Jailen Willis Picks Up 800 Win Under Unusual Circumstances


This past Thursday at the Summer Finale Distance Open, Jailen Willis was ready to lay it on the line for one more track contest prior to switching gears and focusing strictly on cross country training. 

The rising junior from Pickerington Central had made the trek to north-central Indiana to take part in the 800 at IWU, but his race turned out to be far from what he was expecting. 

Originally there were six registered entries for said 800, but confusion started to set in after the meet's official announcer requested that athletes report to the start line up to half a dozen times and it was still just Willis who was checked-in and ready to go.

Now past the 7:45 pm scheduled start time for the meet's opener, it was clear that he'd be the only participant. Despite some understandable disappointment, Willis made the most of what amounted to be a personal time trial and put forth a solid two-lap effort with his 2:07.48 clocking.  

Willis, a 2019 OHSAA Division 1 state champion in the 4x800 relay as a member of the formidable Tigers squad, shared with MileSplit how this strange turn of events impacted him prior to the gun sounding.

Check out his interview above and review additional content below. 

Meet Coverage -