Keller Headlines Men's Track & Field All-Conference Honorees

Veteran thrower named Men's Most Outstanding Athlete of the ECC Championships

5/27/2021 12:20:00 PM

By: By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

AMHERST, N.Y. – Graduate student Sullivan Keller (Alden, N.Y.) headlined a plethora of honorees from the Daemen men's track and field team as the All-East Coast Conference First and Second Teams were announced today. The selection of All-ECC athletes is based on individual finishes at the ECC Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet which was held May 1 at Roberts Wesleyan College. Keller, who claimed individual medalist honors in three throwing events, was named the Men's Most Outstanding Athlete for the conference championship meet.

In all, Daemen had seven individual athletes account for 13 All-ECC selections, plus an accolade earned in a relay event. None were as dominant as Keller who placed first in the shot put (14.80 meters), hammer (47.81 meters) and javelin (personal-best 51.22 meters) and second in the discus (3.595 meters) to earn All-ECC First Team selections in all four events. His throws in the hammer and javelin were 10 meters better than the runner-up. Keller is the first Daemen athlete to earn All-ECC honors for four seperate events in the same season, as well as the first Daemen athlete to garner the meet's top honor as Most Outstanding Athlete.

Leaving as one of the most decorated athletes in program history, Keller ends his career as a 14-time All-ECC selection.

Junior Erik Matthews (Galway, N.Y.) received the first three All-ECC honors of his career. Matthews was named to the All-ECC First Team after placing first in the 110 meter (16.53) and 400 meter (57.25) hurdles events, as well as placing second in the triple jump event (12.41 meters). Matthews joins Keller as the only Daemen athletes to ever earn All-ECC First Team honors in three events during the same season.

Junior Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) also netted a pair of first-team all-conference selections after placing first overall in the triple jump (13.17 meters) and second overall in the high jump (1.85 meters) events.

Freshman Hessen Bahgat (Fredonia, N.Y.) rounded out the Wildcats' first team selections after he cleared 3.05 meters in the pole vault. It's the fourth time in program history that the Wildcats have claimed All-ECC honors for the pole vault.

Daemen's 10 All-ECC First Team selections mark a new program record, shattering the previous benchmark (4) set in 2019.

Sophomore Dominic Clementi (Barker, N.Y.) and freshmen Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Pat Petronsky (Blasdell, N.Y.) were named All-ECC Second Team recipients. Clementi placed third in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.09 seconds. O'Brien and Petronsky also earned third place finishes - O'Brien in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (10:30.10) and Petronsky in the pole vaults (2.60 meters).

Collectively, Daemen men's track and field placed second behind host Roberts Wesleyan at the ECC Championships with a total of 142 points. This was the Wildcats best finish since they first started competing at the event in 2013. Daemen's previous best finish was fourth place (2017, 2018, 2019.)

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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