Freshmen shine at MAAC Indoor Track and Field Championships

By Cassandra Ercoli, Sports Reporter

Freshmen Jaxyn Mahoney and Charlotte Keenan began their young track careers by each garnering a school record in their respective events this past weekend at the 2026 MAAC Indoor Track and Field Championships held at the Nike Track and Field Center at the Armory in New York, N.Y.

In the conclusive meet for the indoor season, Mahoney broke the school record in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.84, while also earning the Golden Griffin’s lone individual podium by claiming the silver medal. Mahoney’s preliminary time of 1:53.79 was just off the school mark set by Muris Kobasslija in 1999 with a time of 1:53.46. The freshman’s finals run steered well clear of the record by more than one and a half seconds. 

Mahoney’s indoor rookie campaign also includes two rookie of the week honors, including one garnered the week before MAACs when he earned a victory at SPIRE in the 800m.

The women’s rookie, Keenan, set a new program record in the 60-meter dash, clocking a time of 8.14. Keenan’s new mark should come as no surprise as the freshman was just off the record back in January during the Griffs’ first trip to SPIRE. Her performance broke a one-year-old record set by Stephanie Seyfang in 2025 by 0.05 seconds. 

The men also had strong finishes in the 5000-meter run on day one of the competition. The Blue and Gold saw two runners just miss out on a podium finish, with senior Kyle Urban finishing in fourth (14:35.51) and sophomore Nathaniel Fisher coming in right behind in fifth (14:48.07). The quartet consisting of sophomores Jack Nesbit and Ryan Giglia and seniors Brody Jones and Joe Pivarunas, collected Canisius’ second silver medal of the championships in the 4000-meter DMR in a time of 10:06.92.

After two days of competition, the Golden Griffin men finished ninth overall while the women finished eleventh. 

The Quinnipiac Bobcats dominated the competition en route to the program’s first ever women’s indoor title, scoring 173.5 points. The Bobcats separated themselves from the rest of the field with a 75-point advantage over second-place Sacred Heart. Quinnipiac’s Nyasia Dailey broke the conference record in the 60-meter dash with an impressive time of 7.40.

In the men’s competition, Sacred Heart also claimed its first-ever team title with a score of 114 points. The men’s competition came down to the top-three schools, which were separated by all of 13 points. Mount St. Mary’s finished in second with 108 points while cross country champions Iona finished in third with 101 points. 

The Griffs will now look ahead to the outdoor track and field season, where the 2026 MAAC Outdoor Championships will take place May 9 and 10, hosted by Mount St. Mary’s. The Griffs’ outdoor schedule has yet to be announced.