Turn Back The Clock Tuesday: Hoyle vs Steeves 800m Battle
The 800m race at the 2017 Class A indoor state meet was one to remember. Messalonskee junior Zach Hoyle entered as the second seed with a best of 1:58.64 on the season while Bonny Eagle senior Ben Steeves was the top seed with a slightly faster 1:58.56. Both athletes were coming off wins at their respective conference championships.
From the gun Hoyle took the lead and set a blistering pace for the first 100m, he led coming through 200m in 28 flat with Steeves on his shoulder. Hoyle continued to lead through 400m hit in 56.9, but Steeves was chomping at the bit and moved to the outside of Zach on the backstretch and went into the lead with 600m to go. Steeves opened up a 8 meter lead as the hit the back stretch for the last time, Hoyle started to close the gap a bit with 100m to go but Steeves still had five meters on him with 75 meters to go. Hoyle dropped his head coming off the final turn, and came even with Steeves with 30m to go. He was able to pass, and would pump his fist as he crossed the line in a time a personal best 1:56.74, Steeves would run 1:57.08 for second. Those marks were the second and third fastest in Class A state meet history as well as the sixth and seventh fastest in state history.
Hoyle & Steeves both compete in the division three. Hoyle attends the University of Southern Maine, while Steeves attends WPI. Hoyle has a collegiate best of 1:51.17 for 800m, he is a two time NCAA D3 All-American. Steeves personal best is now 1:52.88, he was set to compete in the 2019-2020 indoor national meet in the Distance Medley Relay.
Results
1 Zach Hoyle JR Messalonskee 1:56.74 3 10 2 Ben Steves SR Bonny Eagle 1:57.08 3 8 3 Joshua Lombardo SR Westbrook 2:00.94 3 6 4 Ethan Orach 12 Gorham 2:01.44 3 4 5 Abbas Muktar JR Lewiston 2:05.33 3 3 6 Aden Mohamed SR Lewiston 2:06.22 3 2 7 Jared Willette SR Bangor 2:06.68 3 1 8 Daniel Turner JR Messalonskee 2:06.90 2 9 Brandon Whitlock SR Westbrook 2:07.42 2 10 Brian Farino SO Scarborough 2:07.61 2 11 Shamus Malia SR Scarborough 2:07.72 3 12 Noah Drapeau SO Scarborough 2:07.74 2 13 Brody Bate SR Marshwood 2:07.91 1 14 Josh Stanley SO Hampden 2:08.35 2 15 Alex Ousback 11 Gorham 2:09.15 2 16 Logan Pomerleau SR Noble 2:09.87 3 17 Jordan Fournier SR Bonny Eagle 2:09.96 2 18 Mohamed Abdurahman SO Deering 2:10.94 1 19 Jon Donnelly JR Brewer 2:11.13 1 20 Andrew Chingos FR Brunswick 2:12.23 1 21 JD Ndayishimye SR Westbrook 2:14.28 1 22 Jacob O'Berry SR Thornton 2:14.67 1 23 Jeremy Bennett SR Windham 2:14.87 1 24 Matt Pritchett SR Marshwood 2:16.47 1 25 Jarrod Hooper JR Massabesic 2:19.40 2 26 Wilder Baldwin JR Deering 2:19.72 3 27 Erik Larkin JR Scarborough 2:21.30 2
Interview with Hoyle after victory