4x800 Relay Team Sets School Record; Posts Best Time in U.S. This Year
The La Salle College High School 4x800m relay team of Jack Magee '13, Andrew Stone '13, Brendan Bilotta '14, and Tom
Coyle '13 turned in one of the greatest races in school history on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at the New York City Armory. The foursome took home the title in the prestigious high school invitational 4x800m race of the Armory Collegiate Invitational. La Salle came into the event with a season best of 8:17, which was good for ranking #102 in the United States, and the team faced 3 teams in the top 10 in the country, and 3 more in the top 20.
On the first leg, Jack Magee ran a tough and gritty race against stiff competition to turn in a 1:59.3 split. Jack handed off to Andrew Stone in mid-pack and having La Salle in the race. Andrew immediately took off, and had moved into 3rd place just 200m into his leg. He then continued to roll all the way up to the leading team by 500m and continued on to take the lead.
Click to View Post Race Interview
Interview by Jimmy Stevenson '09 for Flotrack.org
Andrew handed off to Brendan Bilotta in the lead after turning in a phenomenal 1:54.5 split. Brendan then proceeded to run an incredibly poised, smart, and tough leg. Brendan remained patient as the teams around him went out quickly in the first 400m, but with 400m to go Brendan made a move all the way back into 2nd place. His split of 2:00.0 was a personal best of over 3 seconds!
Brendan handed the baton to anchor leg, and the defending PIAA 1600m State Champion, Tom Coyle. Tom immediatelyclosed on the leading runner and positioned himself perfectly. He remained composed when the anchor leg from West Windsor Plainsboro South went by, and Tom immediately moved to follow him. As they came into the final 200m Tom began to make a move, and solidly pulled away in the final 100m for a convincing win and an excellent split of 1:54.5. The four runners combined for a new school record of 7:48.36! Their time is the 5th fastest in the history of Pennsylvania, and is currently rated #1 in the United States!
The team will now prepare for 3 championship races over the next 3 weekends. Sunday, February 10th is the PCL Championship at Lehigh University. Saturday, February 16th isthe TFCAofGP Meet of Champions at Lehigh. And the Indoor season will culminate with the PA State Championship on Saturday, February 23rd at Penn State University.
This race added to a fantastic season the track & field team is having. Thus far the following team members (in addition to the 4x800m relay) have qualified for the PA State Championship:
Distance Medley Relay: Stone, Corey Muggler, Magee, and Coyle
Mile: Coyle, Stone
800m: Stone
3,000m: Coyle
Long Jump: Muggler
Triple Jump: Muggler
High Jump: Mike Koller
Shot Put: Luke Persichetti
For more information on the La Salle College High School Indoor Track Team, visit: http://www.lschs.org/page.cfm?p=1049