Keene State Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field competed at the New England Division III (DIII) Regional Championships on May 3, 2026. The Owls came away with a gold and silver medal in one of their final meets before the DIII National Championships.
Senior Molly Lu McKellar set a new school record in the shot put event, earning gold with a 13.38-meter mark from her third throw. The mark was almost a sixth of a meter further than second place and cleanly earned McKellar the new school record over the previous 12.98-meter mark set in 2023. By the conclusion of the meet, McKellar’s mark was 26th in the nation and well placed for a potential qualification. McKellar earned 10 points for Keene State at the meet.
Senior Kyle Thomas earned a silver medal in the 100-meter dash with a mark of 10.77 seconds in a tight race. Thomas currently holds the 40th-best mark in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.52 seconds, earned at the Springfield College Outdoor Classic earlier in the season in April. Sophomore Benjamin Tetu also earned the Owls’ five points in the meet for a fourth-place 10,000-meter time of 32:12.18.
Sophomore Troy Tenney and Junior Mia Cruz picked up points for the Owls in the high jump, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Tenney’s mark of 1.92 meters was a career high, only 0.02 meters off the highest earned mark. Cruz set her own personal best with a mark of 1.58 meters, coming in sixth in a tight women’s high jump field.
The Owls came away with 25.5 points on the men’s side, finishing 13th in a field of 34 schools. The women’s team earned 15.5 points, placing them 20th of 38. McKellar’s 10 points from her gold in the shot put helped propel the Owls forward in the final standings.
The week before, the Owls competed in the Little East Conference (LEC) Championships, where they picked up eight golds despite a plague of injuries.
Both 4×400-meter relay teams set new school records. On the men’s side, junior Alex Nimiroski, Thomas, senior Jonathan DeAguiar and sophomore Sean Von Ranson set a time of 41.73 seconds, earning first place and a gold medal. The women’s team earned a mark of 48.14 seconds, good for a silver medal. Additionally, first year Kallie Warner earned a gold in the 10,000-meter race with a time of 39:08.82.
Thomas picked up two more gold medals in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, with times of 10.63 and 21.78, respectively. Junior Griffin Urnezis earned a gold in steeplechase with a time of 9:41.81. Graduate student Maggie St. John finished on top of women’s steeplechase with a gold of her own, setting a time of 11:42.42.
Juniors Tyler Bolaske and Aidan Law were both absent from the Championships, out with injuries. The men’s team contended with injuries across the board, contributing to a fifth-place finish with 100 points. The women fared better, with 145 points and a second-place finish.
The Owls move on to the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on May 8 and 9, for one final look at qualifying for Nationals.
Frank LeBlanc can be contacted at
fleblanc@kscequinox.com
