USATF Championships preview - Women's 800m

EDITOR'S NOTE: AnnGaff and LesleyHiggins are writing these previews for the USA Track & Field Championships, taking place this weekend in Eugene, OR, based on their firsthand Track & Field experience. Gaffigan and Higgins competed against each other in college, with Gaffigan representing the Nebraska Huskers and Higgins representing the Colorado Buffs. Both women competed last year in the 3000m Steeplechase at the Olympic Trials. This year, the two are spectators-from-afar of the USATF Championships/World Team Trials; Higgins is out with a broken foot and Gaffigan gave birth to a baby girl in May.

800m: First Round on Thursday, June 25 at 5:15pm
Semi-Final on Friday, June 26 at 5:55pm
Final on Sunday, June 28 at 1:53pm

Top 10 entry times:

Hazel Clark 1:59.82
Morgan Uceny 2:00.01
Maggie Vessey 2:00.18
Geena Gall 2:00.80
Laura Hermanson 2:01.37
Latavia Thomas 2:01.56
Katie Waits 2:01.78
Phoebe Wright 2:02.15
Nikeya Green 2:02.36
Molly Beckwith 2:02.51

My picks:

1. Hazel Clark
2. Geena Gall
3. Maggie Vessy

I am not as familiar with the 800m as I am with the other distance and middle distnance events, so I am only going as far as top-3. I feel like the 800m is such a tactical race, that qualifying times don't really give that much information, so it is harder to make picks. That being said, here is my reasoning:

Hazel Clark's sub-2min run comes from the Trials last year. She has yet to dip under 2:01 this year, but I have also never seen her fail to deliver in a major meet, so I cannot help but pick her for the overall win, she is such a competitor.

Geena Gall is fresh off of a dominating win at the NCAA championships, where she held the lead for a large portion of the race and ran her 2:00.80 qualifying time in the final round of a two-round competition. She might be tired, considering that she has had to weather the long collegiate season that starts with indoor track, which many professional runners don't necessarily have to deal with, but since she ran a new personal best in the finals of NCAAs just two weeks ago, I think she can continue her hot streak.

My third pick was a tough one, but I ultimately went with Maggie Vessy who shocked even herself with a win at the Pre Classic in her breakthrough performance of 2:00.18 (which could have possibly been sub-2:00 if she hadn't let up at the finish). She ran incredibly even splits, even to the point where she looked like she was losing contact at 400m. I have no idea if she will be able to handle the multiple rounds, but my instinct tells me that a tactical runner probably has the best shot of feeling fresh on day 3. And, with a fresh dose of confidence, I think she might be able to shock herself again.

Morgan Uceny has one of the top-3 seed times, and has shown a lot of promise with fast times and an eye-catching break-through season in 2007, but had a hard time running three rounds last year, and therefore I had to bump her out of the top-3.

USATF Championships Schedule, Results & Quotes

USATF Championships Day 1 Recap

USATF Championships Day 2 Recap

USATF Championships Day 3 Recap

USATF Championships Day 4 Recap

More USATF Championships Previews:

• Discus
• Hammer
• High Jump
• Javelin
• Long Jump
• Pole Vault
• Triple Jump
• Shot Put
• Heptathlon
• 100m
• 100m Hurdles
• 200m
• 400m
• 400m Hurdles
• 800m
• 1500m
• 3000m Steeplechase
• 5000m
• 10,000m

Watch the USATF Championships:

On TV:

ESPN, June 26, 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET
ESPN, June 27, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. ET
NBC, June 28, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET

Online:

LIVE All Weekend at Flotrack.org

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• Filed Under:  
• Track & Field, Sports

• Tags:
• track
• USATF
• championships 800m
• hazel clark
• geena gall
• maggie vessy