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Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D2 NCAA Outdoor Championship Men's 800 Meters Preview
- John Cusick
- May 21, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: May 23, 2023
Written by John Cusick, edits and additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
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Editor's Note: Our TSR writers were asked to produce three sentences or less of analysis on every entrant in every distance event for every division. We will be slowly rolling out these previews leading up to the outdoor national meets. Stay tuned!
Predictions coming soon
The below list is ordered by seeding.
1. Oussama El Bouchayby (Angelo State)
Ousamma El Bouchayby is the only man in Division Two under the 1:46 (800) barrier this season -- and he’s done that twice since moving to the outdoor oval. The future Alabama transfer is unquestionably the national title favorite in this event going into next weekend and it will take a lifetime effort from someone in this field to take him down.
2. Reece Sharman-Newell (CSU-Pueblo)
Reece Sharman-Newell is one of the most talented half-milers in the country. His raw speed and newfound endurance makes him one of the bigger threats to El Bouchayby’s national title favoritism. Admittedly, we haven’t seen Sharman-Newell live up to expectations on the national stage, but the potential to be a legitimate problem for his Moroccan opponent is very much there.
3. Wes Ferguson (Nebraska-Kearney)
Wes Ferguson has routinely gotten better throughout his career and his 2023 outdoor track campaign was no different. Ferguson cracked the 1:47 (800) barrier earlier this spring, making him one of the five-fastest athletes that Division Two has ever seen for 800 meters. His tactical awareness is truly elite which makes him the greatest all-around contender when it comes to stopping El Bouchayby.
4. Butare Rugenerwa (West Texas A&M)
Butare Rugenerwa is one of three former national champions (the others being Ferguson and El Bouchayby) lining up at the national meet in Pueblo, Colorado next weekend over 800 meters. That fact alone at least puts him in the conversation to win the national title...even if he’s not a focal favorite. Not only that, but this is the strongest that Rugenerwa has been throughout his tenure at West Texas A&M which makes him that much more dangerous.
5. Harry Ross-Hughes (Lake Erie)
There’s something to be said about showing up at the right time and it seems like that’s exactly what Harry Ross-Hughes has done this spring. After never running faster than 1:50.70 (800), Ross-Hughes exploded for marks of 1:49 and 1:48 over the half-mile distance to qualify for the 2023 outdoor national meet. There are still plenty of questions about Ross-Hughes’s tactics and consistency that need to be answered, but at the very least, it appears that he’ll have a puncher’s chance against this incredible field given his recent rise in fitness.
6. Josh Jones (Northwood (MI))
Josh Jones has been quietly getting better throughout this entire calendar year and it’s time that he gets a chance to show off his newfound fitness on the national stage. The biggest question for Jones is, how will he handle the preliminary rounds? He’s only ever broken 1:50 (800) once and it’s more than likely that he’ll need to do that again in order to qualify for the finals next weekend.
7. Shannon Turner (Cal State LA)
Dating back to the opening weekend of the outdoor track season, Shannon Turner has cut 10 (!) seconds off of his 800-meter personal best. His most recent efforts in the event culminated in a time of 1:48.53 which will send Turner to his first-ever national meet. We will see if he can continue to ride that wave into the postseason in hopes that it will overcome his clear lack of experience at this level.
8. Nick Melanese (San Marcos)
Nick Melanese’s new 800-meter personal best (1:48.59) is his fourth PR of this 2023 outdoor track season. He’s currently peaking at the proper time and that, paired with his strength-based fitness, should allow him to play a role in the preliminary rounds. Add in some luck, and Melanese could be a sleeper top-eight finisher.
9. Dylan Burrows (Oklahoma Christian)
Dylan Burrows has quietly become one of the country's more consistent half-milers for Division Two. After finishing 2nd to El Bouchayby at the LSC Outdoor Championships, Burrows returned to the track to drop a monster mark of 1:48.63 over 800 meters to qualify for his second national meet. He recently finished 5th at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships and truthfully, we don’t see anything on his resume which suggests that he has taken a step backwards.
