Boston College Athletics
Boston College
New England Championship
Track Crowned New England 4x800 Meter Champs
May 16, 2011 | Men's Track & Field
May 16, 2011
New Haven, Conn. - Gutsy performances from Jack Linehan, Nahed Lakkis and Louis Serafini put Ian Thomas in position to out-duel the field down the final straightaway and enabled the Boston College men's track and field team to capture the 4x800-meter relay title in 7:36.52 at the New England Championship on Saturday at Southern Connecticut State University. The relay is the first regional crown for the Eagles since 2007 and helped the team to a seventh place finish with 40.5 points.
"I was extremely proud of the team's grit and determination to win this relay," Head Coach Matt Kerr stated. "They all doubled back from earlier finals and every one of them had to dig deep to keep us in the race. It was a perfect way for senior Ian Thomas to go out on top. As for the rest of them, they are all sophomores and will be back for more next year!"
From the gun to about the halfway point of the first leg, Linehan sat in 10th, but pushed his way to a big PR of 1:55. On the first exchange, Lakkis received the baton in fourth. Running in his second half mile of the day, the sophomore delivered a huge PR (1:53) to set up his teammate on the third leg and keep BC within striking distance.
When Serafini received the baton, he faced a deficit of about 20 meters. As his half mile progressed, the second-year closed the gap on the leaders and handed off to Thomas in second. The captain sat in the No. 2 position most of the way, but got passed heading into the final turn. With 100 meters to go, the Eagles looked as if they would take fifth, but Thomas dug deep and bolted up the homestretch to reach the tape 21-thousandths of a second before Northeastern.
Earlier in the day, Thomas (3:51.55) and Serafini (3:51.77) led Boston College with personal records in the hotly contested 1,500-meter run, taking fifth (4 points) and sixth (3 points), respectively. Personal bests also came from senior Michael Keebler in 3:56.03 and Linehan at 3:58.21, the first time the sophomore went sub-four.
Lakkis had returned from running the half with senior Tyler Archer. The Eagles were clocked at 1:56.12 and 1:57.19, respectively.
Boston College racked up five more points in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Freshman Anthony Bellitti set a PR of 9:28.13 to claim sixth place and edge teammate Jordan Hamm (9:27.17) in seventh (2 points).
For the first-time ever at an outdoor meet, Jon Bogosian cleared 2.00 meters (6-6.75 ft.). The senior snagged sixth placed on jumps to contribute to BC point total.
The meet concluded the season for Boston College.
