St. Anthony's mile relay All-American

The St. Anthony's 4 x 1-mile relay team does not have the proverbial anchor leg "hammer," the type of runner who can bust out a 4:10 split and rescue a team from the back of the pack.

But they have four milers who are nearly equal in ability, each of whom are capable of going sub-4:30.

The Friars' team of Thomas Flynn, Kevin Kreider, Frank Segreto and Thomas Diliberto rode that consistency to a sixth-place finish (17:55.16) and All-American honors at the New Balance Indoor Nationals at The Armory. As an added bonus, their time broke the NSCHSAA record.

"They all knew they just had to do what they were capable of doing," St. Anthony's coach Tim Dearie said. "We came in here with hopes of being All-American and breaking an NSCHSAA record."

Flynn started things off with a 4:32.4 split, which left the Friars in sixth place heading into Kreider's second leg. Kreider ran 4:29.69 to keep his team in All-American contention.

Segreto held position with a 4:28.90 third leg and gave the baton to anchor Diliberto in sixth. And it was up to Diliberto, not a traditional "hammer," to hold on.

"You can't think, 'Wow, we don't have a great anchor leg,' " Dearie said. "You just put them in the order you think you'll get the most out of them."

SEE PHOTOSNew Balance Indoor Track & Field Nationals

Diliberto approached his anchor leg intent on maintaining position. "I knew I had to be really aggressive," Diliberto said. "There were a lot of guys behind me, and a lot of great guys who could catch me."

Diliberto ran his first 200 meters in less than 28 seconds before settling in to a more reasonable pace. He was passed about a half-mile into the leg but rebounded to take over sixth place from Lowell (Mass.) with roughly 600 meters to go.

In the final three laps, Diliberto (4:24.5 split) built a five-second cushion. "The way he gutted it out showed that he never took his mind off why we were here," Dearie said.

"We know we have a solid group of four guys who we can always count on," Kreider said.

Added Diliberto: "This really showed our depth. This is just great for our team."

For now, the four milers who had been doing punishing workouts will take a breather. "We'll take a nice long week," Diliberto said. "We definitely need it."