CAPITAL REGION — Kelsey Chmiel has always been on a fast track. She won an international cross country championship at 16, broke the state two-mile record for freshmen and the national 3,000-meter mark for sophomores, and finished her undergraduate degree at North Carolina State in two and a half years.
It’s no wonder that the former Saratoga Springs High School standout is only the fourth athlete selected in her first year of eligibility (five years removed from high school) to the Greater Capital Region Track, Field, and Cross Country Hall of Fame and will be among 10 honored during the annual induction banquet on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Albany Marriott in Colonie.
Fitting for an Olympic year, the seventh class of inductees includes Shenendehowa’s Jillian Shippee, who is vying for a spot in the Paris Games in the hammer throw this summer; Albany hurdler Ellakisha Williamson O’Kelley, who barely missed qualifying for the 2000 Games; Christian Brothers Academy product Harry Marra, who coached two-time Olympic decathlon gold medalist Ashton
Eaton; and Colonie’s Jennifer Kramer Mortimer, who participated in the U.S. Olympic 5k Trials in 2004.
Also chosen were two record-breaking horizontal jumpers from decades ago, Rudy St. Pierre of Glens Falls and Tony Delgado of Mont Pleasant; Taconic Hills shot putter John Dunn, a state champion who set the Section 2 record 50 years ago; Dave Byrd, whose outdoor 400 time of 47.51 for CBA stood as the area record for 19 years and whose indoor times of 21.45 in the 200 and 33.54 in the 300 have never been bettered; and Averill Park’s Alana Carroll, holder of area girls’ pole vaulting records indoors (13-6) and out (13-6 ¼).
They will join another 69 outstanding athletes, coaches, officials, and contributors who were inducted during the first six years of the Hall. Tickets for the banquet, $65, may be purchased by visiting https://zippy-reg.com/register/hofbanquet
Chmiel’s victory on the world stage came at the Great Edinburgh International X Country Challenge in Scotland in Jan. 2018, shortly after being named the Gatorade New York State Cross Country Runner of the Year. In addition to finishing in the top five in the Nike Cross Nationals all four years she competed in the Oregon event, Chmiel rewrote the Section 2 track distance record books,
indoors and out.
Despite injuries, Chmiel excelled at North Carolina State as an 11-time All-American who finished sixth and third in consecutive NCAA cross-country championships when the Wolfpack won team titles. The two-time Atlantic Coast Conference indoor championship meet 5k champion wrapped up her undergraduate degree a year and a half early and continued to run for North
Carolina State through this spring.
Shippee, also a multiple ACC meet champion for North Carolina, finished fourth in the hammer throw at the U.S. Championships last year and competed in the World Championships in Hungary. She is the state high school hammer record holder.
Williamson O’Kelley finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000 with a 12.81 in the 100-meter hurdles. That still stands as a school record at South Carolina, where she was the first woman to win the 100 and 400-meter hurdles in a Southeast Conference meet.
In addition to coaching Olympic decathlon champions, Marra has a strong coaching resume that includes many years at the University of Oregon.
Kramer Mortimer found her stride at Boston College, where her 15:47.83 for the 5k in 2004 still ranks third on the Eagles’ all-time list.
St. Pierre was the first Section 2 athlete to break 23 feet in the long jump back in the 1930s, and his 24-1 7/8 college mark has stood as the Fordham University record for 85 years.
Delgado also eclipsed the 23-foot mark in the long jump and set the section triple jump record of 48-11 ¼ in 1969.
A few years after that, Dunn took down the Section 2 standard with a 62-11 in the shot put.
