Carlos Villarreal pulls away from the field over the final 200m. Beating Jordan Gardner 1:54.23 to 1:56.32. Arizona Milesplit Photo.
Normally May weather in Arizona is described as either hot or really hot. Yesterday, the distance runners got reprieve from the suns heat though. In fact it was a little chilly as a fan. That was the good news headed into the 800m. The bad news was that it was a little windy as well. Not exceptionally so, but enough one could feel it. With the meet being on time the division 3 800m boys ran about 7:00m. There was a tangible sense of excitement in the stadium. Earlier that afternoon Carlos Villarreal had run a 4:03 1600m and the crowd was eager to see him again, even more so since he would be facing two other elite distance runners in Jeffery Miller and Jordan Gardner.
As the runners toed the line, it was obvious one of the big three was missing. Jeffery Miller of Page was nowhere to be found at the starting line. His competitors did not know his where abouts either. As a result, the projected match up of the three half mile-ing titans was reduced to two…Carlos and Jordan Gardner.
Jordan's pre-race plan was to go out in 54 and come back in 57. When the gun went off it was apparent his 400m prelim race took more out of his legs than he had expected. It was also obvious Carlos was happy to let him take care of the early pace setting duties. There was no Jeffery to keep the pace quick like there had been in the 1600m. When the runners came through the first lap in 58 it was evident that another state record was not going to fall. Carlos was happy about this though. “I just wanted to survive, my legs were pretty tired," the Rio Rico harrier explained, “When he didn't go out fast I knew that to my advantage." However he knew that he couldn't let off the gas pedal. “He has great speed I knew I had to keep pushing." At this point Carlos decided to make his move to the front.
Seeing Carlos go by might be disheartening for most runners but Jordan didn't let it phase him. “I just wanted to hang on. I knew he has a great kick," explained Jordan. As the athletes completed the third and headed down the back stretch Carlos started to open up some space, but wasn't sure how much. At the 200m mark he was still cranking hard. “I go to go now," he recalled, “I wasn't thinking, just trying to finish." Very few athletes have ever beat Carlos over the last 200m of a distance race and today was no exception. Finishing in 1:54.23, Carlos claimed his second state championship on the day. Jordan was very happy for him “I am so proud of him, the best runner came out on top."
Make sure to make your way back to MCC this afternoon. The two of them will be going head to head in the 4x800m relay, hopefully Jeffery is not injured and will be joining them.