People gathered in the dining commons at Keene State College on Friday Sept. 29 at 7 p.m., to celebrate two LEC Hall of Fame inductees and four Keene State Athletics Hall of Fame inductees, including the 2006 Distance Medley Relay.
The night opened up with Marty Testo and a welcome from Dr. Melinda Treadwell. The crowd mingled with each other, and the tables were dismissed to go and get food; at 7:45 the actual event began.
David Westover ‘72 presented Crystal Blamy, Keene State graduate of 2008. Blamy competed in the high jump at Keene State and in her senior year won the indoor and outdoor event. Westover reflected on coaching Blamy, as he started coaching her in sixth grade. “So when you think about a young sixth grader who was a little clumsy and didn’t make it to the finish line in the 100, to see what she accomplished, it’s truly amazing, and why we are recognizing her here tonight,” he said.
She is a two-time national champion and a three-time winner of the All-American award. The jump that landed her the indoor national title was 5’7 3/4”, and then a couple of months later she jumped 5’7” claiming the outdoor national title as well.
Sarah Testo ‘00 presented Amy Zombeck, Keene State graduate of 1999. After being at Keene State for only three years after transferring from Wheaton College, she finished with 107 points, the third highest point record in Keene State history. Zombeck played for Keene State during the time when Keene switched from the New England Collegiate Conference to the Little East Conference. She was the All-New England Collegiate Conference player in her first year, and later received the All-LEC and All-New England Honor in her junior year. During her senior year, she was awarded the All-LEC, All-New England, and All-American honors, and the LEC Player of the Year award.
Moving on to the Keene State Athletics Hall of Fame inductees, Dr. Stanley Yarosewick, a former president of Keene State College, made the ultimate decision to move KSC from DⅡ to DⅢ in 1997. “One fine weekend in October, I locked myself in my office and ultimately came to the decision to reaffirm the decision to move to division 3,” Yarosewick said. “I knew there were many who would disagree, but I knew I had coaches who were quite good and successful no matter whether we were division Ⅱ or division Ⅲ.” It seemed to be the right decision for Keene State as the athletics program ended up winning the Commissioner’s Cup in 2001 and 15 more years after that.
Rick Scott, graduate of 1977, was a former soccer player and former head coach for KSC from 2014-2021, and he ended his coaching career for the Owls with a record of 66-53-12. Scott started all four years at Keene State men’s soccer and mainly played the sweeper position, according to his teammate who introduced him, Tod Silegy ‘76. Silegy described Scott as someone who had his back, the team’s back and the countries, as he served in Vietnam. Scott was a team captain during his junior and senior years, and during that time was an All-Conference player 1975 and 1976 and also was an All-New England player during his junior year.
David Westover also presented the 2006 Distance Medley relay. The team was made up by Breanne Lucey ‘08, Krystin Gavin ‘10, Sarah Miller ‘07 and Jennifer Adams ‘10.
The distance medley is a relay event where the first person runs 1200 meters, the second runner runs 400 meters, passing the baton onto the third runner who will run 800 meters and then the last runner runs 1600 meters. They ran it in 11:56.45 minutes, setting the facility record at the Indoor Track and Field Championships at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and this made it possible for them to finish fourth in the NCAA championships.
Marty Testo ‘98 presented Bobby Doyon, a former Keene State College baseball player. He was an outfielder at KSC from 2008-2011, and holds the school records for games played, runs scored, hits, doubles and home runs, among others. Doyon helped the Owls win their first LEC tournament title and another record for 34 victories in 2008.
Testo, Doyon’s former coach, talked about the route Doyon had to take which was more untraditional than other students.
“Not everybody has the privilege of finishing their playing career with the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame; and knowing Bobbo for as long as I have, that path was a little bit different,” Testo said.
Scot Ward ‘90 presented Bob Merrow, a former Keene State athletic trainer from 1986 to 2018.
When he first joined Keene State there was only one athletic trainer on staff. The New Hampshire Athletic Training Association (NHATA) recognized Merrow for the work that he did at Keene State, and he was also awarded the Keene State Outstanding Service Award in 2018. He stayed with the college through numerous department and program changes.
“I just had fantastic interactions and relationships with all the people at Keene State, and I really really appreciate that so much, that’s what made my career,” he said. “‘The grandest thing we will ever have is each other’ That’s a quote from Pooh Bear, and I really appreciate having all of you.”
Marty Testo followed this and thanked the inductees and everyone who came, closing out the night.
Molly Lu McKellar can be contacted
at mmckellar@kscequinox.com
