Several Keene State College athletes were recently honored with the Little East Conference (LEC) Athlete of the Week award.
These athletes come from a variety of sports and were chosen for their performance in their respective sports.
Emily Perry / Eqiunox Staff
Four of the athletes honored are members of the track and field team, Anthony Jennings, Clinton Mungeta, Jared Hannon, Taylor Bisaillon.
KSC senior Hope Walsh a member of the swim team, and KSC juniot Ty Nichols, who is on the basketball team, were also honored.
Junior Taylor Bisaillon received the LEC award for her performance in the 600-meter run crossing the finish line just in front of teammate Alexandria Papadimoulis with a time of 1:48.52.
Bisaillon said that winning the award was an honor, and it was nice being able to represent her school at the event.
She said that it was her first time running the 600-meter event which made the experience all that much more interesting.
Bisaillon said that since this was the team’s first meet everyone was, “breaking out the rust busters,” but that everyone competed very well.
She also said that everyone has made good progress and is better at this point than they were last year.
Bisaillon said that her coaches have done a good job of preparing everyone and that she is excited to see how everyone will improve over the season.
Another track and field athlete and junior Anthony Jennings, said that he is looking forward to post-season.
Jennings, who earned the LEC Athlete of the Week award for his participation in the 4×400-meter event, said that off-season preparation, including running cross-country, helped him improve a lot.
Jennings competed in the 4×400-meter event along with Hannon, Clinton Mungeta, and Brandon Castor.
The relay “A” team completed the race with a time of 3:37.26, which Jennings said is six seconds better than last years team.
Jennings said that the coaching staff is pushing the team well this year. He also said that he thinks the team can go far this year if they keep working hard.
Jennings who also runs in the 400 open, 200, 500, and the 600 says that the team is in the process of coming together.
He said the coaches have put the athletes through a few hard workouts so far this year, which he knows will help prepare them for the post-season.
Senior Hope Walsh was awarded with her second LEC Athlete of the Week award of the season.
Walsh was given the award for her NCAA B-Cut time while taking third in the mile at the MIT invitational.
Walsh completed the race with a time of 17:28.73, which is currently the 20th fastest time held in Division III this season.
Walsh said she was surprised but excited when she found out about the award. She also said that her senior year has made juggling her responsibilities for the swim team a bit harder.
But that she feels the MIT meet was a turnaround for her, and that she felt she was starting to feel the payoff for all her hard work this season.
Walsh said that everyone who went to the MIT meet did a great job, and she has seen “a ton of improvement since the start of the year.”
Walsh said that she thinks the swim team can do very well this year, aiming for their 12th win in a row, or as the team calls it the “Dirty Dozen.”
Walsh also said that her coach eased the players into practices a bit more this year than usual which she thinks has helped some of the younger swimmers.
Walsh said she is looking forward to NCAA post-season and thinks the team is going to be very strong throughout the rest of their season.
Simon Burch can be contacted at sburch@kscequinox.com
