Lexie Keller Medals Pentathlon at NCAA Championships, Gale Advances in 400

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The final punctuation on Lexie Keller's indoor season was an exclamation mark after she reestablished her own Colorado State pentathlon record and placed third Friday at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Entering the meet as the No. 15 seed out of 16 competitors, Keller well exceeded expectations to find herself on the podium that featured the top eight student-athletes – all earning NCAA First Team All-America honors. The finish was aligned with what assistant coach Ryan Baily predicted back at the beginning of the season and was highlighted in a RamWire piece prior to taking second in the Mountain West Championships two weeks ago.

The junior from Albuquerque, N.M. tallied a final score of 4,321 points after setting personal records in four of the five events, including two marks that improved her standing on the CSU's all-time list. In the day's first event – the 60-meter hurdles – Keller clocked an 8.40 to place sixth in the group, but shaved off .11 seconds off her PR, moving from seventh to fourth all-time at CSU. Two events later, Keller tossed a PR of 43'10'' in the shot put to win the event by a margin of almost eight inches from the next finisher and gain 751 points. At that point, she was in fourth with two events left. Another PR came in the long jump, measuring 19'8'' – good for third in the event and fifth on CSU's all-time list, which was up for her previous spot of seventh at 19'3.25''. Going into the last event, Keller moved up to third where she clung onto after crossing the 800m with a time of 2:18.58 for her fourth PR, shaving 4.14 seconds off her previous best.

The 4,321 points improved her CSU record from 4,105 points set at New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Feb. 4^th. In Mountain West history, the total marked the second all-time behind Amy Menlove of BYU (4365, 3/14/09). In terms of CSU history, the performance is the best on the national stage, joining just Katie Lloyd who finished seventh in 2007.

Later in the day, Lauren Gale raced in the 400-meter semifinal and notched a top-8 qualifying time to advance to Saturday's final. Gale, of Ontario, Canada, clocked a 52.17 to take the seventh spot out of the 16 runners. She finished second in the third heat behind the top qualifier Charokee Young of Texas A&M at 51.70. At the break, Gale was third, but then took over second in the final turn, securing her advancement. Of the four semifinal heats, the winners plus the next four-best times moved on to Saturday's final.

The 400m final is scheduled for Saturday, March 12^th. The other seven include Young, Stacey Ann Williams (Texas), Britton Wilson (Arkansas), Jan'Taijah Ford (USC), Alexis Holmes (Kentucky), Talitha Diggs (Florida), and Kennedy Simon (Texas). Live Stats are available here https://csura.ms/3tLZc5F, while a live video broadcast will be provided by ESPN3 (https://csura.ms/3tOLJdq). Gale's school record is 51.64, which she set at the Colorado Invitational on Jan. 28^th.

From their Prospective
Assistant Coach Ryan Baily - Multis
"Lexie just competed with nothing to lose and had a blast. She didn't pay attention to hitting marks. At this meet, you don't have to do that as you're already here, so you can go out all out and have fun and that is exactly what she did. Her attitude was amazing. She learned a lot about herself in this competition. She was in complete awe, because I don't think she really believed it, so it was really special. It was kind of cool, because at the beginning of the year, I told her that I didn't think there was five girls in the NCAA better than her. She made the comment today that she remembered that, but at the time didn't believe it. Now she believes it. She learned her true combabilities. Physiologically, she was also tapered well. We knew if she got into this meet, she could do special things and she did. I so proud of her and can't wait to see how she can build on this going into the outdoor season."

Junior Lexie Keller
"It still hasn't completely sunk in. I'm very excited. Honestly, I had so much fun. I didn't feel any pressure to do anything crazy and that really helped me. I knew I was putting together a good multi, but I still thought the field was going to do better, so I didn't know until after the 800 what had really transpired. Being among those great student-athletes really pushed me in my game. I wasn't worried about getting certain marks, which really helped my performance. I'm still very much shocked. My dad, mom, boyfriend and best friend all were here to experience it, which completes the day."

NCAA Championship Results (Friday)
For complete results see link at top of recap
(PR)- Personal Best, (UNA) – Unattached-

Women's Pentathlon (FINAL)
1. Anna Hall, 4586 (Florida)
2. Erin Marsh, 4383 (Duke)
3. Lexie Keller, 4321; PR, CSU SCHOOL RECORD & 2^nd in MOUNTAIN WEST HISTORY

Women's 60m Hurdles (Pentathlon)
6. Keller, 8.40; PR, 4^th in CSU History

Women's High Jump (Pentathlon)
8. Keller, 5'6'.5''

Women's Shot Put (Pentathlon)
1. Keller, 43'10'', PR

Women's Long Jump (Pentathlon)
3. Keller, 19'8''; PR, 5th in CSU History

Women's 800m (Pentathlon)
6. Keller, 2:18.58; PR by 4.14

Women's 400m (Prelims)
7. Lauren Gale, 52.17; q

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