With his incredible M40 WR, Bernard Lagat stole headlines from the Wanamaker Mile winner. He also took my eye off the Millrose masters relays ball. According to results, the Southwest Sprinters TC M50 4-by-400 team clocked 3:43.52. That smashes the listed American club record of 3:47.32 by New York Pioneer Club’s Ed Small, Robert Rizzo, Glen Shane and William Burrell way back in 1992. (The listed WR is a USA team’s 3:40.21 in 2003.) So mazel tov to Southwest, and to everyone who put on a show in three exhibition relays. Southwest’s M50 lead leg was Getulio “Tony” Echeandia of NYC and Puerto Rico, who ran 56.74. Later legs (with splits) were by Paul Brown of Atlanta (55.91), Bill Shelton of New York City (56.73) and David Jones of Houston (54.16). Video of relay (focusing on Greater Philly) was posted on Facebook.

Tony also shared details of the team and its plans:

Ken, all our relays are designed by Mr. Robert Thomas, and we talked about the possibility of a record because our team has the men that could run that fast but we weren’t thinking record.

It was my first race of the year and I’m not real keen on indoors. I’d rather be with you in California, and I know our team in general is just starting to race. I know I was selected for leadoff leg because of my size, experience and aggressive nature. Paul Brown was second because he is a great runner and has a lot of experience as well so we knew he was solid to extend the lead.

Bill Shelton is new with our club, so we weren’t sure about his fitness and experience, but he ran really well and, of course, David Jones who is an all-around solid 400 runner … has the speed, experience and he is always in the Top 400 meter runners in the world, so we knew he could close with anyone in the world.
 
The club American Record is great to have. We appreciate any and all records our club gets and we use our experiences to help children in our communities. One of the nicest things we have done was at last year’s indoor nationals in Boston we met with a group of young people to talk about our life experiences and how track and field changed our lives. It’s great to give back back to the community and the hope is always to reach these children and give them hope and dreams.

Here are results and links for Millrose masters events:

MASTER’S MEN’S 60+ & WOMEN’S 4X400M RELAYS
FINAL
PL Team Squad Final Splits
1 Syracuse A 4:27.67
1:07.31 2:13.60 3:26.44 4:27.67
(1:07.31) (1:06.29) (1:12.84) (1:01.24)
2 Mass Velocity Track Club A 4:31.29
1:07.19 2:14.41 3:26.85 4:31.29
(1:07.19) (1:07.22) (1:12.45) (1:04.44)
3 CPTC New Balance A 4:34.63
1:05.50 2:12.02 3:21.89 4:34.63
(1:05.50) (1:06.52) (1:09.88) (1:12.74)
4 Shore AC Masters A 4:36.92
1:03.60 2:10.87 3:15.24 4:36.92
(1:03.60) (1:07.28) (1:04.37) (1:21.68)
5 Bella N Motion A 4:47.06
1:13.31 2:18.67 3:33.95 4:47.06
(1:13.31) (1:05.37) (1:15.29) (1:13.11)
6 CPTC New Balance B 4:57.62
1:13.11 2:29.58 3:44.86 4:57.62
(1:13.11) (1:16.47) (1:15.29) (1:12.77)
7 Northport Running Club A 5:08.00
1:23.79 2:37.95 3:49.54 5:08.00
(1:23.79) (1:14.17) (1:11.60) (1:18.46)
8 Bella N Motion B 5:49.47
1:24.57 2:47.92 4:16.20 5:49.47
(1:24.57) (1:23.36) (1:28.28) (1:33.28)
Northport Running Club B DNS

MASTER’S MEN’S 50+ 4X400M RELAY
FINAL
PL Team Squad Final Splits
1 Southwest Sprinters A 3:43.52
56.74 1:52.64 2:49.37 3:43.52
(56.74) (55.91) (56.73) (54.16)
2 Greater Philadelphia TC A 3:51.06
58.46 1:55.89 2:53.81 3:51.06
(58.46) (57.43) (57.93) (57.25)
3 2nd Wind Track Club A 3:57.66
58.65 2:00.04 2:58.17 3:57.66
(58.65) (1:01.39) (58.14) (59.49)
4 Shore AC Masters A 3:58.18
1:00.52 1:59.34 3:01.24 3:58.18
(1:00.52) (58.82) (1:01.91) (56.94)
5 Mass Velocity Track Club A 4:01.41
57.76 1:56.74 2:55.08 4:01.41
(57.76) (58.99) (58.34) (1:06.33)
6 CPTC New Balance A 4:07.02
57.03 1:57.95 2:59.73 4:07.02
(57.03) (1:00.93) (1:01.78) (1:07.30)
7 North Jersey Masters A 4:09.02
1:00.88 2:00.36 3:00.02 4:09.02
(1:00.88) (59.48) (59.67) (1:09.00)
8 2nd Wind Track Club B 4:22.98
1:03.92 2:06.61 3:12.11 4:22.98
(1:03.92) (1:02.70) (1:05.50) (1:10.87)
D.C. Capitol Track Club A DNS
Mass Velocity Track Club B DNS

MASTER’S MEN’S 40+ 4X400M RELAY

PL Team Squad Final Splits
1 Southwest Sprinters A 3:30.81
51.99 1:45.83 2:39.81 3:30.81
(51.99) (53.85) (53.98) (51.01)
2 CPTC New Balance A 3:41.01
51.93 1:45.99 2:40.94 3:41.01
(51.93) (54.06) (54.96) (1:00.07)
3 Greater Philadelphia TC A 3:52.79
57.91 1:54.32 2:49.17 3:52.79
(57.91) (56.41) (54.85) (1:03.62)
4 Northport Running Club A 4:20.54
1:06.08 2:13.66 3:17.19 4:20.54
(1:06.08) (1:07.59) (1:03.53) (1:03.36)
5 Prospect Park TC A 4:21.30
58.84 2:09.42 3:17.11 4:21.30
(58.84) (1:10.58) (1:07.70) (1:04.20)
D.C. Capitol Track Club A DNS