Exactly hand timed, plus with a running start this is worth a 24 second 200m. On a good day I give him a 23 FAT which will barely put him under 50 seconds for the 400m
You don't know what you're talking about. 23 speed might equal 49-50 for a sprinter-type, but distance runners typically even-split their 400's and run much closer to their 200 PR's while doing it. I could see Sahlman hitting 47-high to 48-low, which should be plenty of speed to run 1:46 with his endurance.
More like 200+1.5 which has him at 49s.
Last year he was a 1:49 guy. Has he improved either his speed or endurance since then enough so that we can expect significantly faster 800m times? Maybe his workouts tell him he is now in 7:50 shape or he is running those 200s faster. But running a 4:07 mile and getting destroyed just doesn't scream much better shape. Obviously just 1 race...
Very difficult. I thought Elijah Greer (Oregon) was going to break it when he ran 1:47.68 as a HS junior. Ran 1:48.97 as a senior.
Similarly, when Zavon Watkins (Liverpool NY) split a 1:47.9 as a soph it seemed like the record was toast for sure. He never even got the NY record (1:48.56). The 800 is a weird, weird event and 1:46.45 is an incredible mark. Sahlman has good ability but I would be shocked if he breaks it.
I ran a few 800m's against him. Lol I felt like I shouldn't have been in the same race. In 4x8's if it was even close going into the anchor legs the race was basically over.
Aaron ran a 22.64 200 at the end of his workout today. That's pretty fearsome raw speed for an NXN champ. Surprised his mile last week didn't go better but the HS 800 record is in real danger this season.
Great split to end a workout! Definitely indicates he's working on the area everyone has addressed as a weakness. Should give him confidence in his speed but, as many people have mentioned, the time is gonna be faster than a block start and FAT time. For reference, my freshman year of college I closed a sprint workout in ~24.9 and I was only a 2:04 guy. I think Aaron should be able to translate that speed into an 800 better than I can though.
It's worth noting that Sebastian Coe was also an 800/mile guy, even as ran 46.8 in the open 400M and would split low-to-high 45's in the 4x400. Despite have an insane aerobic capacity, he still had the capability to run 45s in the quarter, thus enabling him to run 1:41 in his prime.
The bottom line is that no matter what, you HAVE to have insane speed to be an elite 800M runner. It's the same reason why 400 runners stepping up to the 800, like Sumner, a 45 runner in HS, excel in the 800 so easily.