Breaking a record is not that easy, and as Eastern head coach Tom Akers said, sometimes you need a little bit of luck.

“Some of (the records) are pretty tough,” he said. “They take great pride in that.”

The men’s 1,600-meter relay team took the long road, literally, to establish a school record and top the previous best, set by a 1978 relay team.

Red-shirt senior Marcus Williams, junior Darren Patterson, sophomore Sean Wiggan and red-shirt junior Wes Sheldon notched the school record in the 1,600-meter relay. They completed the relay in 3 minutes, 10.92 seconds.

In 1978, John Callozzo, Steven Jones, Robert Johnson and Ed Hatch comprised the team that ran the event in 3:12.40.

Besides traveling to Ames, Iowa, each of the current runners had to overcome an obstacle. In the end, they gelled together and ran a perfect time.

Sheldon overcomes injuries

You name it, Sheldon went through it.

He went through mono, a slight hamstring injury, respiratory problems and battling a cold week-in-week-out.

“It could’ve been worse,” he said.

But Sheldon, along with Wiggan, did not run in any other events at the NCAA Qualifier Meet at Iowa State’s Lied Recreational Center on Saturday.

“You better get something out of it,” Sheldon said. “If you’re going to make that trip, you better make it worth it.”

He said he did not he feel any pressure but was excited.

“I felt like I ran faster than I did all season,” Sheldon said.

Sheldon said he and the indoor season do not mix well – with numerous injuries and sickness being the main reason – but he was excited to be a part of the record more than anything.

Sheldon’s humbleness about the record shows.

“Those guys are the studs,” he said. “It’s an honor. It’s definitely nice to end on a high note.”

Williams works with new team

Williams had worked with Sheldon and Wiggan, but not simultaneously.

He is part of a 1,600-meter relay that ranks seventh all-time in the indoor program, and he also is a part of two 1,600-meter relays in the outdoor season that rank second and third all-time.

Williams’ teammates in those three relays – Pat Tortorici (red-shirting), Brenton Pegues (graduated), Zye Boey (injured), DeMarcus Brooks (no longer attending Eastern), and Kris Gehrke (red-shirting)- were not available for the indoor season.

Williams said the one constant among the guys is that everyone works hard.

“It’s important, especially for something like this,” he said.

“This is actually my first relay record. I hope it lasts another 32 years.”

Williams has some field records in high school, but this is his top record.

“It’s a relief,” he said. “It was good to actually break it.”

He is preparing for his team to qualify provisionally and aiming for the outdoor 1,600-meter relay record. The best time is 3:08.40.

Williams and Sheldon are part of a team that has the second-best record in the event, 3:09.99.

Williams aims for his relay team to qualify for the national championships, which is not that far of a stretch. While only nine teams qualified for the finals at last year’s outdoor meet, 18 teams competed in the preliminaries, with Auburn running last in 3:10.62.

“It’s definitely a visual thing seeing Zye go last year,” he said. “He made it a reality. If he can, we can do it. The fact that we ran fast means we can go even faster.”

Patterson shifts to leadoff man

Patterson was not too happy with his 200-meter dash, but he came back in the relay-that was how his transition within the relay team happened.

At Notre Dame earlier this season, the group

moved Patterson into the leadoff role.

“They moved me there, and I wasn’t too happy about it,” Patterson said. “It worked out really well. Ever since then, there’s been no looking back.”

Patterson is more of a sprinter than Wiggan, who was the original leadoff.

The 200-meter specialist is not that big, but he avoids the elbowing and jockeying for position by going out fast.

“I like to get out hard and put pressure on the guy to catch me,” he said.

The transfer from Rend Lake College has embraced the relay team, something he did not necessarily have happen at Rend Lake.

“We’re like brothers now,” he said. “It’s a lot better now. I feel like people should really appreciate us when we run the 4×4.”

Wiggan finds role of relay team

“It’s funny because I don’t start in blocks,” Wiggan said.

Wiggan was the anchor on his high school relay team, and refers to himself as an “even runner.”

Wiggan said moving to the second leg of the relay helped.

“I was getting pushed around,” he said. “That pretty much was bringing our times down.”

Kevin Murphy can be reached

at 581-7944

or [email protected]