless, we patiently wait for the regionals races. Also to note, the Temple 2 mile tune-up gave us a sneak preview of some postseason guys. In really cold and windy conditions, Luke Klingenberg flashed some of his track speed, outlasting Jack Miller for the win, 9:41 to 9:46. Obviously this isn't a great indicator of anything, but I thought it was a notable result to throw out to all of you. While I originally planned on throwing out a very basic, broad indoor preview, I found that I simply had way too much to say for each event. Since our first indoor meet isn't for likely another 3-4 weeks, I'll probably be dropping an event preview every 5 days or so, to ensure that you guys don't have to go a week or so without anything new. Hopefully, some regionals previews mixed with some indoor previews can get us through this dead period that is the offseason. Without further ado, lets see what the 2018-2019 indoor season has in store for us!
The 2018 indoor 800m state championship produced one of the slower winning times in recent memory, but also produced one of the fastest cutoffs for a state medal in state history. In hindsight, looking at how things were projected, it shouldn't have been all that surprising. With Hoey absent and Conway going for the double win, the hot heat unsurprisingly went out slow. The 2nd heat, with speedsters like Aidan Sauer and Matt Eissler, took things out hard and resulted in 3 of the 8 medalists. In one of the deepest state races in years, where it took 1:55.37 to get a medal, many were left wondering, was this the new norm? 5 of the 8 were seniors, but the contingent of young talent ensured fans that there would be plenty of fireworks for the following year. So the question became, what should we expect for next year? Will it be deep and tactical? Or will we some blazing times in place of the now professional Josh Hoey?
Well, there is a chance we see both.
The fact that there are 3 returning medalists from indoor that don't include Jonah Hoey, Ethan Zeh, or Collin Ochs is just ridiculous. If you count returning state medalists from all of last year, we have 5 (6 if you include Hoey in the spring 1600). Ochs and Zeh were the two breakout stars of last year, whereas the other names mentioned have been pretty good at this whole 800 thing for awhile now. Tyler Shue is obviously going to be hard to beat. He was both a Liam Conway and a Collin Ebling away from a state title last year. In both cases, he just couldn't quite match the respective senior's closing speed. I think Shue had one of the most remarkable sophomore campaigns in state history, and while the illusive state title will be hard to take away from Eissler and Hoey, he's probably my favorite heading into this season.
Despite Shue arguably having a better season, its pretty clear that the spotlight is on Jonah Hoey. With two brothers packing up and going pro, and a limited XC season to focus on track, expectations have to be sky high for the Shanahan junior. After running 1:52 and 4:17 last spring, the youngest Hoey brother could easily choose either event and contend for a title. In my personal opinion, I was shocked to see him go with the 1600 last spring. I thought the 800 was wide open, and although he got lucky with Liam Conway being sick, he had a much stronger chance at taking the 800. You could say the same thing heading into this season, so maybe he ends up out of this field as well. However, if he, Shue, and Eissler all line up fresh for an 800 this season, I think we'll be able to get a 1:51 mark out of these guys.
Eissler and Endres are both big wildcards in the 800 this year. After a slow districts race and an unfortunate spill at states, Eissler really had an underwhelming outdoor season. And then of course, as soon as I came to that conclusion, he bounced back beautifully and ripped a 1:52 at Henderson. Eissler, the recent Penn commit, undoubtedly has the confidence to win a state title as well, and just needs things to click on the right day for him. Endres, after a magnificent indoor season, seemed to struggle to find his groove outdoor. He contributed on some great relays, but just never seemed to bust out an individual race like he did during indoor. Nonetheless, he is still the 2nd fastest returner from the state meet last year at Penn State, and could be a big surprise to the big names like Hoey, Shue, and Eissler.
Of course, there are tons of names to consider outside this top 6. The first heat from states last year, while being on the slower side, was comprised of basically all underclassmen. Guys like Seth Phillips, Jarret Zelinsky, and Dylan Servis all have the opportunity to move up into one of the faster heats this winter and get down to 1:57 or faster indoors. Jack Baker was only a 2:02 guy indoor last year, but then went on to rip a 1:55 outdoors. If he chooses to take indoor seriously this time around, he could be a serious threat for the medal stand. Then there are some big names that I won't go into too much detail on. Seth Ketler is a 1:55 kid who could absolutely contend on the big stage if he decided to do so, but Seneca Valley is so team-oriented that its hard to imagine they don't have their eyes set on 4x8's and DMRs.
An intriguing name for me is Luke Fehrman. The CB West senior only ran 2:01 open last year indoor, but is well known for the valuable relay leg he contributed to CBW's state title in the 4x8. Seeing as that most of their pieces have graduated, if Fehrman gets more looks in some open races, I think he is absolutely a dark horse.
Connor Shields is another big name like Jack Baker who, after not touching 2 flat all indoor season, ripped a 1:55 at Henderson in early May last spring. Shields is coming off of a state medal in XC, and while he may be more of a miler, he could definitely do some damage in the 800 if he chose to. There is a whole host of guys who have great 800 potential, but are probably better off in the mile. Jack Wisner, Jonah Powell, and Garrett Baublitz have all run in the 1:55-1:56 range outdoor, but are all sub 4:20 milers who will likely stick to the popular distance.
Other sleepers to keep an eye out for include Kendall Brennan, either of the Bindas, Elias Zajicek, and Luke Eissler.
December 9th. Opening weekend. Less than a month away. Seems like a ways away, but it'll be here quickly. Buckle up folks, because track season is coming.
-The RunningHub
Ochs for the win. He's gonna finally bring home those 800 championships that Wiseman never could
ReplyDeleteA little disappointed by the lack of discussion. Maybe if you post the next preview it will get more people talking
ReplyDeleteI’m excited for the 800 this year. It seems very wide open. I think their is a group of 5 guys who could win. Shue has got to be the favorite based on last years performance. But hoey seems like he may focus more on the 8 this year and Eissler has run 1:52. We are in for a show! Watch out for some sleepers this year. Hopefully will be a much faster State Chanpionship than last year.
ReplyDeleteThis may not be comparable to an open 800, but Seth Phillips ran a 1:53 (he is very capable) and Chayce Macknair ran a 1:56 (with a broken bone in his foot) as part of the 4X800 team at states. Chayce Macknair will probably not get to run an open 800 in a competition setting.
ReplyDelete