BOSTON, Mass. – Three school records were broken this weekend when the Keene State College track and field teams opened their 2024-2025 indoor slate with a busy weekend that saw action at three different venues across both Saturday and Sunday.

Two of the records were broken Sunday when the Owls traveled to theTRACK at New Balance for the non-scoring Beacons Opener hosted by the University of Massachusetts-Boston, with Aidan Law setting a new school best in the 200-meter dash by finishing in 21.91, good for first place.  It marked not only his personal best, but also outpaced Clinton Mungeta's previous school record of 22.44 set five years ago and is tenth across NCAA Division III, just .13 seconds from a top five mark in the season's early days.

Law was additionally part of a 4x200 relay team that included Kyle Thomas, Keith O'Donnell, and Jonathan DeAguiar that finished in 1:31.18 to set a new KSC mark previously held by Angel Ramirez, Jared Hannon, Anthony Jennings, and Mungeta, also set in 2019 (1:32.53).  The Owl junior also set a new personal best in the 60-meter dash on Saturday at the Springfield College Invitational, placing second in 6.98.  It broke both the school record set by Tommy Ahlers last season and Thomas in an earlier heat, but Thomas reset the record by winning the finals of that race in 6.92, tied for the 15th fastest time nationally in Division III in the event.

KSC also got strong performances from Jake Velazquez in the 5,000-meter race at the Wesleyan Winter Invitational in Connecticut on Jayden Baker in Springfield on Saturday.  Fresh off his impressive cross country season that saw him finish 29th at the NCAA championship after a Little East individual victory, Velazquez finished his first indoor event in 14:55.26, good for the 38th-best mark nationally in the 5,000 meters.  Baker, in his first ever collegiate event, threw the shot put 14.05 meters to finish second in a field of 28 competitors.  That mark leaves the weekend at 45th in the country.

The Owls qualified six for the New England Division III championships to be held on March 1 in Boston, including Law (200 meters, 60 meters, long jump), Thomas (60 meters), Velazquez (5,000 meters), Maggie St. John (5,000 meters), Drea Defreitas (long jump), and Molly Lu McKellar (shot put).

St. John joined Velazquez at Wesleyan, finishing sixth in the 5,000 meters in 18:30.14.  Defreitas' long jump mark of 5.10 meters in her first collegiate event came at Springfield and was good for a second-place finish behind Quianna Pezza of fellow conference opposition Rhode Island College (5.37 meters).

Also on the women's side, McKellar set new personal bests of 4.77 meters in the long jump (4th of 16) and 11.61 meters (3rd of 24) in the shot put, with that New England qualifying mark surpassing her throw of 11.46 meters at Middlebury this past February.  Keely Giordano ran to a sixth-place finish in the 60 meter dash in Springfield, finishing in 8.23, and then a fourth place mark in the 200 meter dash (27.01) at UMass-Boston.

"We kicked off the indoor season with a bang," said Keene State head coach Dan Roark.  "This weekend we broke three school records and had a handful of D-III New England qualifiers.  It sets a great foundation for the season, but we still have a lot of work to do.  The LEC is looking really strong this year, but our athletes put in a lot of work and it really showed this weekend."

KSC will open the new year by visiting Hanover for the Dartmouth College Relays on January 11.