BOSTON, Massachusetts -- The men's track and field distance medley relay team made men's track and field history – twice in the same race – on Saturday afternoon at the IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships. The team of freshman Brian Henderson, junior captain Tim Johnson, freshman Andrew Burns and junior Stefan Morton broke a 7-year-old school record and became the first relay team in school history to qualify for an IC4A final in the process.
By virtue of posting the eighth-fastest time out of the 27 teams in the championship event, the team advances to Sunday's final. The top nine teams advance to the scoring final, which will be held on Sunday at 2:20 p.m.
“These men put together a perfect relay with four incredibly gutsy relay legs,'' head coach Pete Colaizzo said. “Each and every athlete exceeded expectations. It was a monumental team effort of their part.''
Henderson led off with a 1,200-meter relay split of 3:04.6, a little more than one second faster than the goal time for that leg. In a brilliant handoff to the 400-meter leg, Johnson exploded off the line for a scintillating split time of 49.1 seconds. Burns split 1:54.9 for the 800-meter leg, with Morton anchoring in a 4:12.1 for 1,600 meters to eclipse the previous school record by more than three seconds.
Earlier in the day, senior captain Hakim Cunningham ended his stellar indoor track career in the 60-meter hurdles. He became the first Marist hurdler in school history to advance to the semifinal round, doing so with a preliminary time of 8.26 seconds. His semifinal round time of 8.31 seconds did not advance him to Sunday's final. His school-record time of 8.13 seconds at the MAAC Championships earned him a berth in the IC4A meet.
In the men's 3,200-meter relay, the team of Nestor Taylor, Mark Vuono, Nate Lungarini and Josh Siegel finished in 20th place in 7:54.44.
IC4A Championships, Day 1
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Boston University
Distance medley relay
Marist (Brian Henderson 3:04.6, Tim Johnson 49.1, Drew Burns 1:54.9, Stefan Morton 4:12.1) 10:01.03 *school record, old record 10:04.20 by Will Griffin, Colin Frederickson, Tom Lipari, Adam Vess, 2009; advances to finals
Brian Henderson 30, 61 (31), 1:32 (31), 2:03 (31), 2:33 (30), 3:04.6 (31.6)
Tim Johnson: 22.5, 49.1
Drew Burns: 26, 56 (30), 1:26 (30), 1:54.9 (28.9)
Stefan Morton: 28, 59 (29), 1:31 (32), 2:02 (31), 2:34 (34), 3:06 (32), 3:39 (33), 4:12.1 (33.1)
3,200-meter relay
20. Marist (Nestor Taylor 1:57.7, Mark Vuono 1:57.8, Nate Lungarini 1:58.2, Josh Siegel 2:00.4) 7:54.44
Nestor Taylor: 28, 57 (29), 1:26 (29), 1:57.7 (31.7)
Mark Vuono: 25, 55 (30), 1:25 (30), 1:57.8 (32.8)
Nate Lungarini: 26, 55 (29), 1:26 (31), 1:58.2 (32.2)
Josh Siegel: 27, 57 (30), 1:29 (32), 2:00.4 (31.4)
60-meter hurdles, preliminaries
14 of 27. Hakim Cunningham 8.26 seconds (qualified for semifinals)
60-meter hurdles, semifinals
16. Hakim Cunningham 8.31 seconds
