Look at this group of returners: Robinson, Thomas, Conrad and Mosley all ready for 2017
800m-
2016 State Champion: Chris Torpy, Orland Park (Sandburg), 1:50.88
Season Outlook: 2016's 3A 800 championship was very senior heavy, so there will be at least 6 new all-state runners this year. As is usually the nature of this event, the field is fairly open and there is a very high number of athletes who could find themselves in the final, especially with the volatile nature of the preliminaries.
The first returner is O'Fallon's Chris Conrad (Sr.), a relative newcomer to the scene at this level with a 1:51.99 PR from sectionals last year. Conrad is more strength-oriented-he can also be a player in the 1600 (4:22.8) and ran 15 minutes at Detweiller last November. He is followed closely by Zion-Benton's Thomas Mosley (Sr.), last year's fifth-place finisher and a 1:53 high guy (his PR comes from back in 2015). The aforementioned Isaiah Robinson is another strong candidate with elite speed and a lot of experience in the 800.
There are many other names to look out for as well. Granite City's Will O'Keefe (Sr.) was the indoor leader for 3A returners last year. Antonio Davis (Sr., Chicago Heights (Bloom)) posted a 1:53.81 just behind Robinson at USATF last July. Charlie Kern's 800 best is 1:54.97 and could elect to do the 4x800/800 double once again this year.
Other runners to watch: Brian Griffith, Evan Radomski, Vince Zona, Brian Kuehl, Maki Mohr, Jaime Marcos
Top returning performances-
| RANK | TIME | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATEPLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:51.99 | 2017 | ||
| 2 | 1:53.29 | 2017 | ||
| 3 | 1:53.81 | 2017 | ||
| 4 | 1:54.12 | 2017 | ||
| 5 | 1:54.15 | 2017 | ||
| 6 | 1:54.64 | 2017 | ||
| 7 | 1:54.97 | 2018 | ||
| 8 | 1:55.40 | 2017 | ||
| 9 | 1:56.02 | 2017 | ||
| 10 | 1:56.26 | 2017 |