Our next group of inductees will be the MSTCA’s first relay team to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Without a doubt, they could all be inducted individually, but TOGETHER as a team, Dennis Doucette, Jim MacKinnon, Paul Neves and Mike Sullivan, were unstoppable as they set a National High School Record that stood for 18 years, and for the last 35 years still hold the Massachusetts and New England High School record. Needless to say, this team of four were instrumental in leading the Brockton High School Boxers to both the Indoor and Outdoor Class A and All State Team Championship. Dennis Doucette was the glue that held the team together. He had high school PR’s of 49.9 in the 440 and 22.5 in the 220. He would go on to the University of Southern California where he would run a 48.0 400 meters. After USC, Dennis went to the University Of San Diego School Of Law and earn his JD in 1986. He is presently a partner at the Law firm of Procopio and Cory in San Diego. Dennis recalls this story, “The announcement came over the loud speaker at the Leverone Field House at Dartmouth College, that the Brockton team of Doucette, Sullivan, Neves and MacKinnon have just set a National High School record in the 4x440 relay.” The team, coached by Ed Delgado, were elated and we actually all saw a seldom seen emotion on Coach D’s face, a small smile. (However, remember, in 1979 there were no cell phones or internet. Instant information was not available) it was a good old fashion telephone call later that revealed the night before, a newer, faster National record had been set by Fairmont Heights High School in Washington D.C. running a few tenths of a second faster than us. Coach D was not to be outdone. He found us another meet two weeks later on the Gordan Track at Harvard University. This meet was the New England Association A.A.U. Indoor Track and Field Championships on January 28, 1979. It would be here, 3:17.8 seconds after the gun went off that a new National High School Record was set. One that would stand for 18 years. Jim MacKinnon lead off with a 50.3, Paul Neves would run 49.2. Dennis Doucette would run 50.4 and Mike Sullivan anchored with a 47.9. What a Team. What an Effort!! Coach D’s smile came back to his face. At Brockton, Jim MacKinnon would run PR’s of 48.8 in the 440, 1:56 in the 880 and 1:12.3 in the 600 yards. He was the 600 yard champion his senior year helping the Boxers to the team title, and finished 3rd at the Eastern States at Princeton. In his senior year spring track, Jim would finsish 3rd at the All State meet in the 800 behind Neves the eventual winner. He would go on to study nursing at Northeastern University where he would run 1:10.6 in the 600 and 1:50.4 in the 800. He is still on NU’s 4x800 school record relay team running 7:29.1 and on their 4x400 school record relay team with a time of 3:12.79. Jim is now the head of Infections disease at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton. Paul Neves while at Brockton had an outstanding career. After a stint on the freshman football team, Coach Delgado asked him, “Why would you want to play football? In three years, you could be part of a relay team that breaks the 4x440 relay record” After that statement, Paul had no choice, but to dedicate himself to 3 seasons of running. I’m personally wondering, did Coach Delgado mean he could be part of a school record, state record, a New England record team, or did he realize that early that he would have a National record team? Paul’s accomplishments in high school were pretty good, 48.8 440, 1:50.2 880, 2:15.5 1000 yards, 4:29 mile. He was the Class A, All State and New England Champion in the 1000 yards. Paul would go on in the spring to win the All State 800 meters and finish 6th in the long jump with a leap of 21’1”. After high school, Paul went to The Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he would continue to shine. While at MIT he would run PR’s of 2:09 in the 1000 yards and run 1:49.22 in the 800. That time is still the 7th fastest time ever run by a Division III athlete. He was a Division III All American1980, 81 and 82. And still holds the MIT school record in the 800. After college Paul would end up running 1:47 for 800meters and a 4:03 mile. Paul is currently a Software/Business Development Consultant and lives in Southern California. The Anchor of the team was Michael Sullivan. Mike’s PR’s at Brockton are to say the least, quite impressive. 30.9 for 300 yards, which earned him a state title indoors, 9.5 for 100 yards, 21.8 for 200 meters and he would set a state record of 47.6 his senior year and a state Championship. That performance earned him an invitation to the prestigious Golden West Invitational in California. It was there that Mike Sullivan became the only high schooler from our state to break 47 seconds. That day he ran his personal best time of 46.9. These performances earned Mike an athletic scholarship to Arizona State University. There he would end up running 45.0 for 400 meters and was part of a relay team that was a 2x Pac 10 champion and a 2x Division I All American. In 1981 his team ran 3:04.19. Mike has never stopped competing. He currently holds the masters age 50-54 Indoor World record in the 400 meters running 52.44 and ran the anchor leg on the masters’ 50-54 outdoor 4x400 relay World Record team during the World Championships in 2011 in Sacramento. At that same meet he was the Masters World champion in the 200 and 400 in 2011. Mike is currently in his 27th year of teaching physical education and coaching in a junior high school. As a high school teacher and coach myself, I give him all the credit in the world to work with junior high kids. I asked each one of these athletes if they had any one in their athletic career that had an impact on them. All four of them said the same thing, #1 was Coach Ed Delgado and #2 they all said, each other. They were not just great teammates they were even Greater Friends.
Class: 1979 Inducted: 2014