2016 Class 2A Boys Pre-Season Distance Preview

An intense field in last year's 800m state final is expected back in 2016 (Colin Boyle photo)

800m-

Outlook: There may be some guilt in saying this about all of the events but it holds true: the 800 is maybe the most intriguing distance event in 2A this spring. Last year's champion, Connor Stine, has graduated and the existing talent now is extremely young. Only four finalists from the 800 meet return but all of them were top five finishers. With classification shakeups as well, some new contenders emerge from the woodwork as well. Let's take a look at one of the most volatile events in 2A.

As it was mentioned previously, a lot of talent rests in the legs of some of the youngest runners in Illinois, and Josh Cable is no exception. Cable finished 5^th at the 2A State Championship last year- just one of three freshman to score at the meet. Cable also blazed an early postseason 1:55.72 at the Central State 8 Conference meet, and enters the season with one of the fastest PRs. Cable ran at the state cross country meet but finished a little far back (105^th in 16:03) but has had the time to build strength to add to his solid leg speed (52.6/400m). Cable has his sights set on the national scene as well- his 800 time threw him into the top five freshman nationally and Cable will look to continue defining his role among his peers around the country. Cable is one of your early season classification 800 favorites.

Tolono (Unity) has been added to 2A this year, which means Andrew Warnes, who finished 4^th in 1A last year, will make his mark on the new track scene this year. Warnes won the St. Joesph-Ogden sectional in a 1A-leading 1:56.07. His range suggests that he can choose a wide variety of events; it seems unlikely that he will be doubling the 800 and 1600 (as well as a possible 4x800 appearance) but Warnes is just too talented to ignore as a potential candidate to win the 800.

Neither of these runners are the top two returners from the state meet, though: Nick Wondaal- 2^nd, 1:56.74 and Tim Krashevsky- 3^rd, 1:56.75 particually finished side-by-side in 2015. Wondaal, like the rest of his Illiana Christian team, ran against 3A competition in cross country and will come back down to 2A to improve on his runner-up finish. Krashevsky is the second returner and is Vernon Hills' 800 meter specialist, and ran a particular stong final-only the 7^th qualifier, Krashevsky beat his previous 800 best by almost 2 full seconds. Finally, Sean Zerrusen  was last year's 4^th place finisher and the last returner to this event from the 2015 final. Zerrusen may have been the most consistently dominant 800 runner in 2A in 2015 by running under 1:59 five different times (including his 1:56.75 best at Charleston). The field is open in this event but these five guys have a strong advantage in 2016 because they can draw from previous state experience.

The 800 can be a tough race to improve your PR in but with the young guys like Cable and Krashevsky returning, I fully expect the winning time in this event to drop from last year. Stine ran 1:54.43. If Cable or another athlete ran 1:53 high or faster, this would not be a shock because the crowded-ness of this event should motivate a large number of athletes to step their game up.