Michael Greene Boston College High School class of 1984. "He is a dedicated kid who likes to win," so said John Normant, longtime coach at BC High. And win he did. Not only did Mike win, he set all kinds of records, many of which still stand today. Actually, his career really blossomed with a rear loss. One of Greene's only setbacks came in his junior year when on January 16, 1983 at the State Coaches Meet when aforementioned Wayland's Jon Mann overhauled him off the final turn after Mike opened with an opening 49-second quarter, tied up and finished second in 1:12.3. Needless to say, this loss motivated Mike for the rest of his career. The spring of Mike’s junior year 1983 was a season of some phenomenal times and places. It started on May 15 when at the State Coaches meet, he would break Brockton’s Mike Sullivan’s 1979 time in the 400m with a time of 48.2. The very next day at the New England All Catholic meet, Mike would become the 440 NE Catholic Champion by running a 49.7. Mike said of the Catholic meet, "Yesterday took a lot out of me, I wanted to get this one, too. But two meets in a row was tiring." The next week Mike went on to win the Class A meet with a nice time of 47.9 which set a Class A meet record. To cap off his junior year Mike would win the All State meet with a still record time of 47.52, the second fastest time by anyone in New England. In his junior year Mike Greene was selected the Boston Globe’s Athlete of the Year. Mike started off his indoor senior season on January 15, 1984 when he not only shattered the meet record, set the previous year by fellow inductee Jon Mann, but his 1:10.43 (for those of you who know only meter times that =’s a 1:17.02 for 600m) clocking also was the fastest ever by a New England high school runner and the second-fastest ever by a high school runner anywhere. "Wow!" was Mike Greene's response when he heard his time after winning the race at Harvard's Gordon Track. "I was really stunned by the time I was aiming to break the meet record, but I never expected anything like this." Coach Normant, wasn't as surprised. "It's a little faster than I expected, but I knew Michael was ready to unleash a fast one.” Mike’s next big race came on February 10, 1984 at the old Boston University Armory. The race would be the 500m run. And what a run it was. His time of 1:02.40 not only earned him the meet's outstanding performer, but it also earned him a National High School Record!!! This record stood until just last year. Mike would then go on to his spring track season. His first big race came on May 13, at the State Coaches meet. At Boston College’s Alumni Stadium with howling winds swirling about and raindrops stinging like buckshot, BC High's Mike Greene darted to a remarkable 47.6 time in the 400-meter run, clipping 1.2 seconds off the previous mark, something that seemed nearly impossible under the weather conditions. Even with the weather he got off to one of the fastest starts in his high school career and opened up an insurmountable lead, topping Dave Sudduth of Hingham (49.6) by two seconds. Greene's time replaced the previous record of 48.8 seconds, set by Brockton's Mike Sullivan in 1978. At the Class A meet on May 27th Mike broke his own meet running a time of 47.8 breaking his own meet record set the year before. He defeated his nearest competitor from Brookline high school by 20 yards. On June 3 at the All State meet he defended his all state championship by running a 48.4 in some of the worse conditions ever at an All State meet. He would finish out his high school career by running in the prestigious Golden West Track Meet in Sacramento Cal where he would finish 5th with a time of 47.88. Michael has school records in the 200y (22.1), 300y (32.0), 400m (47.5), 600y 1:10.43. Mike also ran 1:56 for the 800, and 2:15 for 1000y. Coach Normant recently told me that Michael Greene was a fierce competitor who inspired his teammates and made them better. Mike won the appointment to the United States Naval Academy where he would continue to shine. He set numerous school and facility records while at Navy. Some of his accomplishments at Navy include: the Heptagonal Meet championship record in the 500 with a time of 1:01.35, the All Time Heps and IC4A record in the 500 with a time of 1:00.84, he was a 3x Heps champion in the 500 and he helped lead his team to 4 consecutive Heptagonal Team Championships. He also holds the 6th fastes heps time in the 400 with a time of 47.25 indoors and a Heptagonal outdoor 400 meter record with a time of 46.11 He was also a model of consistency as he holds the #3, 4, 6 and 8th fastest indoor 400m times and the #1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 and 10th fastest times in the 500m. He has the IC4A record of 60.84 the 60.84 time is also Harvard’s Gordan Track Record. He earned All American honors while at Navy and was the Captain of the Navy Track Team. At BC High, Mike appreciated his coaches letting him be himself. They understood that he ran for the fun of it and if it became tedious he would have stopped. But they also understood that he hated to lose and that if I lost he would work extra hard to win again. Mike knew at times they had more faith in him then he did in himself. He knew Coach Normant also wanted the best for him and during the College process he never steered me in any direction. Coach Normant thought the Navy decision was an interesting one considering Mike’s laissz faire attitude about life. But as Mike reflected on it, he felt he needed structure and discipline and boy did I get it and then some. Mike says he wouldn’t change any decision made thus far (except for one certain 600 yard race where he went out in 49 and tighten up in the last stretch), he says his decisions have made him who he is today. He is a member of the Boston College High School Hall of Fame being inducted in 1989 and a Hall of Fame member of the United States Naval Academy. At this time I would like to ask Michael Greene to come forward and accept his induction into the MSTCA’s Athlete Hall of Fame.
Class: 1984 Inducted: 2013