BU Season Opener: Relay fun

It was the perfect scenario for an early-season meet, created by Coach Terry Horton. Ironically enough, Coach Horton was not there to see his masterful creation. Alas, he had to leave Saturday’s Season Opener meet at Boston University for a family commitment back in Poughkeepsie.

The deal was this: Two 4x400-meter relay teams, allowing our sprinters to get some work in, while auditioning for spots on future relay teams. Terry tried to put the teams together as equally as possible. Geez. We know Papa T is pretty good … but no one could have planned it THIS good. Especially in absentia! He came within three one-hundreths of a second of a perfect tie! In fact, it was so close that from my vantage point trackside -- fumbling with my two watches as I tried my best to get the splits for both relays – I could not tell who won. Good stuff!

As the relay unfolded, it did not seem the finish would be this dramatic. Both opening legs ran well, but freshman Matt Edwards (50.7-second leg) edged freshman Tim Johnson (52.2-second leg, on his third race of the day) by a sizable margin. Then, Team B’s second leg, senior Connor Dodge, started out very slowly and was gapped by a large margin by Team A’s second leg, sophomore Zach Berzal. It looked like no-contest as Team A was pulling away. But alas, Dodge came back with his usual strong second lap and basically kept the gap the same by clocking a 53.3-second leg to Zach’s 52.8-second leg.

As the third leg started, Team A began to assert its dominance again as sophomore hurdler Alex Cunningham bolted out to a 23-high first lap. Alex apparently forgot that 400 meters is TWO LAPS on an indoor track, and that proverbial imaginary piano was lowered onto his back over the last 80 or so meters. This allowed hard-charging freshman Kyle Heubner to close the gap and edge out Alex in the split (53.1 to 53.6).

Team A anchor, freshman Nestor Taylor, had what appeared to be a comfortable lead on Team B anchor, freshman Nate Lungarini. Add to this the fact that Nate had just finished the 1,000-meter run, his first time at that distance, less than an hour prior to the relay. It was the primary reason Coach Horton put him on the anchor – to get a few more minutes’ rest. Nate didn’t need it. He came blasting through the final lap and posted an eye-popping 51.5-second leg. Nestor ran strong at 53.1 seconds. But Nate stole the show with his killer double.

Kyle Heubner, Nate’s teammate back at Simsbury High in Connecticut, warned us before the race that Nate liked to double and was good at it. Indeed he was. And, as you can tell by the classes of our relay runners (five freshmen, two sophomores, one senior), we are just getting to know them as well. Which is exactly the point of a season-opening meet.

1,600-meter relay

10. Marist B (Tim Johnson 52.2, Connor Dodge 53.3, Kyle Heubner 53.1, Nate Lungarini 51.5) 3:30.47

11. Marist A (Matt Edwards 50.7, Zach Berzal 52.8, Alex Cunningham 53.6, Nestor Taylor 53.1) 3:30.50