10. Ben Sumner (Azusa Pacific)
Ben Sumner took care of business at the PacWest Outdoor Championships, but that was mostly expected after watching him run 1:48 (800) and 3:45 (1500) at the Bryan Clay Invite. That said, his recent efforts only adds to our confidence level in him. If this Cougar ace continues to race like he has over the last month, then finishing as an All-American might be the floor (rather than the ceiling) for Sumner.
11. Tanner Maier (Minnesota State)
There’s no denying that Tanner Maier is an upper-tier talent when it comes to racing two laps around the track. However, the biggest “what if” aspect for Maier is whether he can safely navigate into the 800-meter finals. Since his bronze medal at the indoor national meet in 2022, he has failed to qualify for the finals, a slight head-scratcher given his fantastic talent.
12. Titus Lagat (Lee (Tenn.))
You could say the same thing about Titus Lagat that was said about Tanner Maier above. Lagat has all of the tools to be one of D2’s best half-milers, but his inconsistency has gotten in the way since his 3rd place finish back at the 2021 outdoor national meet. If he can piece it all together next weekend, then Lagat could fight for another top-five finish, but it’s hard to know if we’ll see that version of him on the national stage.
13. Angel Luera (Dallas Baptist)
Angel Luera ran 1:48.97 for 800 meters in late April to qualify for the national meet. If you remove that race from his resume, his fastest half-mile mark is 1:54.02, making us question if this is Luera’s true fitness level or if that was an anomaly. Luera will toe the line next weekend with tons of upside, but also a lot of questions.
14. Trever Medina (Fort Hays State)
Trever Medina ran 1:50.03 (800) at the Bryan Clay Invitational earlier this season to set a new personal best. In an effort to qualify for the national meet, Medina raced at the Mines Multi-Last Chance meet and exactly matched his personal best. That time came with a conversion which is encouraging to see as he ventures to Pueblo, Colorado, but he’ll probably need to run under 1:50 to qualify for the 800-meter finals.
15. Kaleb Tipton (CSU-Pueblo)
Kaleb Tipton should be one of your dark horse picks to finish inside the top-eight at next weekend’s outdoor national meet. Tipton recently set a new 800 meter personal best at the RMAC Outdoor Championships and that alone should raise our confidence level in him. It also helps that Tipton will be racing on his home track and his familiarity with that track, as well as his sneaky-extensive experience, could give him an upper-hand in a tactical setting.
16. Scott Spaanstra (Grand Valley State)
Since setting his 800-meter personal best of 1:49.19 back in 2021, Scott Spaanstra had not broken the 1:50 barrier. But nearly two years later, Spaanstra was able to put together another sensational half-mile effort to get himself back into the national meet. He’ll need to muster another strong performance in the preliminary rounds if he wants to replicate his 7th place finish in this event from the 2021 outdoor national meet.
17. Drew Weber (Western Washington)
Drew Weber is the lone participant who is attempting the 1500/800 meter double at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and we all know how hard that can be. Weber has shown us that he’s in the best fitness of his Western Washington career, but you could say that about a lot of the men in this 800-meter field. He’ll need to rely on a tactical preliminary round in order to keep his legs fresh enough given his goals in the metric mile.
18. Aris Valerio (Cal Poly Humboldt)
Aris Valerio had a breakout race at Azusa Pacific’s “last chance” meet during the final weekend of the Division Two regular season. This will be his first national meet and how easily he’s able to acclimate to the big stage will determine the level of success he sees. He’ll need to be excellent tactically while running the best/fastest 800-meter race of his life if he wants a shot at becoming an All-American.
19. Braxton Bruer (MSU-Moorhead)
Braxton Bruer’s breakout streak of performances came during the indoor track season and he has since brought over that fitness to the outdoor oval as he ran under the 1:50 (800) barrier not once, but twice. He’s the last man to qualify for the 800 meters and he’ll likely need another lifetime race to make the finals. That said, if Bruer can dictate the race, then we could see him sneak into the finals yet again.
