La Salle Academy distance coach Bill Myers needed just a few words to describe the performances of the six runners he brought to the Reggie Lewis Center for Saturday's New Balance Grand Prix -- "It was a great night in Boston."
It was a great night indeed.
Further demonstrating their status as a national presence, the Rams defended their title in the distance medley relay with a new nation No. 1 of 10 minutes, 18.14 seconds. Just a half-hour later, it was Jack Salisbury's turn to make his mark. The junior standout came just .01 from stealing the show in the Junior Mile by placing second with a big-time personal best of 4:08.75! Michigan Logan Wetzel out-leaned Salisbury at the finish with a winning time of 4:08.74. La Salle senior Dan Paiva finish ninth with a PB of 4:17.27.
Salisbury's effort was nearly nine seconds under his previous best. He secured his sub 4:10 clocking with a blazing 58-second final quarter mile. His last 200m was close to 27 seconds!
"I was a little surprised by his last lap," Myers admitted. "I was hopeful for a 4:12, 4:10. He really turned it on that last 150 meters. Jack ran a heckuva race."
With a field that featured some of the country's finest prep milers, Salisbury nestled himself between fourth and fifth and well within contention during the beginning stages of the race. Early-race leader Thomas Ratcliffe of Concord Carlisle, Ma., son of former Cumberland High and Brown University star Tom Ratcliffe, brought the field through an opening 61-second split after 400m and 2:05 at 800m.
Salisbury, who qualified for the elite race by winning last month's Dartmouth Relays, was 2:06 at the halfway mark.
"I didn't feel like I was holding back," he said. "Those guys pulled it through quick. I was trying to stay within striking range. I trust my kick a lot."
With Wetzel leading for most of the final three laps, Salisbury made his move for a possible victory on the final straightaway.
"I trusted my kick (the last lap)," he said. "I told myself that nobody was going to beat me, nobody was tougher than I am. But he was. It was a great race for him."
After running his PR at the Grand Prix event, Myers' primary goal is to make sure his star runner can build off that effort.
"If he keeps working hard he can get 4:05, 4:06. I think that is within his range," he said. "The main thing is he has to be consistent at that level."
Myers was also proud of Paiva's performance in the race. He was about four seconds under his best.
"I was hoping 4:16, 4:17," the La Salle coach said. "I told him to be patient and the last two laps be ready to go. He ran a very smart race."
In last year's DMR, La Salle relied on the 1,600-meter leg of Salisbury to squeak out a victory. Minus their gifted teammate, the quartet of junior Matt Bouthillette, senior Cam Rotstart, senior Jamie Placco and sophomore D.J. Principe combined their efforts to edge second-place Mansfield (10:19.54) by a little more than a second for the two-peat.
Principe anchored the victorious relay squad with a 4:19.98 for his 1,600m leg. After getting the baton in second place, thanks to a strong 800m leg of 1:57.66 from Placco, Principe gradually gained on leader, Amherst Regional, Ma., and took over the front-runner spot with a little more than two laps remaining.
Bouthillette put the Rams in good position at the start by running his opening 1,200m leg in 3:08.87. Rotstart was timed in 51.65 for his 400m leg.
Principe and the rest of his teammates were confident they could get the job done.
"We looked at the splits from Yale," said Principe, referring to the Rams' previous No. 1 of 10:22.25 at the Yale Track Classic last month. "We had a problem with our 1,200 leg at Yale, he missed counted laps so we knew Matt could come in there and run a great time and I knew I had to get as far under 4:20 as possible and try and replicate what Jack has done all year."
Myers was pleasantly surprised with the results of his DMR squad.
"I figured they could run in the 10:20s, but 10:18?" he said. "Matt ran a great leg, (Cam) kept us in it and Jamie had a solid leg. D.J was very patient for the first four laps and the last two laps he caught (the leader) and took control. It was a great night."