University of New Hampshire Athletics
Olivia Chamberlain, Kevin McGrath and Sarah Williams set UNH records within days of each other a few weeks ago.
Insider Report: 3 Athletes, 3 Records
2/23/2022 3:23:00 PM | Track and Field, UNH Insider
Wiliams, Chamberlain and McGrath Set School Marks in a Flurry
DURHAM, N.H. – Senior Sarah Williams got it started on the last Friday night in January.
Freshman Olivia Chamberlain followed suit one week later.
The day after that, senior Kevin McGrath jumped in and happily joined the club.
Three University of New Hampshire track & field team athletes. Three school records. All in the span of nine days.
"One of the things that makes it impressive is that every meet we've had for the last decade plus, our athletes have competed in these events and these three have been able to come out and break these decades-old records," said Robert Hoppler, UNH's director of track & field and cross country. "School records are hard to come by. There's no doubt about that. It's pretty fun that they did it in a little bit of a flurry, in a one-week period. It's really exciting for the program."
Williams, who is from Dover, N.H., picked up where she left off last spring. She set the school record for the outdoor shot in April.
On Jan. 28 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University's Track & Tennis Center, Williams, went 59 feet, 1.5 inches in the weight throw for a new school mark in the event. Ashlee Lathrop held the previous mark of 58 feet, eight inches since 2010.
Chamberlain, out of Warnerville, N.Y., long jumped 18 feet, seven inches on her last of six jumps to not only win a New England Championship, but break a 17-year-old UNH record at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Roxbury, Mass., on Friday, Feb. 4. Kiah Quarles owned the mark at 18 feet, six and three-quarter inches since 2005.
McGrath, who's from Hopkinton, N.H., got his record the next day, while also winning a New England title at the Reggie Lewis Center, when he high jumped six feet, nine-and-three-quarter inches. The old mark of six feet, nine inches was set by Pat Casey in 2010.
Williams, too, won a New England championship in the weight throw and then followed up by crushing her own record by nearly 10 inches with a throw of 59, 11 inches at BU on Feb. 11.
The three Wildcats, along with their teammates, now take aim at the America East Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday back at the BU Track & Tennis Center.
The record-smashing success has been a team coaching effort, said Hoppler, who took over the program last summer after the retirement of Jim Boulanger, who ran it for just shy of half a century. But for a two-year stint at Vermont, Hoppler has been at UNH since 1994.
Boulanger helped lay the groundwork for the rash of records. He was involved in recruiting all the athletes and worked closely with Williams and McGrath through last spring.
Casey Carroll, head coach of the women's track & field team, was in on the recruiting of Williams and Chamberlain.
Assistant coaches Anna Magle-Haberek and Cullen Aubin have been coaching the record holders.
Hoppler brought Magle-Haberek back to the program this winter. A Colorado native and former Big 12 champion in the high jump while at the University of Colorado, Magle-Haberek has been working as a high school principal and athletic director in Colorado, but was interested in getting back to collegiate coaching.
She worked with the track & field program for a couple of seasons while getting a graduate degree at UNH in 2010 and had helped coach Pat Casey.
Aubin was a hammer thrower at UNH before graduating in 2018. He worked as a grad assistant at Mississippi State, came back to UNH as a volunteer assistant to Boulanger for a couple of seasons and is now a fulltime staffer with the program.
"I certainly feel like coach Anna and coach Cullen have been fantastic additions to the staff," Hoppler said. "These records are indicative of how talented they are as coaches and we've very optimistic going forward as to what they'll be able to achieve in their careers here at UNH."
Williams on a roll
Getting to see Chamberlain and McGrath join her with school records was especially pleasing to Williams.
McGrath's came late in the meet and most of his teammates lined up to watch his final jumps.
"There was a buildup of excitement," Williams said. "He walked down a line of us and we were all giving him high-fives. And then to see him jump and make it and land . . . Everyone just erupted. This is a really strong team and everyone's supportive and I feel like that has a really strong effect on everybody."
Setting the shot put record last spring caught Williams a little off guard.
"I felt it was like out of the blue," she said. "I didn't even know I broke it initially, until after the meet."
