MIDDLEBURY, Vt. –
Eden Damis and
Tyler Bolaske each posted top 40 Division III marks while
Keith O'Donnell also added an event victory as the Keene State College track and field teams resumed their indoor season on Saturday when they visited Middlebury College for the Snowflake Invitational at the Virtue Field House.
KSC compiled 15 top three finishes or better at the meet, paced by a pair of marks that a pair of Owls will look to build on as it relates to NCAA qualification. Damis' 14.00-meter triple jump, a personal record which came on his sixth and final attempt, is currently good for 21st in Division III and beat out Middlebury College senior Tony Wang by nearly a meter. Bolaske, coming off a NCAA championship individual qualification in cross country, has a building block of 4:25.88 in the mile, also a PR for him and the current 40th-best time in Division III. In the event today, he edged out Patrick Russell of St. Lawrence University by three seconds to be one of the three event winners for KSC.
Keith O'Donnell also edged a member of the Saints, finishing .30 seconds ahead of Riley Cushman with his mark of 1:09.16.
Other noteworthy efforts came from
Molly Lu McKellar, who ran the women's 60-meter hurdles in 9.77 for a third-place finish.
McKenna Castor was fourth in that event in 9.92. Freshman
Keagan Ware ran the men's 500 meters in 1:16.59 to finish in third in that event as KSC had three of the top four. Fellow rookie
Andrew Klinedinst ran the 3,000 meters in 9:15.58 to place third of 19 competitors, finishing only behind two times from the host Panthers that are current top-100 Division III marks. Senior
Maggie St. John ran a time inside the top 100 (93rd) on the women's side in the same event, finishing in 11:04.09 for a runner-up nod. Keene State also had two of the top three in the women's long jump, with
Caroline Cooper posting a PR mark of 5.06 meters (2nd of 14) and
Ballay Conteh third (5.00 meters).
Caden Latulippe was third (3.95 meters) in the men's pole vault among a group of six that otherwise included all Middlebury participants.
Laurel McKellar finished second in the women's triple jump (9.58 meters) while both KSC men's and women's 4x400 meter relay teams placed third.
"After today as a whole, we know we have more work to do," said Owls head coach
Dan Roark. "We competed well but the marks and times will need to improve. We had some event wins with Keith, Eden, and Tyler and some close seconds on the women's side. We are excited to get to work and come out strong next week at Plymouth."
Keene State travels to the Panther Invitational hosted by PSU next Saturday (January 17) for a 10:00 a.m. start.
