AMHERST, N.Y. – Track and field standouts
Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and
Sullivan Keller (Alden, N.Y./Alden) have been named the Daemen College Student-Athletes of the Month presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC for May, 2017.
Donahue concluded her outstanding career with the women's track & field team last month. A four-year standout on the women's cross country team as well, it marks the sixth time over her career that she has earned Athlete of the Month recognition.
Donahue only ran one race during May, but it was a big one—taking part in the 10,000-meter run at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Championships in Bradenton, Fla.
Seeded 15th in the 21-member field, Donahue placed ninth with a time of 35:55.69—finishing ahead of four runners who were seeded higher entering the race. Donahue's 25th and final lap of the race was her fastest, clocking in at 1:15.80. In the 24th lap, Donahue ran 1:27.01 and entered the last leg trailing the tenth-place finisher Micki Krzesinski of Fort Hays State University. Her ninth-place finish earned Donahue second-team All-America recognition, making her just the fourth Daemen athlete to garner All-American honors at the NCAA Division II level.
A three-time Daemen College Female Athlete of the Year, Donahue became Daemen's first-ever national championship qualifier and participant in any sport at the NCAA Division II level back in 2015 when she competed in the national championship meet for cross country. She would add national championship berths for both indoor and outdoor track and field to finish her career with three national championship appearances. She ended her cross country career last fall with 19 top-10 finishes (in 25 career racers) and was also Daemen's top finisher 22 times over her career, while earning All-ECC honors for four-straight years and All-East Region honors for two consecutive seasons. Her historic indoor track season this past winter included five individual team records and repeating as ECC champion in both the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs.
Keller capped his rookie season with the men's track & field team by breaking a five-year-old school-record in the discus at the Cardinal Last Chance Meet hosted by St. John Fisher College on May 13.
Keller, who competed in four events during the meet, placed third in the discus with a school-record throw of 42.28 meters. He broke his previous personal-best throw by an impressive 12 meters and eclipsed the previous school-record of 38.80 set by Mark Fox in 2012.
It marked just the third time during the season that Keller had competed in the discus. His previous attempts resulted in a 32nd-place showing during the ROC City Classic with a toss of 27.36 meters and a sixth-place effort at the East Coast Conference Championship with a throw of 30.23 meters. His school-record toss of 42.28 would have earned him a third-place showing at the ECC Championships.
