Three Owls Capture LEC Outdoor Track Honors
From Stuart Kaufman, Sports Information:
Keene State’s Allison Chamberlain ’11 was surprised when she was named the 2009 Little East Conference Women’s Outdoor Track Runner of the Year. But that shock didn’t come close to the emotion she experienced after a mandatory physical prior to enrolling at KSC this winter.
“It was just a random physical that all transferring athletes have to take,” said Chamberlain, who was coming to Keene State after competing at the University of Vermont as a freshman.
Doctors ordered additional tests, found a half-inch hole in her heart, and recommended surgery. Undaunted by the sudden setback, she was walking two weeks after the operation and back running with her Owl teammates four weeks later.
Chamberlain was a 400-meter and multiple relay state champion on a Scarborough High School team that captured consecutive indoor and outdoor crowns. Following her graduation, she was a member of the UVM Catamounts’ 4x800 relay squad. A desire to major in architecture and to continue her running career brought her to Keene State.
The Little East Conference also announced that Keene State senior Peter Najem was named the Track Athlete of the Year, and teammate sophomore Bryan Kolacz was selected as the Field Athlete of the Year.
Najem advanced to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the first time in his career, qualifying for the 800-meter race. He captured the 800-meter titles at the New England Division III, New England Alliance, and Little East Conference Championships, while finishing seventh at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III meet.
Kolacz became the 10th Keene State College student-athlete in men’s track and field to capture a national championship, breaking the Don Drumm Stadium and school record by throwing the hammer 61.48 meters at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships hosted by Marietta College (Ohio). Kolacz swept each of the post-season meets he entered in the hammer throw, adding the ECAC, New England Division III, New England Alliance, and Little East Conference Championship titles to his mantle. He was also named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association New England Field Athlete of the Year. Kolacz was voted the 2008 Rookie Field Athlete of the Year by the conference coaches.
