Waltham High Student Breaks Record In Track

WALTHAM, MA — Jack Keelan was a strong 400-meter runner on the Waltham High School boys track and field team for three years. It was when he decided to step out of his comfort zone this spring that he quickly became a record-breaker for the Hawks.

The junior, who had mostly been a middle-distance runner, started extending his training during his third year in the program. He worked with new Waltham High distance coach Kara Walsh — a former Hawk standout who went on to race for Division I Bryant University — and was able to build up a little more stamina to go with his speed.

Then Waltham High boys track and field head coach Chris Ward put Keelan in an 800, and in his first chance to run the distance he clocked 2 minutes, 6 seconds — less than 4 seconds off the school record.

"I talked with Coach Ward and told him I can try to go beat it if he wanted," Keelan said.

Keelan got that shot at the Last Chance Meet in Hingham on May 18 and did not disappoint. He ran 2:00.91 — good for third overall and less than a second behind Newton North's Raghav Kadambi for first place — breaking the school mark of 2:02.5 that Roger LaCroix held since 2013.

"Jack is one of those kids who you knew right away was going to be a good runner and good leader of the team for us," Ward said. "He was always a great worker and was always trying to do better. He's a quiet kid, but you know he wants it. I am so happy for him that he broke the record. I am hoping this will make him even more motivated to come back next year and do more."

Keelan said that is, indeed, the case as he plans to run cross-country for the first time in the fall after a summer of more focused training.

"When I broke the record it made me feel like I was a good runner," he said. "Not that I was the worst runner before. I felt like I was an average runner. But when I broke the record it signaled to me that I could really do things and it made me want to keep running. At the end of a season, I am often disillusioned with track because I'm tired and exhausted. But this summer I want to keep running."

He said his background in the 400 allows him to attack the longer race and credits Walsh for helping him develop the strategy necessary to push the envelope of what he was accustomed to doing on the track.

"It's useful to have a distance coach who is focused on us," he said. "Her experience at Waltham High, and in college, shows she really knows how to run. She gave us an effective training plan every day and that worked out well. She is a good coach."

Keelan, who was also junior class council secretary and plays trumpet in the Waltham High band, said he began running in seventh grade with the Waltham Track Club to follow in the footsteps of his father, John, who was an accomplished runner at Weymouth High School and UMass-Amherst. While he said he does not know whether he will be able to compete in track and field at that level, he is now looking forward to seeing where his expanded repertoire of races will take him.

"College running is a whole different world," he said. "But if the opportunity presents itself, and I think I'm ready, then I might do it."