Boston College Athletics
Men's Track and Field Competing At ACCs as One Family
February 27, 2020 | Men's Track & Field, #ForBoston Files
BC is uniquely positioned to challenge the conference with its team-based approach.
The first day of the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships always holds a special fondness. It's the start of three incredibly long-houred days, but an undeniable competitive energy permeates from every corner of the facility. Every ACC program is under one roof, exuding a measuring stick built by elite talent levels.
It truly brings out the best of its competitors, even though the first day only has four events. The multi-discipline pentathlon sets the tone alongside the start of the longer heptathlon, and the weight field events bridge the early samplings into individual event runs. The day ends in primetime with the distance medley relay, and the crescendo never fails to echo the noise throughout the host facility.
That distance medley event is when teams and athletes truly immerse in the competitive spirit, and on Thursday, Boston College earned its first point of the conference meet when its men's program scored an eighth place finish with a collective time of 10:02.06. Georgia Tech narrowly edged the Eagles for seventh place by one second, earning BC a second place finish in its section.
"A big part of our success is getting excited for others," men's team head coach Matt Kerr said. "So we want to start every competition by getting out of the gates with momentum. If we don't, it's up to the next event. When we are able to, though, there's success all day. We want our guys, on day one, to be sharp and excited, and I want everyone there to warm up and focus like it's any other Saturday (meet)."
The ACC meet represents a golden opportunity for the Eagles to grab headlines and eyeballs among the conference's elite. Recent years possessed a steady stream of point-scoring athletes, but this year generated a different feeling and competitive spirit. It started in the first week when the team's cross country runners transitioned from their fall season into a winter among sprinters and field throwers who simply waited their turn to compete.
"We're taking our cross country guys and inserting them into the full track and field picture (when the season begins)," Kerr said. "Guys who are sitting on the sideline are now in season, and that becomes really infectious. It translates to the cross country guys coming back after Thanksgiving, and they get excited, too. Everyone is on the same roster, and it gets everyone to start the new season together."
It's a recalibration for BC, which opened this year almost immediately with the BU Opener on December 7, but it doesn't shock the runners who spent the autumn months outdoors. It's instead a loosening process to gel the team into collaboration, and it sets the tone by giving the individual a more laid-back look at the upcoming schedule.
"It worked out really well with opening up at BU in December," Kerr said. "We had a chance to take some chances and maybe run events that someone isn't always focused on. It was a chance to compete, and it worked out by making the transition much more seamless into the (winter season)."
December enabled BC to spend its break preparing for the grind of the January season, which produced immediate results. A number of Eagles stood out on the track in both the running and field events, led by Sean Sullivan, who broke the program record in the mile with a time of 4:02.26. He will run at the ACC Championship with a seed in the top five, and he's joined in the event by Erik Linden, who qualified ninth with a time of 4:05.48.
"We didn't want to shy away from (competing) in general," Kerr said. "You can get caught up looking for perfect scenarios, especially early in the season, when you're trying to time trial, or you're paying attention to splits. We got away from that by making people compete to win, and that's worked out really well. It takes the pressure off of individuals in favor of team goals we set going into every meet."
John Wacker and Michael Hains, meanwhile, will lead the Eagles in the shorter runs, earning the 16th and 17th seeds in the 800m. Wacker, who bested Hains' time by less than a quarter of a second, is just a freshman and is one of those runners who joined the indoor season after running for the cross country year.
And in the field events, Avery McKenzie earned the 14th seed for the triple jump with a leap of 15.22m. It was the second-best jump in program history.
"Competing to win translated right away for us," Kerr said. "Guys like Sean Sullivan and Erik Linden in the mike, Ben Ruffing in the distance races, and also guys in the sprints and jumps did extraordinarily well this well. A guy like Avery McKenzie adapted well to just competing to win."
BC spent the season stressing the importance of the actual meet day as a performance workout, and the weekly event schedule reinforced the need to recover in time for the next event. Racing or competing against other universities transformed from a goal into the pinnacle of a week, the perfect byproduct of preparatory steps built from the early introduction to the indoor season.
"Meet day became the day to focus on," Kerr said. "We looked at meets as opportunities for our best results. We don't compete hard every seven days with the expectation of hard workouts in between (meets). The athletes know how to take care of business because there isn't quality during the week to make up for it.
"Those early races were huge to training and development," he continued. "That's why people kept working hard, competing, taking risks. Everyone can learn and develop boundaries to push those boundaries and expand even further. When things go well, we work on other areas of development. We re-emphasize it every week."
It's why the Eagles are uniquely positioned to compete for points at the ACC Championships. The early season structure created a true team atmosphere, turning a sport known for individual times into a collaborative effort. Individuals reaped benefits of times and finishes, but the continued spotlight on a team is why BC arrived at Notre Dame to compete as one. Having every team fly its proverbial flag, with all of its colors, is a galvanizing presence, one the Eagles love, relish, and truly enjoy.
"We compete at meets that are all day events," Kerr said. "We have the whole team at those events, and it's chaotic, going from one thing to the next. But we bring guys to the track if they're competing or not. There are always people on the sideline (cheering)."
The ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships continues on Friday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Saturday with a day beginning at 1 p.m. The meet, hosted by Notre Dame at the Loftus Events Center, is available for streaming on the ACC Network Extra, which is hosted by the ESPN online platform family of outlets.
It truly brings out the best of its competitors, even though the first day only has four events. The multi-discipline pentathlon sets the tone alongside the start of the longer heptathlon, and the weight field events bridge the early samplings into individual event runs. The day ends in primetime with the distance medley relay, and the crescendo never fails to echo the noise throughout the host facility.
That distance medley event is when teams and athletes truly immerse in the competitive spirit, and on Thursday, Boston College earned its first point of the conference meet when its men's program scored an eighth place finish with a collective time of 10:02.06. Georgia Tech narrowly edged the Eagles for seventh place by one second, earning BC a second place finish in its section.
"A big part of our success is getting excited for others," men's team head coach Matt Kerr said. "So we want to start every competition by getting out of the gates with momentum. If we don't, it's up to the next event. When we are able to, though, there's success all day. We want our guys, on day one, to be sharp and excited, and I want everyone there to warm up and focus like it's any other Saturday (meet)."
The ACC meet represents a golden opportunity for the Eagles to grab headlines and eyeballs among the conference's elite. Recent years possessed a steady stream of point-scoring athletes, but this year generated a different feeling and competitive spirit. It started in the first week when the team's cross country runners transitioned from their fall season into a winter among sprinters and field throwers who simply waited their turn to compete.
"We're taking our cross country guys and inserting them into the full track and field picture (when the season begins)," Kerr said. "Guys who are sitting on the sideline are now in season, and that becomes really infectious. It translates to the cross country guys coming back after Thanksgiving, and they get excited, too. Everyone is on the same roster, and it gets everyone to start the new season together."
It's a recalibration for BC, which opened this year almost immediately with the BU Opener on December 7, but it doesn't shock the runners who spent the autumn months outdoors. It's instead a loosening process to gel the team into collaboration, and it sets the tone by giving the individual a more laid-back look at the upcoming schedule.
"It worked out really well with opening up at BU in December," Kerr said. "We had a chance to take some chances and maybe run events that someone isn't always focused on. It was a chance to compete, and it worked out by making the transition much more seamless into the (winter season)."
December enabled BC to spend its break preparing for the grind of the January season, which produced immediate results. A number of Eagles stood out on the track in both the running and field events, led by Sean Sullivan, who broke the program record in the mile with a time of 4:02.26. He will run at the ACC Championship with a seed in the top five, and he's joined in the event by Erik Linden, who qualified ninth with a time of 4:05.48.
"We didn't want to shy away from (competing) in general," Kerr said. "You can get caught up looking for perfect scenarios, especially early in the season, when you're trying to time trial, or you're paying attention to splits. We got away from that by making people compete to win, and that's worked out really well. It takes the pressure off of individuals in favor of team goals we set going into every meet."
John Wacker and Michael Hains, meanwhile, will lead the Eagles in the shorter runs, earning the 16th and 17th seeds in the 800m. Wacker, who bested Hains' time by less than a quarter of a second, is just a freshman and is one of those runners who joined the indoor season after running for the cross country year.
And in the field events, Avery McKenzie earned the 14th seed for the triple jump with a leap of 15.22m. It was the second-best jump in program history.
"Competing to win translated right away for us," Kerr said. "Guys like Sean Sullivan and Erik Linden in the mike, Ben Ruffing in the distance races, and also guys in the sprints and jumps did extraordinarily well this well. A guy like Avery McKenzie adapted well to just competing to win."
BC spent the season stressing the importance of the actual meet day as a performance workout, and the weekly event schedule reinforced the need to recover in time for the next event. Racing or competing against other universities transformed from a goal into the pinnacle of a week, the perfect byproduct of preparatory steps built from the early introduction to the indoor season.
"Meet day became the day to focus on," Kerr said. "We looked at meets as opportunities for our best results. We don't compete hard every seven days with the expectation of hard workouts in between (meets). The athletes know how to take care of business because there isn't quality during the week to make up for it.
"Those early races were huge to training and development," he continued. "That's why people kept working hard, competing, taking risks. Everyone can learn and develop boundaries to push those boundaries and expand even further. When things go well, we work on other areas of development. We re-emphasize it every week."
It's why the Eagles are uniquely positioned to compete for points at the ACC Championships. The early season structure created a true team atmosphere, turning a sport known for individual times into a collaborative effort. Individuals reaped benefits of times and finishes, but the continued spotlight on a team is why BC arrived at Notre Dame to compete as one. Having every team fly its proverbial flag, with all of its colors, is a galvanizing presence, one the Eagles love, relish, and truly enjoy.
"We compete at meets that are all day events," Kerr said. "We have the whole team at those events, and it's chaotic, going from one thing to the next. But we bring guys to the track if they're competing or not. There are always people on the sideline (cheering)."
The ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships continues on Friday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Saturday with a day beginning at 1 p.m. The meet, hosted by Notre Dame at the Loftus Events Center, is available for streaming on the ACC Network Extra, which is hosted by the ESPN online platform family of outlets.
Players Mentioned
Mid-Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
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