Archbishop Wood’s Gary Martin takes third in 800-meter showdown with California rival Colin Sahlman

The mile has made the two high schoolers famous, but it was still the only race all year in which they ran against each other.

Gary Martin of Archbishop Wood waves after finishing first in the High School Boys' Mile Run Championship at the Penn Relays in April.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

by Staff Reports

Published Jun. 15, 2022, 7:55 p.m. ET

The highly anticipated matchup between Archbishop Wood’s running sensation Gary Martin and California track phenom Colin Sahlman took place Wednesday at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle. Both took part in the 800-meter race.

Martin made a big move on the second lap, moving to the front of the field, but he was chased down by Sahlman of Newbury Park High, who moved up from the inside of the track, as well as Ohio state champion and 800 specialist Nick Plant, who moved up from the outside.

Plant took over the lead from Martin in the last 100 meters, but Sahlman outkicked him in the final 20 meters to clinch victory in a winning time of 1 minute, 48.07 seconds.

Plant finished at 1:48.52 and Martin at 1:48.59, a personal best.

This was Sahlman’s final race of the season, so there won’t be another chance for Martin to race against him again until both are in college. Martin has run the second-fastest mile in the nation by a high schooler this season. But the Californian ran the third-fastest mile in history by a high schooler with a 3:56.24 showing on May 28.

Sahlman has committed to Northern Arizona University, while Martin plans to run for the University of Virginia.

Martin’s last high school race will be June 19 at the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field.