I know 8:40 isn't the NR, but I don't know exactly what it is, that's why I wrote 21+. The point is he's very far away from it, whatever it is.
The other point, which I made on some other thread, is the NR for 800 is one of the only prep records that isn't better than the WR from 1955.
The 800 is an orphan event in high schools. There's no offseason training like football for sprinters or XC for milers. Sprinters can't focus on 800 because their team requires them to run multiple 400's. And milers rarely have the speed to run a great 800.
High school 400 runners are officially almost (unofficially, already) under 45 seconds. But the 800 record is stuck above 1:46. The chance to finally break 1:46 is an opportunity that shouldn't be missed.