This time, she was ready.
She hadn't thrown the weight in a while because of COVID restrictions on the program and at the start of the season came out at around 57 feet.
"I was thinking, 'Wow,' where can I go from here?" Williams said. "Each meet I was getting a little bit more and a little bit more. When I heard the number, I freaked out. I was definitely excited."
Chamberlain's Off to a Nice Start
Olivia Chamberlain competed in her first meet for UNH on Jan. 30 in Orono and won the long jump with an effort of 18 feet, four and a half inches.
Lass than a week later, she added a couple of inches to that total and grabbed herself a New England title and took down a school record in the process.
"I honestly wasn't expecting to win at all," Chamberlain said. "Being a freshman, going to New Englands, the odds are definitely against you."
Chamberlain called home with the news.
"Oh my God," Chamberlain said with a smile. "I called my mom and my dad and my mom started crying. It was cute."
Hoppler was impressed with how the event played out.
"You get six attempts and she not only set the record on her sixth jump, she won New Englands on that jump," he said. "A highlight for me as a coach is it came out of her competitiveness. She wasn't chasing records, she was trying to win the meet. It's pretty exciting to be competing at that level."
The mark was an indoor PR for Chamberlain, who has jumped 19 feet, three inches outdoors.
Chamberlain also has competed in the triple jump in the past, but long jump is her favorite and she's focusing on that this season.
McGrath Sticks With it
Kevin McGrath long had his eye on the school's high jump mark.
After competing in two meets his freshman year, McGrath blew out his knee. He came back as a sophomore and jumped six feet, eight-and-three-quarter inches at the America East Championship two years ago to finish third, but things were shut down shortly after that because of the pandemic.
There was no indoor season last year and he also had COVID-19 and some hamstring issues in the spring.
He trained hard during the summer, intent on big things.
"I got out of work and went to the gym, did all my lifting, came to the track and did all my sprint workouts," he said. "When I put my mind to something, I'm going to do it."
The persistence, time and work paid off.
"Kevin had a great summer," Hoppler said. "He really dedicated himself to getting strong and fit and spent a lot of time in the weight room. He was dedicated to the work and preparation needed to get over that hump."
Now McGrath wants more.
"We're not done yet," McGrath said. "I'm not really satisfied with that mark. I'd like to go higher."
Freshman Olivia Chamberlain followed suit one week later.
The day after that, senior Kevin McGrath jumped in and happily joined the club.
Three University of New Hampshire track & field team athletes. Three school records. All in the span of nine days.
"One of the things that makes it impressive is that every meet we've had for the last decade plus, our athletes have competed in these events and these three have been able to come out and break these decades-old records," said Robert Hoppler, UNH's director of track & field and cross country. "School records are hard to come by. There's no doubt about that. It's pretty fun that they did it in a little bit of a flurry, in a one-week period. It's really exciting for the program."
Williams, who is from Dover, N.H., picked up where she left off last spring. She set the school record for the outdoor shot in April.
On Jan. 28 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University's Track & Tennis Center, Williams, went 59 feet, 1.5 inches in the weight throw for a new school mark in the event. Ashlee Lathrop held the previous mark of 58 feet, eight inches since 2010.
Chamberlain, out of Warnerville, N.Y., long jumped 18 feet, seven inches on her last of six jumps to not only win a New England Championship, but break a 17-year-old UNH record at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Roxbury, Mass., on Friday, Feb. 4. Kiah Quarles owned the mark at 18 feet, six and three-quarter inches since 2005.
McGrath, who's from Hopkinton, N.H., got his record the next day, while also winning a New England title at the Reggie Lewis Center, when he high jumped six feet, nine-and-three-quarter inches. The old mark of six feet, nine inches was set by Pat Casey in 2010.
Williams, too, won a New England championship in the weight throw and then followed up by crushing her own record by nearly 10 inches with a throw of 59, 11 inches at BU on Feb. 11.
The three Wildcats, along with their teammates, now take aim at the America East Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday back at the BU Track & Tennis Center.
The record-smashing success has been a team coaching effort, said Hoppler, who took over the program last summer after the retirement of Jim Boulanger, who ran it for just shy of half a century. But for a two-year stint at Vermont, Hoppler has been at UNH since 1994.
