Pats relay team shatters school record

What the azalea-lined fairways of Augusta National are to golf and the steeples of Churchill Downs are to horse racing, the brick bleachers of Franklin Field at Philadelphia’s Penn Relays are to track and field.
As an elite high school or collegiate racer you have reached the pinnacle of your sport when you compete at “The Relays” and when Albemarle coach Buz Male and his 4x800-meter relay squad of Zach Vrhovac, Luke Noble, Anthony Kostelac and Garrett Bradley walked into the stadium early Friday morning, they were in awe of their surroundings and knew that they had arrived.
They all looked over at the oversized Seiko clock, the ultimate symbol of all that The Relays represent, and noticed that the time read 7:51 a.m.
“Coach, that’s the time we think we can run today”, commented Noble.
“A 7:58 or 7:59 would be awesome, guys but 7:51? Well, that’s quite a goal but … O.K. if you think you can do that,” said Male, a veteran coach. Many track enthusiasts would agree with Male, because eight minutes in the 4x800 is widely considered to be one of the hardest of all of high school track’s benchmarks. Only a handful of area squads have ever broken this elusive mark and Male knew that dipping one second below eight minutes would be a historic achievement.
Not only did the foursome shatter Albemarle’s school record of 8:02 by over ten huge seconds but they also out-legged all but three of the finest 74 teams in the nation.
Vrhovac, who is a four-sport star, led off with a sensational 1:58.3 first leg which positioned the team in second place as he handed the baton to Noble, who battled his way out of the crowded handoff area and worked his way through a 1:59.1 split.
He crisply handed the baton to Kostelac with the team in third place. Kostelac, a sophomore, ran the fastest leg as he zoomed to a 1:56.8, handing the baton to Bradley with the team still in third place. Bradley then finished out the team masterpiece, when he rocketed his two-lapper in 1:56.9.
Male, who coached the same squad to a sixth-place finish at Nationals last month, credits fellow Albemarle coach Lance Weisend, who has served at the helm of Albemarle’s distance program for 25 years, for the team’s success.
“I’m so blessed to have this amazing bunch of guys and the coaching partnership I share with Lance is fantastic,” Male said, “These guys are awesome. In fact, they’re the best bunch of kids I’ve ever coached in my 35 years in the sport.”
Weisend took the baton from Male this spring and has been working with this talented squad for the past several weeks. With the trip, Male fulfilled a promise he made to the squad earlier this year when he told them he would treat them to a trip to the Big Dance if they did well at Indoor Nationals.