Men’s 800 at NYC GP looks sick: Sumner, Murphy, Hoppel, Miller, Kessler

I'd like to see Sumner drop another 1:45/1:44 and at the same time get worked a little by Murphy and Hoppel, giving him a feel for the limits of his current fitness on the world stage. I've never rated Miller, but maybe this race will change that. Can Kessler go sub-1:46?

Could be a great opportunity for Sumner to get his name out there on a global level. Murphy at least seems to be in decent form, and he has a global medal and 1:42 PR. A win over him wouldn't be meaningless. If Kessler can be competitive outside his main event and hit a 1:44-1:45 time, that bodes well for the future. I said coming into this season he would be the breakout star this year (making the jump from a top junior runner to a top senior runner) and I'm hoping to see some big things from him.

I‘m expecting Hobbs run 1:45 mid.

Will anyone go with the pace? I’m hoping Miller will confidently do so because if we end up with a tactical 1:45 with Murphy, Sumner and Hoppel all sandbagging…zzzz

I'm hoping Kessler drops a 1:44 high. Big ask, but he opened up beating Teare in 3:32, so he's a favorite for the team this year. A 1:44.9-1:45.2 puts him up in contention with Nuguse (and maybe a healthy Hocker), and he mentioned wanting to lower his 800 time this year.

After only managing 1:45.2 last year, Murphy looked good running 1:44.7 back in May. I think in 2021 he ran like 1:43.0 at the Trials, then underperformed at the (unusually weak) Olympics. After that blanket 1:43 finish (in Paris?) a few weeks ago, it looks like a medal this year is gonna take a career best from Murphy, so hopefully he continues improving here.

I read about Monaco 2020 today and Hoppel came 2nd there behind Brazier. They seem like 2 of the most hurt by the Olympics getting pushed back a year. Is this his season opener? Is Miller that really young guy? I like him I wanna see him run well.

What's Sumner gonna look like? Is he gonna be in a big training block or looking to just keep his form from NCAAs? If he's in NCAA shape, I wanna see him chasing 1:42. That fat negative split at NCAAs has me on the hype train, and this may give us a good idea if he has a Brazier type post-season or a Murphy type post-season.

Not sure about that, I wouldn't say Morgan Beadlescomb is in that good of shape and he was right with Hobbs

We’ll see which Clayton Murphy shows up - he ran 1:49 for last place in France the other day:

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Dude is frustrating as hell.

Hobbs wins in 1:40.7 new WR

All seriousness as long as Hobbs is competitive that’s the goal

Clayton Murphy says he's not racing. If what he's saying is genuine, pretty lame of the meet organisers.

This meet is put on by Agent Mark Wetmore. That means that it is an Adidas ghetto picnic. Very few Nike athletes will be in attendance.

Should be an easy layup for Hoppel, sans Murphy. The Hobbs factor could be interesting though.

I think Bealescomb is low key a guy with great top end speed, not necessarily the best kick at the end of a race per se, but his sprint mechanics are very clean and smooth

I’m not convinced; he hasn’t looked like his 2019-2021 self this year. Both Sumner and Miller come in with better SBs, and Hoppel hasn’t run faster than Sumner’s NCAA winning time in over 2 years now.

I’ll say:

1. Sumner 1:44.7

2. Miller 1:44.9

3. Hoppel 1:45.2

4. Kessler 1:45.7

5. Harris 1:45.7

6. Sanchez 1:46.1

7. Sowinski 1:46.5

8. Alvarado 1:47.5

Order looks good but 7 guys won't run 1:46.

Agreed. it will be disappointing if with this field they can't break 1:44. It's time to run fast.

Probably not, but I don’t like to predict that someone’s gonna run a relative crap race when I have no reason to.

One of the first races with most of the USA 800 contenders in it… unfortunately, I feel that means they will try to tactically feel each other out.

I don’t think anyone goes 1:44, but I would be happy to be proven wrong.