LOWELL, Mass. –
Keely Giordano broke her own record in the 60 meters set last February and
Elle MacDonald broke
Caroline Cooper's record in the 200 meters set this past December as the Keene State College indoor track teams continued their impressive season this weekend at the River Hawk Invitational hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell at theTRACK at new balance.
The women ventured down to Massachusetts on Friday and the men Saturday, with both sides aiming to build their marks as championship season approaches, with the Little East meet in just two weeks. The Owls posted a combined 13 marks at the meet that would be top 10 in the conference, including Giordano's 7.85 in the 60-meter dash that broke her previous school record set at last year's conference championship by one hundredth of a second. That time is currently second in the conference, as is
Molly Lu McKellar's 9.19 in the 60 hurdles.
Elle MacDonald broke another school record on Friday, running the 200 meters in 26.29 – good for the current No. 3 seed in the LEC – to break Cooper's 26.36 from December 6.
Giordano was just .03 seconds from making the final in the 60 at a non-scoring meet that featured competitors from all three NCAA divisions.
Elsewhere, the Owl foursome of
Mia Cruz, Cooper, Giordano, and MacDonald barely missed a longstanding 4x400 school record with their finish in 4:00.02, which was still good for sixth out of 25 entrants and the best Division III time in the event at the meet. It is also currently the best time in the conference, and was less than a second from eclipsing Sarah Miller, Courtney Bates, Krystin Gavin, and Breanne Lucey's time of 3:59.10 from 2005.
In the mile,
Maggie St. John finished in 5:24.37 (currently fourth in LEC) and
Ava Fortin in 5:29.22 (eighth in LEC).
Kallie Warner ran the 5,000 meters in 19:24.70.
Ballay Conteh continues to build on an eye-catching season, finishing sixth in the long jump with a mark of 5.30 meters. She is currently the top seed in the LEC in that event with her 5.66-meter mark last weekend at the University of Southern Maine. Cooper finished 11th in the triple jump (10.82 meters) and remains the holder of the second-best mark in the conference, also set last weekend (10.99 meters).
"It was a strong day (Friday) for the Owls," said KSC head coach
Dan Roark. "We came into this meet with high expectations and met or exceeded them in most events. Right now track and field is fun for this group and it is showing in the marks."
On the men's side Saturday, KSC had three top-eight conference marks in the mile, with
Tyler Bolaske finishing sixth of 107 in the event in 4:12.75,
Griffin Urnezis 26th in 4:21.40, and Nicholas Terranova 52nd in 4:31.58.
Kyle Thomas ran the 60-meter dash in 6.97, just missing the finals of the event by .03 seconds, while Ben Tetu finished the 5,000 meters in 15:44.50.
Troy Tenney posted a mark of 1.80 meters in the high jump and
Aidan Law a 6.91-meter long jump on his final of the six attempts.
Eden Damis posted a 13.26-meter triple jump, placing 12th of 28.
The Owls continue to boast four top 50 national marks in events, including Law 13th in the men's long jump (7.19 meters), Conteh 15th in the women's long jump (5.66 meters), McKellar 23rd in the women's pentathlon (3,207 points), and Damis 39th in the men's triple jump (14.12 meters). Qualifiers likely need to finish within the top 20 to guarantee their spot at the nationals.
"It was a good meet on both sides," added Roark. "We are in mid-season form and excited to head into championship season."
Keene State heads to the David Hemery Valentine Invitational next Friday and Saturday hosted by Boston University and the Tufts University Cupid Challenge before the LEC championship on February 21 at Plymouth State University.
