Kipyego seventh in 800 meters
Saints sophomore one place away from earning All-America honors
PAWTUCKET — Before he left for the New Balance Outdoor National Championships in Greensboro, N.C., St. Raphael Academy’s Darius Kipyego had designs on claiming All-American status in the 800 meters.
Unfortunately for him, he fell 37-hundredths of a second shy of the sixth-place finish that would have cinched it.
Running in the third of four Championship Division heats on Saturday afternoon, he hustled to a time of 1:52.38, which was good enough for third overall in that particular race. Sophomore Miles Brown of Novi Track Club in Michigan earned a heat-winning 1:51.49 clocking, while junior Jackson Walker of Coppell High in Texas placed second in 1:51.98.
After the final heat of the 800, four others had edged Kipyego’s time, leaving him rather disheartened with an overall seventh-place finish.
Kipyego had claimed All-America honors in the 600 during the national indoor meet at The Armory in New York City back in March.
His Ocean State archrival, Classical junior Conor Murphy, finished third in 1:51.30.
“Darius’ best time is 1:52.05, and he did that at Bentley University in the Battle Road Twilight High Performance Meet on May 11,” SRA coach Chris Magill stated upon return to the Ocean State. “We were hoping to break that, but he just missed it. Still, it’s unbelievable that two Rhode Islanders would place in the top seven nationally in the 800. It’s actually incredible.
“Look at the history behind the New Balance Nationals, how deep it is especially in these events, and to think these two kids are among the elite in the entire country,” he added. “I mean, they go to high schools maybe four or five miles apart, and they rank third and seventh in the nation in the 800? Amazing.”
Magill noted that he and Kipyego had spoken, as usual, several times before his individual race, and Magill had told him he would have to place in the top two in his heat to stand a prayer of recording a top-six finish (the standard to achieve the All-American honor).
“He took third, which ultimately left him one spot out,” Magill sighed. “The winner (senior Tyler Shue of Ephrata High in Tyler, PA) had a winning time of 1:50.39. Can you believe it? The national champion ran that, and here’s a kid from Saints (Kipyego lives in Warwick), and he’s less than two seconds behind – and he’s run faster.
“Was he upset? No. Disappointed? Yes, because he wanted it so badly,” Magill said. “He wants to be the best, and he’s always striving to attain that. I went on a warm-down run with him when it was over, and when we were done, I tried to explain to him what an outstanding year he had.
“I said, ‘You’ve had one of best in St. Ray’s history, and it has an extremely rich tradition for producing distance-running talent; that goes back to Jimmy Doyle,” he continued. “Now that’s saying something. When I told him that, it seemed to bring him around. Right after a race, I mean, it gets emotional.”
“But we also talked about what he needs to do to get better, faster. Neither one of us are satisfied with taking seventh, so we discussed what our game plan should be to move up in the standings.
“That is to have a solid summer of training, and to improve his cross-country (abilities). He’s well known being an 800 guy, but I told him “Let’s see what we can do to develop more strength and conditioning. Let’s see how running longer distances can help you. Maybe it will help you finish (the 800) stronger.”
Next up for Kipyego: He went directly to Miramar, Fla. to prepare for the USATF-sponsored and -affiliated National Under-20 Outdoor Championships this weekend. He will run the 800, and Magill will attend after taking care of some work obligations.