LetsRun.com's Preview of Monday's 800 Meter Finals: America's Best Primed For 800 Showdown

The Top 6 Seeds in Both The Men's & Women's Fields Will Battle It Out For 3 Coveted Spots To London

LetsRun.com
June 24, 2012

Below you will find our preview of the 800 finals which take place on Monday evening at the 2012 US Olympic Track and Field Trials. If you missed our pre-meet previews of the men's and women's 800, those can be found here:  LRC Original Women's Preview here. LRC Original Men's Preview here.

Men’s 800 Final Preview

Without a doubt, the men's 800 final was one of the highlights of the 2008 Trials. Meet organizers are certainly hoping for a repeat performance on Monday evening as the 800 is slotted in the marquee position of the night as the final event.

The top six seeds during the qualifying period are all in the finals.

Nicholas Symmonds     Nike / Oregon TC Elite     1:43.83
Khadevis Robinson     Nike     1:44.03
Charles Jock     University of California, Irvine     1:44.67
Ryan Martin     University of California, Santa Barbara     1:44.77
Tyler Mulder     Nike / Oregon TC Elite     1:44.83
Elijah Greer     University of Oregon     1:45.06

The other two guys in the final are certainly credentialed.

2007 NCAA runer-up and 2007 world team member Duane Solomon (1:45.66 in the qualifying window) and un-sponsored Mark Wieczorek who has made his second straight USA final (he was 5th last year).

In our original 800 preview, we said the favorites for the top three spots were the top three seeds and the three guys who made the world championship team in Nick Symmonds, Khadevis Robinson and Charles Jock.

The veterans Symmonds and KD, who are stalwarts on US teams, have done nothing to cause anyone to lose faith in them.

Jock, well, let’s just say he’s happy the final wasn’t on Saturday as he was only fourth in his semi.

The 4th placer at the last two US champs Mulder won his semi (defeating Symmonds in the process) and seems to be the one most likely to finish in the top three if there isn’t a repeat of last year’s results.

After Mulder, the next likely finalist would be Oregon’s Elijah Greer. Four years ago,Oregon’s Andrew Wheating thrilled the hometown fans by getting second in Eugene after getting second at NCAAs. Well....this year Greer was third at NCAAs. Can he get third at USAs?

We give the edge to Greer over Martin of UCSB as Greer way in the mix for the win at NCAAs whereas Martin wasn’t.

LRC Updated Prediction: 1) Symmonds 2) KD 3) Mulder

Quick Take: We think everyone in the final is hoping Charles Jock  does his normal thing and takes it out hard. When it goes out hard, there is little fear that a box or fall will jeopardize someone’s Olympic chances - it makes it a true test of 800 ability.

Quick Take #2: Here’s what the LRC community thought of this event before it started:

Quick Take #3: We can’t wait for this one. It should be a treat.

Entrants/Lane Assignments

Women’s 800 Final

As is the case in the men’s final, the women’s 800 final features the top 6 qualifiers as well.

Alysia Montano     Nike     1:57.37     qualified     declared
Maggie Vessey     New Balance     1:58.50     qualified     declared
Alice Schmidt     Nike     1:58.61     qualified     declared
Molly Beckwith     Saucony     1:59.12     qualified     declared
Phoebe Wright     Nike     1:59.25     qualified     declared
Geena Gall     Nike / Oregon TC Elite     1:59.28     qualified     declared

Let’s start with the heavy, heavy favorite - Alysia Montano. The 4th placer at the 2011 Worlds is picked to win this race by 91% of the entrants in our prediction contest.

It would be an absolute stunner if she didn’t and a total catastrophe if she doesn’t finish top three as her 1:57.37 is #2 in the world this year. We are considering her a virtual lock for the team. The only way she doesn’t make it is if she goes out too fast and blows up - and she does like to go out hard. She went out in 55 at Pre and 55 here in the semis. If that didn’t cause her to blow up, we don’t know what well. That being said, we’re 100%  confident that she’ll make it if the clock reads 56 something at 400. If it’s 55 we’ll say 85% but if it’s somehow 54, then we are officially nervous.

But that’s not going to happen so who else makes it besides Montano?

The leading candidate is the #2 runner in the US so far for 2012 and the person who has looked second best so far in the Trials - Molly Beckwith. Beckwith won her semi and then was full of confidence afterwards, "Honestly, I feel very, very smooth this weekend. I'm really looking forward to getting some treatment and some rest the next day, and really get after it on Monday."

Beckwith is confident and we must admit we are pretty confident in her as well.

Who else can make the team?

Well we think the any of the auto qualifiers from the semis have a chance (no real chance for the time qualifiers). But how do you choose between 2011 world’s 6th placer Maggie Vessey, 2008 US Olympian Alice Schmidt, and 2008 and 2009 NCAA champ Geena Gall?  Vessey has a 1:57 pb, Schmidt (who also has the 1500 Olympic A standard) has the strength to help her hold up over three rounds and Gall beat Beckwith convincingly at Pre.  They and Beckwith could all end up as high as second or as low as fifth or sixth. Crazy.

Fellow auto qualifier Phoebe Wright didn’t look quite as good as those but we’re not officially ruling her out.

LRC Updated Prediction: 1) Montano 2) Beckwith 3) Schmidt

Quick Take #1: The battle for 2 and 3 is gonna be a great one to watch.

LRC Fans Predictions For 1st:

Who will win the Women's 800m?
Alysia Montano	91.6%
Molly Beckwith	3.6%
Maggie Vessey	2.4%
Geena Gall	0.9%
Alice Schmidt	0.9%
Phoebe Wright	0.3%
Erica Moore	0.2%
LaTavia Thomas	0%
Other	0%

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