All the Boston University men’s 4×200 relay team did last weekend was set a new school record. Too bad they didn’t have a good day.
Despite breaking the 14-year-old record of 1:26.62 by four-hundredths of a second, those who saw the quartet of seniors Chris Brandon and Steve Deppe, sophomore Andre Nacaxe and freshman Lucjan Zaborowski compete said the race was not up to their potential.
‘No, they didn’t [run that well]. The handoffs weren’t all that good,’ said BU men’s coach Pete Schuder. ‘It’s not a very strong record.’
This group capped a solid indoor season by setting a school record in the 4×400 at the IC-4A Championships on Mar. 9. The relay crew rewrote the record books for the second time this year in the first outdoor meet at the same place the old record was set the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va., hosted by the College of William and Mary.
The cold weather up north and inability to get much time on the track outdoors could have been to blame for the team’s performance. Of course, all this means is that they will have more opportunities to break their own record later this season.
‘That was one of the intentions going down there,’ Schuder said. ‘I think they are going to be more prepared for the Penn Relays; they’ll get another chance at Penn to break this record again.’
The 4×200 time was good enough for third in the meet, while the same group finished second at 3:11.74 in the 4×400.
The relay performances led the team to an eighth-place finish in the 22-team field, with 39 points. Penn State University won the meet with 192 points.
The relay team’s continued dominance caused another outstanding performance by junior Jochen Dieckfoss to be overlooked. Dieckfoss ran away with the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing the race, which earned him 14th place at the NCAA Championships one year ago, in 8:55.61.
‘This is pretty good for him,’ Schuder praised. ‘We’re hoping he’ll get under 8:40 and be one of the top ten guys in the country. He looked to be in good form; he came out real aggressively.’
As was a trend in the indoor campaign, the deep distance crew turned in a strong performance, as seniors Jordan Jones and Rob Wong finished sixth and ninth in the 5,000 meters, respectively. Senior Liam Revell grabbed fourth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:51.48.
‘That was fine,’ Schuder said, referring to the team’s overall performance ‘We didn’t go down with any kind of plan to beat a lot of teams. It was our first meet outdoors, and we use it that way. I don’t think we’re going to be real good contenders in America East. So what we try to do outdoors is to try to develop the individual guys and hope for the best as far as America East is concerned.’
On the women’s side, there were also some record-breaking performances as the Terriers finished fourth out of 18 teams with 80 points. Yale University won the meet with 131 points.
The most impressive BU performer was senior Natalie Grant. The thrower broke the 18-year-old BU record in the hammer throw by an astounding 50 feet, launching the hammer 194 feet, 10 inches. That mark also set a new meet record. Grant finished third in the shot put to gather 16 points for the Terriers.
Also flying through the air for the scarlet and white were junior Katie Chen’s javelin throws. Chen won the event with a distance of 140-feet, two-inches.
Opposite Dieckfoss’s performance, senior Julia Nazzer set a BU women’s record in the 3,000 steeplechase. Nazzer’s time of 11:15.24 was good enough to shatter the two-year old school mark and earn her third place in the meet.
Other solid BU performances came from the typical places, as a trio of Terriers grabbed second-place finishes. Junior Mary Ellen Bingham took second in the triple jump, while seniors Lauren Warman and Andrea Stuermer followed suit in the 400-meter hurdles and pole vault.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will head to Walnut, Calif. to take part in the Mt. Sac Invitational April 18-20.