Whitney Young's Julian Deville (right) shown here leading in the 800 meter run versus Kulayfi Haji (left) of Lane Tech in the 800 meter run at the Lane Tech Quad earlier this year. Deville is the premier middle distance runner in the CPS and he is only a sophomore.
800 meter run preview
The 800 meter run is always one of the most popular races in any track meet. This year, the excitement will raise to even greater levels as the Public League has gotten tremendously stronger in this event compared to last year. For instance, last year the winning time at city was 2:00.90 by Mather's Jeremy Weber. This year the winning time maybe much better than that because of one man, Julian Deville of Whitney Young. Deville has already run a 1:58.7 at the Lane Tech Quad earlier this year and he seems to be improving every time he runs. See the "Deville-inator's" 1:58.9 run.
Also,last year it took only a 2:16.15 to score at city in the 800. Payton's Neil Dikem-Malonis ran a 2:16.15 in the 800 to finish 8th. This year, there have been already at least 13 runners that have broken the 2:10 mark in the 800. See the Leaderboard. At this pace, a runner may have to run at least a 2:06 to finish in the top 8. A whole 10 SECONDS BETTER than last year's 2:16 required to score.
So who are the expected favorites in the 800 meter? It starts with Julian Deville of Whitney Young. If he runs the 800 he will be the clear favorite. No one in the CPS has come within 3 seconds of Deville so far this year. The closest so far has been Kulayfi Haji of Lane Tech who has run a 2:01.9. But Haji is not likely to run the 800 at city. So the next best challenger to Deville will probably come from Romeo Jurardo of Lakeview. Juarardo does not run cross contry becaus he plays soccer so he has been a bit of an unknown until this year until the Mather Invite earlier this year. At that meet he ran a 2:03.04 in the 800 and beat much more heralded runners Ivan Coronel of Mather and Cuit Pineda of Northside.
Another person to look out for in the 800 will be Vincent Perkins of Harlan. Perkins has the 5th best 800 time in the 800 meter run in the Leaderboard. He ran a season best 2:05.4 at the South Side Meet. He ran practically unopposed and has the talent to run close to 2:00 flat. We also can't forget Mather. Mather may likely run Mikey Medina or Alex Sorapu in the 800 this year. Both are capable of low 2:00's times.
400 meter run preview
Last year, Jovan Williams of Lincoln Park came out of practically no where to win the 400 meter run. This year, if Chris Kyles of Lane Tech or Julian Deville of Whitney Young does not run the open 400, the 400 is wide open. There are a host of potential candidates that could be this year's "Jovan Williams". Some of the possible contenders in the 400 besides Kyles could be: Steven Clark of Harlan, Steven Wiley of Kenwood, Marlon Marshall of Urban Prep, Welton Crayton of Harlan, Michael Henry of Lane Tech, Malcolm Brown of Kenwood, Vincent Perkins of Harlan, or heck even freshman Mac Melto of Northside Prep and Spencer Williams of Calumet (if they run at the varsity level). All of those runners are capable of breaking out with a time in the very low 50's.
But the race everyone would love to see is a showdown between Chris Kyles of Lane Tech and Julian Deville of Whitney Young. Kyles is the one of the top sprinters in the state and his focus has been the 100 and 200. But he did run a CPS best 51.31 in the 400 at the Mather Invite. Some feel Lane Tech coach may decide to run Kyles in the 100, 200, and 400 at city. So there is a chance that a match up with Deville may happen. It is not even certain yet wheter Deville will run the 400. But if he does watch out. He is the top 800 meter runner and has the speed to run a blazing 800. If Kyles and Deville do match up in the 400, that may be a race for the ages. The winner may have to break :50 in order to win.
coming up....distance preview
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