Will Sumner Breaks Georgia State 800m Outdoor Record

The records keep coming for Will Sumner. 

The Woodstock (GA) High School senior logged a personal and career milestone on Saturday on his home track, setting the Georgia state record for 800 meters at the Woodstock Wolverine Invitational, clocking a new U.S. No. 1 time of 1:48.94. 

He's just the fifth Georgian to ever go under 1:50 for the distance -- surpassing former record-holder Devin Dixon, who ran 1:49.52 in 2016 -- and shattered his previous best of 1:51.67, which he set in May of last year at the RunningLane Track Championships. 

Of course, the performance was just the beginning of a potential record-breaking year for Sumner. 

While the time stands as a new Georgia state record, it falls just shy of the nation's top 50 performances all-time, as it now sits at No. 52 in the high school rankings.

However, it may be the fastest performance ever recorded in March ... by a pretty good margin. The next fastest March performance in the MileSplit database is 1:49.41, last recorded by Blake Shaw in 2008. 

For perspective, Michael Granville, the national high school record holder at 800m, owns five efforts under 1:50 over his high school career, with one coming in 1994, two in 1995 and two more in 1996. 

Sumner still has one more indoor meet left, as the Woodstock senior and Georgia recruit scheduled to run in the 200m and 400m at Nike Indoor Nationals. 

His opening outdoor performance in the 800m on Saturday is approximately seven seconds faster than his opening time from 2021 of 1:55.75. 

Georgia Record Books