Guilmette named LEC outdoor field athlete of the year

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MASS.  6/25/12 – Keene State College's Glenn Guilmette has been named the Little East Conference outdoor field athlete of the year. 

The junior from Kensington, N.H. capped off his junior season by earning Division III All-America honors in the javelin event, placing fourth with a school record and personal best toss of 217'-9" at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 

"It's a real honor to receive this award.  It came out of the blue," said Guilmette. "I accomplished a lot of my goals this season. I wanted to have the record, I wanted to place top-five at nationals and it all worked out.  It was a great experience to go out there and do what you train so hard to do."  

"Track and field is a funny sport, you can have a good day twice in a season and you can be an All-American," said KSC throwing Coach John Napolitano. "That's how we trained Glenn.  We wanted him to qualify for the nationals and then we wanted him to earn All-America." 

Guilmette began the season with a bang by winning the javelin at the Westfield State Invitational with a mark of 208'-1" that would secure him a spot at the national meet.  Guilmette followed that up with a victory at the Tufts Invitational (189'-9") and a second place finish (195'-1") at Springfield College.

Guilmette, a four-time recipient of LEC field athlete of the week honors, captured the javelin event at the conference meet (201') by over 10 feet.  A week later, he won the event at the New England Division III championship with a mark of 191'-6". 

The junior saved his best for last, uncorking his record throw of 217'-09 at the NCAA championships held at Claremont-Mudd Scripps College in California.

Guilmette, who also earned All-America honors with his fifth place finish in the javelin as a sophomore, said he changed his training this season.   "I put more into my lifting and really concentrated on improving my technique and it paid off," he said.  

Keene State maintains its firm holds of the LEC's field athlete of the year award, winning the honor the past five years. The Owls' Bryan Kolacz, a three-time All-America and national champion in the hammer throw, had won the honor the past three years while Frank Radlof, a talented long jump specialists, took home the award in 2008.   "We have a nice little tradition going and I'm happy with the progress that the program and the team have made," said Napolitano.  "Glenn is one of those special throwers. He has a cannon for a right arm and we're happy to have him for another year." 

Speaking of next year, Guilmette hopes to propel the javelin a little further.  "I definitely like to hit 230 feet and become a national champion.  That would be awesome," he said.