MEDFORD, Mass. – Nine days from NCAA selections, the Keene State College indoor track and field teams have many names in contention for NCAA championship qualification.  Senior Molly Lu McKellar is now firmly in that discussion after Friday at the New England Division III championships at the Gantcher Center on the campus of Tufts University.

The Hebron, N.H. native and Newfound High School product bettered her pentathlon score in a major way, compiling 3,449 points (3,471 points after conversion) to post the tenth best score in Division III this season.  She had scored 3,207 points in a win at the Bates College Invitational and Multi in mid-January, a mark that was within the top 30, but head coach Dan Roark was confident she could better that mark.  That she did, as her new personal record score in the overall event also included a record in the 800 meters of 2:30.37, good for second in that event.  McKellar also won the shot put (11.99 meters) and 60 hurdles (9.03) to accumulate points, along with finishing fifth in the high jump (1.51 meters) and seventh in the long jump (5.02 meters) among the 15 competitors – all of whom must have qualified for the championship event with prior marks.

McKellar just barely missed out on a gold medal on the New England stage, as she was edged by University of Hartford junior Jordan Murphy, who scored a meet record 3,559 points (3,581 converted) and currently has the fourth-best mark in the country.  Elaina Styer of Stockton University (N.J.) is the current national leader with 3,747 points set last weekend at the New Jersey Athletic Conference championships.  The top 20 will qualify for the NCAA championships to be held in Birmingham, Alabama in mid-March – which McKellar is now firmly within as the selections loom in nine days.

The difference for Murphy in what was a neck-and-neck race with McKellar ultimately ended up being her third-place long jump (5.09 meters) and first-place high jump (1.72 meters).

"Molly Lu is a fighter and she showed it today," said Roark.  "She has worked hard for every point and put herself in a position to fight for the win.  Jordan Murphy from Hartford had a great day but for Molly to be in that position to try to win and to put her in a place to be in the top 10 in the country at the end of the day is great."

The New England Division III championships continue tomorrow (Saturday, February 28) at the Gantcher Center with the heptathlon and Sunday (March 1) – when the Owls will return to action with their other qualifiers – at theTRACK at new balance.

NCAA selections will be announced Sunday, March 8 on ncaa.com.  KSC currently has eight top 50 national marks across both men and women, with Aidan Law currently sitting at 18th in the men's long jump and Ballay Conteh 20th in the women's long jump.