Fast 800m Caps off Day 2 of 2022 Nike Outdoor Nationals

Union Athletics Club’s Charlie Hunter runs 1:47.50 at Hayward Field on Friday. Photo by Logan Hannigan-Downs

By Cassie Cole

Runners in the men’s 800m invitational had big goals in mind at Friday’s Nike Outdoor National championships. The Road to OR22 continued at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon as middle-distance runners competed against the clock.

The focus of Friday evening’s event was on Australia's Charlie Hunter and Will Sumner of Woodstock High School in Georgia. Hunter, a former Oregon Duck, was aiming to run the 800m world qualifying standard to compete for Australia at the World Athletics Championships this summer. Sumner’s goal was to break the national high school record of 1:46.45.

Hunter and Sumner were joined by former Ducks Travis Thompson, Matt Wisner, and Reed Brown, who helped pace the race but dropped off during the second lap. Fans were also on the track, lining the home stretch to cheer on the runners. 

The track was also set up with pacer lights timed to the standards that Hunter and Sumner were hoping to beat. Although the race took off at a fast pace, neither runner was quite able to keep with the lights.

“I didn’t feel great today, just kind of from the get-go it was hard to settle in and never really did,” Hunter explained after the race. He finished with a time of 1:47.50, two and a half seconds off from the qualifying time of 1:45.20.

Hunter credits part of his result to having a busy month. After racing nearly every week for the past several weeks, he’s beginning to feel a bit tired.

“Physically I’m probably in shape to run well under the standard, but if you’re not mentally prepared to go at that daunting pace, you’re not gonna do it,” said Hunter. He discussed the importance of mental preparation for a race and what he does to prepare himself:

“Just convincing myself that I deserve to be here and that I can run these quick times,” Hunter said. “Really a lot of self-talk, pumping myself up.”

Although Hunter was unable to run the standard on Friday, there’s still hope for him to compete in the World Athletics Championships next month. He may have one more race to try for 1:45, but even if he doesn’t have any more competitions between now and Worlds, he hopes that his ranking among Australian middle-distance runners may qualify him for the team.

Making the Australian team is doubly important for Hunter, considering the location of the competition. The world championships will be held at Hayward Field, right in Hunter’s backyard. Competing at Worlds would be the pinnacle of a long journey of competing in the state of Oregon.

“This is one of those chapters in your career that you’ll cherish forever,” said Hunter. “I went to school here, I live down the road—it doesn’t get better than that.”

In contrast, Sumner is just at the beginning of his running journey at Hayward Field. The senior from Woodstock, GA will be competing in the boy’s 800m championship on Sunday as well as the U20 Outdoor Championships 800m race next week. For Sumner, Friday’s run was more of a learning opportunity than a record-breaking race.

“It may not have gone as I wanted to, but either way it was just really cool to be a part of it,” said Sumner. “More [about] just getting the opportunity to run with the best people in the world.”

After Thompson, Wisner and Brown stepped off the track, Sumner turned his attention to following Hunter.

“It’s a little weird; it’s almost like running in practice,” said Sumner about his two-man race. “I thought if I could just stick with [Hunter] as long as I could, I’d run fast.” Sumner finished the race with a time of 1:48.41.

Although Sumner didn’t beat the high school record on Friday, he has more opportunities coming his way in the next week. It may seem like a lot of racing, but Sumner feels confident about what he has in store.

“I don’t think this is the last of me for the season,” said Sumner. “Hopefully when U20s come around, I’m ready to go.”