Oviedo’s Austin runs national best for 800m
Oviedo High School’s Sam Austin became just the second runner in area history to run the 800-meter dash in less than one minute and 50 seconds in Saturday’s Bob Mosher Wildcat Open at Showalter Field.
The stellar senior was officially given a national-leading time of 1:50.00 as he won by more than 15 seconds in a meet hosted by Winter Park. Meet officials made note that the exact time was 1:49.991, according to Oviedo coach Dave Tibbets.
Just eight Florida high schoolers previously had gone under 1:50, most recently Avery Bartlett (1:49.66) of Tallahassee Chiles in the 2015 New Balance Nationals meet.
Austin, who signed with the University of Florida in
November, now ranks ninth on the all-time 800 list and No. 2 in Orlando area history.
Former Colonial and University of Florida standout Andres Arroyo set the state and area records when he clocked a 1:47.79 time at the 2013 Florida Relays. That was sixth best in high school history at the time.
Arroyo went on to reach the semifinal round in the 2016 Olympics representing Puerto Rico.
Tibbets said Austin will probably run both the 400 and 800 in Thursday’s Seminole Athletic Conference meet at Lake Brantley.
The 800 is his specialty and he has turned in victories and elite times in all three of his two-lap races this year. He ran a 1:53.30 indoor 800 in Virginia in January and opened his outdoor campaign with a 1:51.24 in February at Lake
Howell.
The national best time for 2021, going into Saturday, was a 1:50.48 by Robert Whitmarsh of Clute Brazoswood in Texas, according to MileSplit.