Boulanger helped lay the groundwork for the rash of records. He was involved in recruiting all the athletes and worked closely with Williams and McGrath through last spring.
Casey Carroll, head coach of the women's track & field team, was in on the recruiting of Williams and Chamberlain.
Assistant coaches Anna Magle-Haberek and Cullen Aubin have been coaching the record holders.
Hoppler brought Magle-Haberek back to the program this winter. A Colorado native and former Big 12 champion in the high jump while at the University of Colorado, Magle-Haberek has been working as a high school principal and athletic director in Colorado, but was interested in getting back to collegiate coaching.
She worked with the track & field program for a couple of seasons while getting a graduate degree at UNH in 2010 and had helped coach Pat Casey.
Aubin was a hammer thrower at UNH before graduating in 2018. He worked as a grad assistant at Mississippi State, came back to UNH as a volunteer assistant to Boulanger for a couple of seasons and is now a fulltime staffer with the program.
"I certainly feel like coach Anna and coach Cullen have been fantastic additions to the staff," Hoppler said. "These records are indicative of how talented they are as coaches and we've very optimistic going forward as to what they'll be able to achieve in their careers here at UNH."
Williams on a roll
Getting to see Chamberlain and McGrath join her with school records was especially pleasing to Williams.
McGrath's came late in the meet and most of his teammates lined up to watch his final jumps.
"There was a buildup of excitement," Williams said. "He walked down a line of us and we were all giving him high-fives. And then to see him jump and make it and land . . . Everyone just erupted. This is a really strong team and everyone's supportive and I feel like that has a really strong effect on everybody."
Setting the shot put record last spring caught Williams a little off guard.
"I felt it was like out of the blue," she said. "I didn't even know I broke it initially, until after the meet."
This time, she was ready.
She hadn't thrown the weight in a while because of COVID restrictions on the program and at the start of the season came out at around 57 feet.
"I was thinking, 'Wow,' where can I go from here?" Williams said. "Each meet I was getting a little bit more and a little bit more. When I heard the number, I freaked out. I was definitely excited."
Chamberlain's Off to a Nice Start
Olivia Chamberlain competed in her first meet for UNH on Jan. 30 in Orono and won the long jump with an effort of 18 feet, four and a half inches.
Lass than a week later, she added a couple of inches to that total and grabbed herself a New England title and took down a school record in the process.
"I honestly wasn't expecting to win at all," Chamberlain said. "Being a freshman, going to New Englands, the odds are definitely against you."
Chamberlain called home with the news.
"Oh my God," Chamberlain said with a smile. "I called my mom and my dad and my mom started crying. It was cute."
Hoppler was impressed with how the event played out.
"You get six attempts and she not only set the record on her sixth jump, she won New Englands on that jump," he said. "A highlight for me as a coach is it came out of her competitiveness. She wasn't chasing records, she was trying to win the meet. It's pretty exciting to be competing at that level."
The mark was an indoor PR for Chamberlain, who has jumped 19 feet, three inches outdoors.
Chamberlain also has competed in the triple jump in the past, but long jump is her favorite and she's focusing on that this season.
McGrath Sticks With it
Kevin McGrath long had his eye on the school's high jump mark.
After competing in two meets his freshman year, McGrath blew out his knee. He came back as a sophomore and jumped six feet, eight-and-three-quarter inches at the America East Championship two years ago to finish third, but things were shut down shortly after that because of the pandemic.
There was no indoor season last year and he also had COVID-19 and some hamstring issues in the spring.
He trained hard during the summer, intent on big things.
"I got out of work and went to the gym, did all my lifting, came to the track and did all my sprint workouts," he said. "When I put my mind to something, I'm going to do it."
The persistence, time and work paid off.
"Kevin had a great summer," Hoppler said. "He really dedicated himself to getting strong and fit and spent a lot of time in the weight room. He was dedicated to the work and preparation needed to get over that hump."
Now McGrath wants more.
"We're not done yet," McGrath said. "I'm not really satisfied with that mark. I'd like to go higher."
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