SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior
Molly Lu McKellar continued a shining campaign with a school record – easily – in the shot put as she picked up gold as the Keene State College outdoor track and field teams competed at the New England Division III championships hosted by Springfield College at the Blake Track Friday and Saturday.
McKellar finished with a mark of 13.38 meters on her third attempt of the event, breaking the old Owl record of 12.98 meters set by Shannon Parks in 2023 by four tenths of a meter. She won the event by even more, picking up an impressive gold and 10 points for her team, as the University of Southern Maine's Jaigan Boudreau was second at 12.80 meters. In fact, among the 20 participants, McKellar was the only one to eclipse 13 meters all day, and her second-best attempt of 12.87 also would have won the event. The Newfound, N.H. native currently boasts two marks within the top 26 as a final qualifying meet looms, with her showing today the No. 26 mark in the shot put across Division III. Her score of 4,553 in the heptathlon at Tufts University is still No. 22.
Kyle Thomas, owner of the No. 39 time nationally in Division III in the 100 meters, also medaled in that event today by picking up a silver in 10.77. In fact, the top three in the event all finished with that exact same time. Griffin Urnzeis finished with a bronze in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:31.64, while
Troy Tenney was fifth in the high jump (1.92 meters) and tenth in the javelin (51.50 meters). Ben Tetu picked up five points for KSC with his fourth-place time in the 10,000 meters (32:12.18). In a tight relay race, the Owls' 4x100 group of
Zack Smith,
Sean Von Ranson,
Jonathan DeAguiar, and Thomas finished sixth among the 19 relays in 42.74.
On the women's side,
Elle MacDonald placed ninth in 25.74 and just missed scoring in a tight 200 meters while
Maggie St. John picked up three points for a sixth-place finish in the 3,000 steeplechase (11:43.04).
Mia Cruz finished in a sixth-place tie in the long jump (1.57 meters).
McKenna Castor was 11th of 30 in the 100 prelims (15.23) and
Makenna Knapp tenth in the javelin, throwing 34.87 meters.
"It was a great day today," said KSC head coach
Dan Roark. "It is hard to bring a championship-level atmosphere back-to-back weeks, but we did a great job of that today. The highlight was obviously Molly Lu in the shot put, winning her event."
As a team, the Keene State men finished 13th of 34 teams with 25.5 points, while the women were 20th of 38 with 15.5 points. Worcester Polytechnic Institute took home the men's title with 115 points, while Connecticut College won the women's side with 100. Fellow LEC competitor University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the defending men's champion, placed in a second-place tie with 56 while the best-finishing conference team on the women's side was Eastern Connecticut State University with 37 points in seventh.
KSC will prepare a select group to compete at the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza hosted by Williams College next Friday (12:00 p.m.) and Saturday (10:00 a.m.) May 8-9, which will serve as a tuneup for a final qualifying meet on May 14.
