Bruce Lehane (January 11, 1949 – September 23, 2017) was the cross country, middle distance, and long distance

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

coach at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

from 1982 to 2017.

Early life and running career

Lehane grew up in

South Boston, Massachusetts South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

. He began his cross country and track career at

Boston English High School The English High School of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, is one of the first public high schools in America, founded in 1821. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed The English High School upon its first relocation ...

and continued his career at Boston State College. There, he set school records in the 880 yard run (1:52.1) and mile run (4:11.2) and earned N.A.I.A. All-American honors under coach Bill Squires.

Coaching career

Lehane began coaching at Boston University in 1982. Since that time, he has coached 50 D.1 NCAA All-Americans, 7 national champions, 7 world champions, and 2 Olympians. Lehane has said of coaching that, "No one system works for all athletes. The key to successful training is to match the training loads to what the individual athlete benefits from". World Championship appearances under Coach Lehane include: Cross Country: Lesley Lehane (5th place), Rosemary Ryan, Matthew Smith, Karl Rasmussen, Are Nakkim, Eirik Hansen, Markku Kyyronen. Individual National Champions under Coach Lehane include: Lesley Lehane (USA XC, 3k Indoors), Matthew Smith (British XC), Karl Rasmussen (Norwegian XC), Are Nakkim (Norwegian 5k, 10k), Eirik Hansen (Norwegian 5k, 10k), Jennifer Lanctot (NCAA mile), Dean Crowe (NCAA 5000). Olympic Appearances under Coach Lehane include: Rosemary Ryan (2000 Olympics), Cathy O'Brien (1988 Olympics)

Other works

Lehane also co-authored the boo
Speed With Endurance
along with Bill Squires.

Personal

Bruce Lehane married wife Lesley in 1987. Lehane had three sons: Blaize, Elliot, and Aidan. His son, Elliot, was in the class of 2012 at BU and ran on the cross-country and track and field teams. He was an assistant coach at BU for 2 seasons from 2015 to 2017.

Quotes

"Putting on the meets is a labor of love. We give thanks to all who participated and to all who came to spectate - except to the guy who threw up in the sink in the men's room. Like us, he has got to clean up his act."

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehane, Bruce 1949 births 2017 deaths American track and field coaches Boston University Terriers track and field coaches College track and field coaches in the United States University of Massachusetts Boston alumni Sportspeople from Brookline, Massachusetts Boston State College alumni