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NSI Results
National Scholastic Indoor, 3/10-12/2000, at New York
Boys Distance Medley
Somebody up there likes us
Gloucester MA coach talks about his DMR team at NSI - "one of the greatest high school athletic performances of all time."
by Jim Munn
At about 2:30 on the afternoon of March 10, 2000, I had the privilege of witnessing one of the greatest high school athletic performances of all time.
What made the experience even more unique was the fact that the performance was turned in by a quartet of student-athletes from Gloucester, my hometown.
Their names are well known to regular readers of this web site: Josh Palazola, Ngai Otieno, Shawn Milne, and Tristan Colangelo.
Last Friday, those young men did something no other group of high school athletes had ever done before. Running in the top seeded heat of the distance medley at the National Scholastic Track & Field Championships in New York City, they obliterated the American record of 10:10.30 and won the national championship, while becoming the first schoolboy team in history to break the 10-minute barrier indoors.
Gloucester's 9:59.94 clocking bested the U.S. record by an incredible 11 seconds, an achievement that had veteran track observers shaking their heads in amazement.
Although the team had gone to New York expecting to make a real run at the record, no one expected a sub-10 minute performance. That would have been asking too much.
And yet I was not surprised when the winning time was posted on the scoreboard.
"Nine minutes, 59-point-94 seconds!" boomed the meet announcer's voice over the public address system. " Gloucester has just set a new meet and national record, and run the first sub-10 minute distance medley in U.S. history!"
Going into the race, the boys understood that no single runner could be expected to carry the day. Breaking the record would require a season best performance by each member of the team. And that is exactly what happened last Friday in New York.
Palazola put his team in front with a sparkling 3:04.1 opening 1200 meters. Then Otieno took the baton and further extended the lead by running a sizzling 49.4 400-meter second leg.
At that point it was clear something very special was happening out there on the track.
Aware that the record was now within reach, Milne responded with a 1:56.4 800 meters before handing off to Colangelo, who then put the finishing touches on yet another Gloucester masterpiece by running a brilliant 1600-meter closing segment.
When Colangelo flashed across the finish line in 4:09.9, the nearest competitor in a field of the nation's elite teams was over a half lap behind.
Forty-minutes after the race, long-time meet official Mike McGinley came over and shook my hand. "Congratulations," he said, "you're boys just turned in one of the most dominating performances in the history of the national championship meet."
Certainly the boys' record-breaking run was the crowning moment in a season of unparalleled achievement. Name a team in Gloucester history that has accomplished as much, or gone so far, as this year's boys' track team?
All they have done is win at every level, from the conference, state and regional, all the way to the national championships.
There are no rungs left on the ladder, no higher peak left to climb. During the long and glorious indoor season of 1999-2000, they simply did it all.
And so on Sunday afternoon, the team headed home proud owners of a national title and new American record. Ten years ago, such an accomplishment existed only in a dream. Last weekend in New York, that dream became a reality.
Not long after the race, I told the boys they had just experienced a moment they would cherish for the rest of their lives. I also told them there was something almost inexplicable about how all the pieces had fallen together this season.
Not only had the boys combined to turn in a virtuoso performance in the most important test of their high school careers, they had also become the first team to break 10 minutes in the distance medley.
"Other teams may do it in the future," I said. "But you were the first. That alone insures your place in the record books forever."
There must be an explanation for all this success. The boys would have been satisfied with a national title and new meet record. But, no, there was more.
Somehow those four young men were able to accomplish something no one had ever done before. And they did it by a mere six one-hundredths of a second.
It could just as easily have gone the other way. But it didn't.
Somebody upstairs must have been looking down on this team. That's the only thing I can think of.
Jim Munn
Jim Munn is the boys' track coach at Gloucester High School.
Thank You Gloucester
On behalf of the Gloucester boys' track team, I would like to thank the following individuals, groups, and businesses for their generosity in helping make possible the team's trip to National Scholastic Track & Field Championships.
It is my strong feeling that your support played an important part in the success our runners achieved last weekend in New York. For that the entire team expresses its deepest gratitude and appreciation.
So thanks to: James and Kathy Brown, John Knowlton, Bobby Gillis, Jr., Mark and Janet Standley, Richard and Susan Oliver, Sarah Ann Hackett, Charles and Carole Bouchie, Judith Bly, Leonard Bolonsky, Timothy and Lucile Marsac, Arthur Ryan.
Also: Robert and Marilyn Greer, Austin and Diana Connors, the G. Everett Mahoney Insurance Agency, William and Ester Steele Eleanor Spence, David Harrison, several anonymous contributors, Joseph and Kathy Brancaleone, Gardner and June Marchant.
Also: Robert and Judith Williams, John Hendrickson, Ralph Wilbur, J.D. MacEachern, Allyn Smith, Steve Vaitones, Colleen Andersen, the Gorton's Corporation, Gerry and Bonnie O'Neil, Miles Sand and Gravel, Pat Barry, and the Chargers Youth Program.
It goes without saying that I was very moved by this outpouring of love and support for the Gloucester boys' track team.
Jim Munn
Gloucester Boys' Track Coach
