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Fifth-year senior Liam Boylan-Pett ran the second sub-four-minute mile nearly a year to the day after his teammate, senior Andrew Bumbalough, accomplished the same feat.

Last year it was Banks and Bumbalough. This past weekend it was Bean and Boylan-Pett.

Coming into this weekend’s Penn State Invitational, Georgetown track and field was eyeing another shot at breaching the historic four-minute mile barrier that Andrew Bumbalough, then a junior, broke a little over a year ago. Yet this year, instead of having one pacer and one runner racing, Georgetown put junior Sandy Roberts, graduate student Liam Boylan-Pett, and recent graduate Matt Debole on the track, with all three having a legitimate chance of going sub-four.

The pacing duties were left to junior Alex Bean, who was given the responsibility of getting the group through 1000 meters at a consistent pace in 2:30. At the line, perhaps the most nervous of the group was Bean himself, knowing that his teammates’ chances were riding on his performance.

“It’s always a little nervewracking,” Bean said. “It’s not like you’re running for yourself if I’m going out there and three of my teammates are depending on me to set the pace properly … I was more nervous for this than I was for most races, that was for sure.”

Yet as Head Coach Pat Henner shouted out the splits for each 200-meter lap, Bean could tell that he was keeping the pace even, consistently hitting just under 30s per lap, right where he needed to be.

His duty fulfilled, Bean stepped off the track after 1000 meters, leaving the rest up to Roberts, Boylan-Pett and Debole.

Debole took up the work from there, keeping up the pace over the next 400 meters and keeping the contingent within striking distance of sub-four. With each lap the intensity built, as the group stayed on pace, growing ever closer to the final 200 meters, where it all would be decided.

“Looking up [and] seeing 1:59, 2:59, just seeing that 9 – it just makes you pick up the intensity a little bit,” Boylan-Pett said. “It’s just exciting when you’re seeing those times and knowing that it’s a possibility that you could break four.”

Finally, with 150 meters to go, Debole started tying up, and Boylan-Pett made a strong move to take the lead, kicking hard as he tried to beat the clock.

“I was just telling myself to go, because I knew it was going to be close, coming down the straight I saw 3:54, and I knew I was going to be under,” Boylan-Pett said.

As he crossed the line, he saw that first number that every runner dreams about seeing one day on their mile time – a 3. His final time read 3:59.40.

Both teammates and coaches exploded in congratulations as they saw Boylan-Pett record the fifth-fastest mile in a storied history of Georgetown milers.

“I’ve seen Andrew do it last year and that was exciting, but this is like a whole new thing just to have been a part of it,” Bean said. “I was doing a Carlton Fisk of the ’76 World Series, jumping from side to side, looking at the clock and looking at Liam, looking at the clock and looking at Liam. It was so impressive.”

Henner added: “This is a pretty big deal for our program to have another guy that’s sub-four. The four-minute mile is still a great achievement; it’s also something that somebody besides just your track fan can relate to. It still has resonance with the average-type sports fan.”

For a humble Boylan-Pett, whose previous personal best in the mile was 4:04 – although he had run a 4:01 equivalent 1500-meter race – it was still special to finally break the barrier that was once thought humanly unattainable.

“It’s fun,” he said. “It’s cool that my name’s going to go on that list now. In the grand scheme things it doesn’t really matter, but it’s a pretty cool fraternity to be a part of. I’m really glad that I did it, it was a lot of fun.”

Boylan-Pett, a graduate student who spent most of his collegiate running career at Columbia, has eligibility left only for this upcoming outdoor season, and therefore has been running unattached during the current season. He ran for the Hoyas during the cross country season, but as a track athlete, he is especially looking forward to putting the uniform back on this spring.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Boylan-Pett said. “I wish that I was running for Georgetown right now. I’m really itching for outdoors to put on the Georgetown uniform and hopefully make some noise.”

“He’s definitely become a big part of our program…somebody like that, we’d love to have him in the Georgetown uniform, but you don’t really distinguish what jersey. They’re all part of our program,” Henner said.

Boylan-Pett’s time also qualified him for the USA Indoor Championships at the end of February, where Debole hopes to join him as well, as long as he notches the qualifying time.

Not to be overlooked was Roberts’ big personal record in the event as well, which also stood as an NCAA provisional mark. His 4:01.21 was good enough for second place, and depending on the other provisional times that come in throughout the season, Roberts could find himself qualifying for nationals.

“I think Sandy put himself into that realm of being considered as a very good, great, historic miler [at Georgetown],” Henner said.

Other Notes:

– On the women’s side, the 1000-meter run was equally as impressive as the men’s mile, as freshman Emily Infeld and junior Renee Tomlin ran blistering times of 2:44.56 and 2:44.60, respectively, in the 1000m to take first and second in the event. Senior Christine Whalen set up the race by pacing the duo in the early going, and then Tomlin pushed it from there. Infeld made a decisive move late, but Tomlin hung right with her as the duo shattered both meet and facility records as they crossed the line. The times stand as second- and third-fastest in Georgetown history, surpassed only by NCAA champion Chris Mullen, who set the mark back in 1980.

“You’re talking about a pretty historic race when you think of all the great Georgetown women middle-distance runners…it was a fantastic race, they both looked great,” Henner said.

– Junior Lauren Gregory had a great showing in the women’s mile, running a 4:46.22 NCAA provisional time that was good for fifth place.

– Senior Avril Ogrodnick, sophomore Kyla Cook, senior Christine Whalen and freshman Katie McCafferty placed third in the distance medley relay, narrowly missing the NCAA provisional mark. Ogrodnick, who also broke her personal record in the open 800m, looked especially good as she ran a fast first leg.

– Senior Maggie Infeld ran a solid 800m, placing third and clocking in at an NCAA provisional and personal record time of 2:07.87. While Infeld has proven that she can excel in the event, it’s most likely that she’ll move up to the mile for the postseason.

– Senior Justin Scheid placed third in the 3000m, running 8:10.61.

– Redshirt junior Alex Mason had a successful weekend, first competing at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden, where the 4 x 800m relay team placed fourth. After flying in to Happy Valley late the night before, Mason then went on to win the 1000m in 2:26.64 and anchor the first-place collegiate 4 x 800m team.

– Freshman Theon O’Connor, who had also run in Boston the night before, looked the best he has all season in his section of the 500m, winning in 1:04.22.

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