LOWELL, Mass. – The Keene State College women's 4x100 meter relay team set a new school record, breaking their own set earlier this season, as the Owl outdoor track and field teams competed at the George Davis Invitational hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell at the Cushing Field Complex on Friday and Saturday.

It marked KSC's final meet before the conference championships next Saturday hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University, and head coach Dan Roark believes his team is ready for championship season.  The Owls had a number of standouts at the meet in which they were the lone Division III team, not the least of which was the 4x100 relay team consisting of Mia Cruz, Caroline Cooper, Elle MacDonald, and Keely Giordano, which finished third among the eight groups in 48.37, breaking their previous KSC-best mark set in March by a tenth of a second.  That group of four also excelled in their other events, with Cruz finishing tied for fifth of 18 in the high jump (1.50 meters) and Giordano eighth of 31 in the 100 (12.45) and 11th of 46 in the 200 (26.06).  Cooper was ninth in the 200 meters in 25.82 and 15th in the long jump at 5.04 meters.  MacDonald was 13th in the 100 meters in 12.62, while the Owls also got strong finishes from Kallie Warner (10:47.01) and Ava Fortin (10:59.05) in the 3,000 meters as they finished fifth and seventh, respectively.  Maggie St. John placed 12th in the 1,500 meters (4:59.03), while McKenna Castor was fifth among 24 competitors in the 100 hurdles (15.64).  KSC also got further solid showings in field events, as Makenna Knapp was fifth in the javelin (37.24 meters) and Drea Defreitas seventh among 41 in the long jump (5.30 meters).  Molly Lu McKellar finished seventh in the 400 hurdles (1:10.56) while Natalie Wilde was also in the top half of the 200 meter field of 46, finishing in 27.26.

The Owls also had standouts on the men's side, led by a pair of personal records from Troy Tenney and a men's 4x100 meter relay that was a half second from tying the school record.  Tenney tied for fourth among the 16 in the high jump with a personal best mark of 1.85 meters while also adding a 6.30-meter long jump to set a new personal record.  He was also 13th in the javelin with a throw of 48.72 meters.  In a race decided by just .46 seconds, the 4x100 group of Zack Smith, Sean Von Ranson, Jonathan DeAguiar, and Kyle Thomas finished in 42.63.  The previous school record set last year by Aidan Law, Von Ranson, DeAguiar, and Thomas was 42.13.  The team of Alex Nimiroski, Ethan Vitello, Von Ranson, and Thomas missed breaking that record by just two hundredths of a second at the same venue in late March.  KSC also got a fifth-place nod (of 43) from Griffin Urnezis in the 1,500 meters in 3:59.02, while Nicholas Terranova was 11th in the same event (4:04.96).  Andrew Klinedinst was in the top third (six of 18) in the two-mile race (9:45.46), while DeAguiar was 13th among 37 in the 100 meters (11.11).  Gage Blanchette also set a PR in the discus, finishing sixth at the open event (34.86 meters).

"This meet proves we are ready for championship season," said KSC head coach Dan Roark, whose men's team will be looking to defend their men's indoor league championship won in February.  "We competed at a high level and it showed.  Some big-time personal bests in every discipline and I am excited with what we can do.  We have some injuries impacting us, but people are stepping up in the right places."

The LEC championship next Saturday (April 25) at Rick McCarthy Field will begin at 10:00 a.m., with three separate streaming events depending on the discipline available on FloCollege.  Keene State enters the meet with three top 50 national marks, including Thomas in the 100 meters (28th, 10.52, April 4) and McKellar in the heptathlon (17th, 4,553, April 10) and shot put (50th, 12.80 meters, April 10).