Northampton, Mass. 2/18/12 - Keene State College junior Janel Haggerty (Guilford, Conn.) finished third in the Pentathlon to lead the women at Division III New England Championships at Smith College.

On Friday night, Haggerty shattered the KSC pentathlon record totaling 3,139 points, breaking Vanessa Ward's record set in 2009 with 2,758 points. The Guilford, Conn. product won both the 800 (2:25.28) and high jump (5-1.75) en route to the third place finish.

"Janel's point total is very good," said KSC head track coach Pete Thomas. "She will need at least 3,250 points to go to nationals, but this is a great start."

Haggerty also had personal bests in the 60 meter hurdles (9.72) and shot put (24'-11.75'') on the night.

On Saturday, senior Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) placed fourth in the 3,000 meter race, crossing the finish line in 10:18.71.

Freshman Melanie Escalante (New Canaan, Conn.) and sophomore Emily LaPlant (Hudson, N.H.) also placed for for the Owls. Escalante finished seventh in the 600 meters with a time of 1:39.02, while LaPlant finished eighth in the 800 meters in a time of 2:24.14.

The women's team finished the meet in 15th with 14.33 points. Williams took the team crown with 143 points.

At Springfield, the men were competing in their own Division III New England Championships.

Sophomore Ryan Widzgowski (Camden, Maine) and senior Kevin Hoyt (Newtown, Conn.) each had ninth place finishes. Widzgowski finished ninth in the mile race in a time of 4:19.62, while Hoyt crossed the finish line in 15:10.86 in the 5,00 meter race.

Bates claimed their first men's new england title in school history.

Next Weekend, KSC will be at NEICCA Championships at Boston University.