Zach Mellon, the recent graduate of Buffalo High School who won state titles in the 800 meters as a sophomore and junior and placed second in that event this spring, was the runner-up in the junior men’s 800 today at the USA Track and Field national championships in Eugene, Ore.

In an eight-man field that included current college runners from Stanford, Washington, the University of California and Portland State as well as high school champions from several states, Mellon took the lead on the final turn and held it until the final strides. That’s when Joe Abbott of Washington State moved in front. Abott won in a time of 1:51.54, followed by Mellon in 1:51.70 and Stanford’s Dylan Ferris in 1:51.89. Fourth was 2008 champ Elijah Greer, a prep star from Oregon.

Mellon also finished second in the race last year; in that event he set the Minnesota state high school record of 1:48.64, which remains his personal best.

Sunday’s race was Mellon’s final high school event. He will continue his track career at Wisconsin.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.