Scarborough senior Zachary Barry fresh off his twenty-eight points from the Class A state meet on Monday toed the line in the 800m at the BU Last Chance Invitational on Sunday. Barry who was the state leader in the event at 1:58.14 was aiming to break the Maine indoor 800m record of 1:53.72 set by Westbrook's Mahamed Sharif back in 2019. Entering the meet Zach's indoor personal best was 1:55.24 set last year at the adidas Indoor Nationals.
Barry ran a smart race sitting back in the pack and following the strong early pace, his 200m split was 27.37, followed by a 28.04 which put him at 55.41. He moved into striking position on the third lap as he went from fourth to third just before the bell covering the lap in 28.56 (1:23.97). Barry moved into second on the backstretch before making his final move off the last turn to win section five in 1:52.85, he covered his final lap in 28.89. The time broke the state record, was a senior class record as well as a new school record for the University of Connecticut bound senior. Next year he will get to train with Sharif full-time for Huskies.
They say timing is everything in life, and Barry almost didn't make it to race on Sunday. He was in Florida on vacation after the state meet and had planned to fly home on Saturday however his flight was canceled. He ended up flying into Newark, New Jersey with his dad and drove up to Boston. The only racing gear he had was his spikes which he had brought with him for a workout so he had to go out and purchase a new racing kit.
Next up for Zach will be the new England Championships on Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center where he will either run the 1000m or the mile. Then it will be onto the New Balance Indoor Nationals as he will run with his Scarborough teammates in the Sprint Medley Relay.