Swimming and Diving
It’s no surprise that the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at Keene State College received an A+ on this year’s winter report card. 
At the NEISDA swimming championships, held on Feb. 8 through Feb. 10, the men’s swim team certainly proved their worth.
According to CollegeSwimming.com, their performance at the NEISDA meet earned the KSC men’s swim team the number one spot on their Division-III top 25 poll.
On top of a solid performance at the NEISDA meet, seven Owls have qualified for the National meet in Texas in March.
Among those swimmers are Austin Harris, James Black, Jared Hyde, Drew Ledwith, all of whom went last year, along with newcomers Shahar Resman, Cole Hogg and Greg Youngstrom.
And it wasn’t only the men’s team that impressed swim fans at Keene State College this year.
The women’s swimming and diving team won the Little East Conference championship, winning 13 of 16 events.
The Owls scored 630 points at the meet, which is an all-time record for the Little East Conference championships.
This was also the seventh consecutive LEC championship for the Lady Owls.
Track and Field
The Keene State College track and field team sure proved themselves over the weekend at the Little East Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships; coming in second place overall on the women’s side and third on the men’s side.
In an exciting day, the KSC women’s track team took the reigning champions, University of Southern Maine all the way to the last race. Losing by only four points, the meet was literally decided by the last race, the 4×400 relay.
KSC senior Janel Haggerty finished in first place in the 55-meter hurdles and also set an LEC record with a time of 8.46.
The men’s team finished in third place, behind USM and Rhode Island College.
Seniors Thomas Paquette and Ryan Widzgowski both finished first in the 3,000m and 1,000m race respectively.
Young talent will help fuel the throwing team well into the spring track and field season. Sophomore’s Ben Keach and Courtney Hartwell will hopefully provide the outdoor team with the same success they had indoor.
Following in the strong distance footsteps of Andrea Walsh and others alike, senior Maggie Fitter has provided the spark for the Owls in the long races, such as the 1,000m race, which Fitter won at the LECs.
Men’s Basketball
Expectations were high this season for the men’s basketball team. A preseason LEC poll ranked them at number one. As the season progressed, the Owls dropped crucial Little East games to Rhode Island College and Eastern Connecticut State, both of whom are ranked above the Owls currently.
But KSC senior Rashad Wright helped the Owls achieve a 15-8 record with just two games left to play in the season, against Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island College. Wright averaged 11.1 points and 9 rebounds per game this season.
The Owls also got a big spark from freshman Tre’ Tipton. Tipton worked his way into the starting lineup midway through the season. Although he only averaged 4.6 points per game, Tipton’s tenacious defense helped the Owls average 8.7 steals per game.
They’re ranked fourth in the league for steals per game. They also currently lead the Little East in points per game with 78.6, scoring 1,807 points in 23 games played.
The team is sure to make the Little East Conference tournament, sitting in third place. They may not have home court advantage, but with a 9-2 record on the road, playing elsewhere may give the Owls the spark they need to make a deep run into the tournament.
Women’s Basketball
Expectations were not nearly as high for the Lady Owls this season. After graduating Meghan Farrell, Courtney Cirillo, Sara Laudano and Nikki Cote, the team was certainly searching for some leadership. Leadership is exactly what they got from their lone senior, Siobhan Carnell, who averaged 16.5 points per game.
Ranking number 6 in the LEC preseason poll, the Lady Owls knew that this year was going to be a rebuilding year from the get go. Although the team did some major rebuilding, bringing in Kelsey Cognetta from William Patterson University halfway through the year, along with three other freshmen, they still managed to notch nine wins thus far.
They may not have finished the season with the results they had hoped for, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. They had a close game against the top team in the LEC, University of Southern Maine, losing 58-56. They also gave the number two team Eastern Connecticut, a solid run for their money, losing 54-48.
If anything, this team certainly has a bright future ahead of them. With three juniors on the team this year, Brianna McCain, Vicky Vitale and Carly Kiernan, there should be no shortage of leadership on the court for the Lady Owls next year.