Video And Recap Of Legendary Men's 800m Final At 2011 NCAA Track & Field Championships
By Letsrun.com
June 11, 2011
(Editor's note: This is a recap of the men's 800 only that let's you watch the race without knowing who wins. To see our entire day 3 recap which includes the men's 10, men's steeple as well both 800s, click here.)
We bet most of you missed the men's 800m final on Friday night at the NCAA meet.
Trust us, it's a race you didn't want to miss, as it featured a stacked field.
Thanks to the beauty of youtube, you can watch it below without knowing the results.
After you watch it, if you scroll way, way down the page, you can see the results and a recap of the race.
Men's 800m Final From 2011 NCAAs:
Now after watching, you can scroll way, way down the page and see the results, a recap of the race, and links to more coverage.
Also, you can watch the NCAA Meet from 1-3pm eastern on Saturday on CBS.
LRC Men's 800m Recap: Robby Andrews Does It Again And Wins A Legendary Race
With an unrelenting Johnny Gray-like frontrunner, an already
legendary Dave Wottle-esque kicker, and an entire field of stars with PRs at
1:46.06 or faster - any of whom could win it all - this race was on
paper a fan's dream, and in every respect, it lived up to its billing.
Pardon the hyperbole, but this final was truly awesome - easily one of
the most thrilling middle-distance races in NCAA history.
As expected, UCI's Charles Jock got out fast, while (also as expected) Virginia's Robby Andrews
took up his customary position at the caboose. Wait - did we say Jock
got out fast? This wasn't merely fast; this was Olympic final fast.
49.85 at the bell - that kind of fast. Amazingly, the entire field was
within a second of Jock when they crossed the line with a lap remaining
and many runners even looked a little antsy.
Andrews,
despite being in last, had never been out so fast and by 500, it looked
for a moment like he might actually get dropped. Jock's strategy seemed
to be taking the monster kicker out of the game. But Andrews stayed
close enough that when the hot pace finally began to show its first
signs of taking a toll on the field, the Virginia sophomore was right
back in the hunt. Although still in last with 200 to go, it seemed clear
that Andrews would make a big move up through the field, but in
uncharted waters pace-wise, would he have enough of a move left to win?
Jock,
on a mission to kill this field with his shocking pace and win it
wire-to-wire, continued to hammer as the amazingly intact group
approached the 700 mark. Despite the world-class opening 600 (1:17.1), Casimir Loxsom of Penn State (who has split sub-46) was on Jock's shoulder along with Akron's surprising Willie Brown, with 2011 collegiate leader Cory Primm
of UCLA also looking good. But Andrews, as he has done in all his other
races, was swinging wide and picking off runners. There was, however,
still one obstacle left for Andrews, and that was Oregon's Elijah Greer,
who had also begun moving wide to make his bid with 100 left. At the
rate Andrews was moving, it seemed that being forced into lane 3 to get
around Greer might be the only thing preventing the Cavalier superstar
from squeezing out yet another last-second victory.
Jock,
meanwhile, was orchestrating a frontrunning masterpiece and having the
race of his life. He showed no signs of losing this race. It was up to
Andrews to make his own destiny, and having swung way wide past Greer
(and briefly cutting him off in the homestretch), the Virginia stud was
coming - but not so fast that he looked like he'd get it done this time.
Jock's chance of holding on still looked great.
It
came down to the last meter. Andrews somehow eked past Jock to claim
the win by 0.04 - and boy, did he have to earn this one. Both warriors
set PRs at 1:44.71 and 1:44.75, with Andrews missing the meet record of
the great Mark Everett by only a hundredth. Greer had chopped his
stride and flailed an arm briefly to avoid contact when Andrews cut in
on the homestretch (he also got bumped out by Loxsom in the final 20 meters), but this distinctly had no bearing on his finishing
place (although it probably cost him a sub-1:45), and he came home a
clear 3rd in 1:45.06. Prior to this season, that time would have ranked
10th all-time among NCAA athletes. Loxsom also held on well to set a
nice PR of 1:45.31 for 4th.
Afterwards, Andrews told CBS, "It was all guts. I just ran my heart out. I didn't come here to lose. I have so much respect for these athletes in the finals. I did not come here to lose, though."
| 1 | Robby Andrews | SO | Virginia | 1:44.71 | S | 10 | |||||
| 2 | Charles Jock | JR | UC Irvine | 1:44.75 | 8 | ||||||
| 3 | Elijah Greer | SO | Oregon | 1:45.06 | 6 | ||||||
| 4 | Casimir Loxsom | SO | Penn State | 1:45.31 | 5 | ||||||
| 5 | Edward Kemboi | FR | Iowa State | 1:46.82 | 4 | ||||||
| 6 | Cory Primm | SR | UCLA | 1:47.01 | 3 | ||||||
| 7 | Willie Brown | SO | Akron | 1:47.02 | 2 | ||||||
| 8 | Ryan Martin | JR | UC Santa Barbara | 1:47.62 | 1 | ||||||
More Coverage: Virginia Newspaper: "Andrews trailed everyone until about the final 23 seconds of the race."
*Orange County Register: "Jock's strategic run comes up short at NCAAs"
*Great Pre-Race Profile On Charles Jock Well worth a read.
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