PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Four years ago, one might be skeptical this day would come this quickly after the Keene State College men's indoor track and field team finished ahead of only one team out of eight in the Little East Conference.  But believe it, it did.  Improving in each season under head coach Dan Roark, the Owls are now the best team in the conference, winning their first league championship since 2008 and third overall in program history on a successful Saturday in which the women were also the team runner-up and set three school records at the league championships hosted by Plymouth State University at the Bank of New Hampshire Field House at ALLWell North.

The Owl men picked up a whopping six individual gold medals on the day – two more than the next closest team – and swept the podium twice in an impressive performance that showed the LEC they are back again, as they compiled 145 points to outdistance runner-up University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth by 20 and were well ahead of third-place finisher and defending league champion University of Southern Maine (95 points).  KSC was in control for most of the afternoon – the projected winner from nearly the start as the first results began to roll in – with five different Owls winning events paced by a pair of wins by Aidan Law in the 200 meters (22.49) and the long jump (6.86 meters).  Eden Damis took the triple jump with a mark of 13.96 meters, and KSC kept cleaning up on a number of the running events, including Griffin Urnezis placing first in the 5,000 meters (15:27.13) and Tyler Bolaske setting a new meet and facility record in the mile (4:11.00), outpacing Ryan Gough's (a Keene State alum) 4:15.64 from 2006.  Current Owl assistant Dylan Flewelling was the defending champion in the event after winning it with Plymouth State University a season ago, the fourth straight Panther to have taken it before Bolaske snapped that streak.

Perhaps the highlight of the day came when the Owls placed 1-2-3 in two separate events, including the 60 meters where Thomas took first in 6.94, Ethan Vitello second in 7.02, and Law third in 7.05.  Thomas and Law just had to swap places for the 200 award pictures, with Vitello finishing just .04 seconds behind Law and Thomas just .06.

Bolaske added a silver in the 800 meters in 1:59.25, while KSC had four bronze finishes including Urnezis in the 3,000 (8:58.03).  Nick Terranova placed third in the mile in 4:26.54, while Ben Tetu and Andrew Klinedinst placed 4-5 in the 5,000 to help the Owls continue to accumulate points and stay in front.  Overall, the men earned 13 medals – six gold, three silver, and four bronze.  Thomas' victory in the 60 meters and Law's 200 meter crown were KSC firsts – the first time the Owls have ever won those events at the indoor conference championship.  Law's long jump gold was the Owls' third all-time joining Jared Hannon in 2016 and 2017, while the other three event wins were all a fourth.  Urnezis' 5,000 meter first place mark helped KSC defend their event title after Jake Velazquez won the event with a conference record time a season ago.

The Keene State women gave a run at trying to dethrone three-time defending conference champion Southern Maine but came up 15 points short (128-113) and comfortably placed second to make it a strong day for the Owls – setting three school records in the process.

Caroline Cooper broke a 24-year-old school record with her second-place triple jump, posting a mark of 11.09 meters to beat Nicole Geyselaers' 11.07-meter jump from 2002.  Molly Lu McKellar also picked up a silver and a school record in the 60 hurdles (9.01), breaking Janel Haggerty's mark (9.03) that had stood since 2013.  Keely Giordano remained a machine in the 60 meters, smashing her own record from 15 days ago by .11 seconds as she finished in 7.74 but was edged by UMass-Boston senior Aryianna Garceau who finished three hundredths of a second better.  Giordano's time still was not only a school record and a personal record, but 41st in Division III as the Owls began the day with five top 50 national marks in Division III and ended it with eight.  On the men's side, Bolaske moved his TFRRS mile time up to 4:07.84 (41st), and on the women's side, McKellar now has the 40th-best 60 hurdles time in Division III.

In addition to their three silvers, the women added four bronze finishes and had four others just miss bronze but nonetheless accumulated points.  Maggie St. John placed third in the 5,000 meters (18:49.96) and Ava Fortin the same in the mile (5:30.89).  The 4x400 meter relay team of Mia Cruz, Miranda Poirier, Elle MacDonald, and Giordano was also third in 4:06.38 – missing gold by less than two seconds in a close race – and Mia Cruz added a third-place high jump (1.53 meters).  Kallie Warner, McKenna Castor, Cooper, and St. John also added fourth-place points in four different events.

All told, it was one of the best days for KSC track and field in a long time – perhaps dating all the way back to their binge of individual national championships.  The Owls finished with 20 medals across both sides – six gold, six silver, and eight bronze.

"Today was a special day all around," said Owls head coach Dan Roark, who began his KSC career in March of 2022 and has seen remarkable gains in cross country and track.  "Both the men and women have been so incredibly focused and motived all week and they brought the intensity today.  The team set the standard early to put pressure on the other top LEC teams. We could not be more proud of the work these athletes have put in and the commitment they showed to each other."

Under Roark, the KSC men improved to sixth of eight teams in 2023, fifth of eight in 2024, third of nine in 2025 – and now are traveling home as champions with a third trophy to join those from 1999 and 2008.  Roark pointed out that some members of the team were only six years old the last time KSC took home an indoor track championship, which now joins men's cross country, women's golf, and field hockey as league champions this academic year.

The Owls will now shift their attention to the New England Division III championships in Boston on Sunday, March 1 with Tufts' National Qualifying Meet on the docket for the following weekend as KSC aims to make noise beyond the conference and have representation at the 2026 NCAA championships in Birmingham, Alabama in mid-March.