Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Jacob Koczman and the 800 meter finals

It was a personal best by four tenths of a second (.4), which at this level is no small feat. It was clear from watching Jacob run on the television that he ran his best (his time bears that out), and that he was also unhappy with how he placed after the race. That's natural, but i hope that when Jacob can get some distance from this race and some perspective that he can take satisfaction from what he did. Coming from a small college like Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, Koczman was able to not only compete at an elite level but qualify for the Olympic Trials. How many hundreds of runners try to qualify and fail? How many thousands of runners (and would be runners) only dream of being able to just qualify? 30 men ran in the Trials for the 800 meters. These are the elite of the elite in American running at that distance. Jacob ran so well that he beat 22 of them. 22 men of these elite did not make the finals. Jacob did. I hope that when he gets the perspective he can look and be proud of his incredible accomplishment. I know that i'm impressed.


Men 800 Meter Run

World: W 1:41.11 8/24/1997 Wilson Kipketer, KEN
American: A 1:42.60 8/28/1985 Johnny Gray, Santa Monica T
Stadium: 1:45.67 7/23/2000 Mark Everett, unattached
Name Year Team Finals

Finals
1 Jonathan Johnson Texas Tech 1:44.77
2 Khadevis Robinson Nike 1:44.91
3 Derrick Peterson adidas 1:45.08
4 David Krummenacker adidas 1:45.67
5 Jesse O'Connell Unattached 1:46.55
6 Jebreh Harris Holyfield Intl. 1:46.66
7 Samuel Burley Asics 1:46.84
8 Jacob Koczman Indiana Invaders 1:47.06

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