Big South Championship Preview: Men's 800-Meters

Men's Track and Field VMIKeydets.com

Big South Championship Preview: Men's 800-Meters

From now through Friday, VMIKeydets.com will provide a preview of this coming weekend's Big South Indoor Track and Field Championships, set for Saturday and Sunday in Clemson, S.C. The first four days of the preview will feature one in-depth event preview per day, with a focus on events that could favor the VMI squad, and will culminate with a video interview with Coach Darrin Webb that will air on Friday. The preview continues today with the men's 800-meters.
 
Without question, the favorite in this event is VMI's Felix Kitur. Kitur is undefeated in the Big South since joining the conference in 2008, and has won four straight league titles in this race (two indoor, two outdoor). His 1:46.75 time at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor East Regional remains a Big South record, and his 1:49.55 clocking last weekend at Virginia Tech allowed him to provisionally qualify for this year's indoor NCAA meet. That effort is also the fastest time in the Big South this year by 3.6 seconds.

In the cast of challengers to Kitur's crown, one man stands out. Josh Morgan of High Point is one of the most versatile runners in conference history, as he showed last year at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets. During the indoor version, Morgan was third in this event and sixth in the mile, before finishing second in the outdoor 800-meters and third in the 1,500-meters.

Top Contenders:
Kitur, VMI: The Eldoret, Kenya native has run just three races this year, but each effort has contained something notable. In his season debut at January's Great Dane Classic, he posted an IC4A qualifying time, and he followed that up by bettering that effort at the Akron Invitational two weeks ago. That second-place finish led into last weekend's time at Virginia Tech, and seems to be pointing towards a positive upswing for the Keydet standout.

Morgan, High Point: The experienced veteran, who ranks second on this year's Big South performance list (1:53.19) is seeking his first Big South title in any event. His presence will force Kitur to not overlook this race, and the VMI runner must put forth a solid, consistent effort in order to prevail.

Others:
Eliud Chirchir, UNC Asheville: Chirchir has appeared in just two 800-meter races this year, but posted a two-second improvement during his last run, where he took the win during a meet at Appalachian State this past Thursday. The 1:54.30 time is the third-best in the conference this year, and he is the only runner besides Kitur and Morgan to break the 1:55 mark.

Josiah Stanton-Brooks, Gardner-Webb: Brooks, a freshman out of Seattle, ran a 1:55.17 time in mid-January. That effort remains fourth on the season's performance list, and makes Stanton-Brooks a threat to get on the podium this weekend.

Dean Gonsalves, VMI: Gonsalves is perhaps the most intriguing middle-distance runner in the Big South, as he did not compete until the start of this month but currently sits in the Big South's top-10 in both the 800-meters and the mile. His two 800-meter races saw significant improvement, as he went from just over two minutes to a 1:56.86 effort at Akron. The time ranks sixth on the conference performance list so far this year.
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Players Mentioned

Dean Gonsalves

Dean Gonsalves

Mid-Distance
Junior
Felix Kitur

Felix Kitur

Mid-Distance
Junior

Players Mentioned

Dean Gonsalves

Dean Gonsalves

Junior
Mid-Distance
Felix Kitur

Felix Kitur

Junior
Mid-Distance