Men's Results
Women's Results
PROVIDENCE, R.I. –
Jake Velazquez,
Maggie St. John, and the men's 4 x 200 relay team all took home first place gold medals individually as the Keene State College track and field teams competed at the Little East Conference championships on Saturday at the Providence Career & Technical Academy hosted by Rhode Island College.
The Owl women again placed second for the second straight year, but narrowed the gap between themselves and first-place University of Southern Maine substantially, accumulating 105 points to come up 26 points shy as opposed to the 176-95 margin from a season ago. The KSC men moved up two spots from last year, finishing third with 99 points. Southern Maine also took the men's title with 149 points, ahead of second-place University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (113). Ten of the 17 point differential between KSC and UMD came in distance events, with the Corsairs placing two in the top four in the mile and two of the top five in the 3,000 meters to go along with a second place finish in the 600 meters, and a win in the 1,000 meters where KSC had fourth and fifth place finishes. UMD also got 24 points by going 1-2-3 in the high jump, two coming from freshmen.
KSC opened the meet strong, with the women going 1-2 in the 5,000 meters as St. John defended her crown in 18:42.13 and was followed closely behind by
Kallie Warner in 18:46.20. On the men's side of the 5,000 meters, Velazquez won by eight seconds in an LEC record 15:06.46. It is the seventh time the Owl women have won the 5,000 meters indoors, with St. John becoming the first to repeat. Velazquez's win in the same event on the men's side is the third in KSC indoor program history, joining Hayden Patterson in 2014 and Mark Rabasco in 2015. The 4x200 relay team of
Jonathan DeAguiar,
Kyle Thomas,
Aidan Law, and
Sean Von Ranson added an event win later in the afternoon, finishing in 1:32.00 even to edge Plymouth State University's foursome by .58 seconds and become the second KSC LEC champion in that event joining Angel Ramirez, Anthony Jennings, Clinton Mungeta, and Jared Hannon in 2019 (1:33.51). The Owls also got third place finishes from
Kyle Thomas in the 60 meter dash (6.99),
Griffin Urnezis in the mile (4:22.46), and
Keith O'Donnell in the 600 meters (1:25.84). Law (22.33) and Thomas (22.68) were second and third, respectively, in the 200 meter dash, while
Caden Latulippe was tied for second and received third-place points in the pole vault, matching his school record with a mark of 4.30 meters. Law also found his way onto the podium in the long jump, finishing second with a mark of 7.14 meters, and freshman
Jayden Baker was third in the shot put (14.41 meters). Nicholas Terranova placed fourth in a very close 800 meter race, finishing in 2:00.75 – just over two seconds from the winner, with two Eastern Connecticut State University runners in between.
On the women's side, four other runner-up finishes in addition to Warner helped solidify the Owls' team second place finish, beating out the University of Massachusetts-Boston by 27 points.
Molly Lu McKellar took home silver in the 60 meter hurdles in 9.35, as did
Keely Giordano in the 60 meter dash (7.86). UMB's Aryianna Garceau won both events.
Sarah Ames was second in the mile (5:15.59), just 2.4 seconds behind RIC's Haley Oliver.
Anna O'Reilly (4th, 5:26.40) and
Autumn Boisvert (6th, 5:31.28) also scored in that event. Ames was also the runner-up in the 800 meters, finishing in 2:26.19.
Bryn Dickinson (1:44.07 in the 600 meters),
Anna O'Reilly (3:12.83 in the 1,000 meters),
Carlie Cronin (3.10 meters in the pole vault),
Drea Defreitas (10.72 meters in the triple jump), and the 4x800 meter relay team all earned their way to the podium with bronze to help add to KSC's scoring contingent. The Owls' representation in the 1,000 meters combined for 12 points as O'Reilly, St. John, and
Ava Fortin finished 3-4-5.
"I'm proud of both teams today," said Keene State head coach
Dan Roark. "This was the meet we have been waiting for and we put it together. Everyone had a job to do and they executed it very well. With championship meets, there are always things that happen that are unexpected, but it is how you handle it and move forward from it. We had some unexpected things happen but I am proud of how the team rallied together to overcome these challenges. We have a tough group of men and women and I'm excited for the next one."
Southern Maine's women's title was their 24th and their men's title their 16th. The KSC men took home indoor LEC championships in 1999 and 2008.
The Owls will get ready for the New England Division III Championships to be held in Boston next weekend (Saturday, March 1).
