In a sport where records tend to get broken on a regular basis due to enhancements in training and equipment, Katie Keller still holds four school records from her track & field career at Wooster, despite running her last race at the College nearly 25 years ago.
Keller, who also ran cross country, began to garner attention the moment she arrived at her first practice. “My teammate Patty Smanik and I were known as the ‘Twin Towers,’” she explained. “I guess seeing two 5-foot-9 women running together across Wooster’s golf course was pretty impressive, and perhaps even a bit intimidating.”
Keller was a key member of the cross country team during her time at Wooster, highlighted by leading the Scots to a North Coast Athletic Conference championship as a senior in 1987 when she put together a career-best third-place run in the women’s 5K (17:56), but it was on the track, both indoor and outdoor, where she earned her billing as an all-time great.
Keller’s freshman year was the first for the NCAC, a then-newly formed conference in NCAA Div. III, and the Scots quickly asserted themselves as the league’s dominant track & field program. Keller claimed her first individual championship during the outdoor season in 1985 by winning the 1500 meters in 4:46.62, which helped Wooster to its first of four consecutive NCAC championships (outdoor), by far the program’s most impressive stretch.
Keller added all-NCAC certificates in both the 1500 and 3000 meters as a sophomore at the outdoor meet, with her time in the former qualifying her to compete in the event at the NCAA Div. III Championships. She went on to finish in 10th-place at nationals with a then-program record time of 4:40.4, but she wasn’t done shaving off time in her signature event.
After chronic knee pain kept her off the track as a junior, Keller saved her best for last, as she added two more NCAC championships to her résumé during her senior campaign via first-places in both the outdoor 1500 (4:42.87) and 3000 meters (10:52.56). Keller once again represented Wooster at the NCAA’s, securing another 10th-place finish in the 1500 meters in 4:38.
That time wasn’t her best in the event, though, as just weeks prior to the national meet she crossed the finish line in 4:35.61, which remains one of four school records she still holds today. Her other records consist of the outdoor 3000 meters (10:09.04), the indoor mile (5:10.90), and the indoor 3000 meters (10:09.74).
“I’m pleased my records have stood the test of time,” said Keller. “I’ll never forget that record-making 1,500-meter run at the Miami of Ohio Invitational. That was a highlight for me, and perhaps epitomizes my athletic career at Wooster.”
In total, Keller helped the Scots win a combined six NCAC team championships during her career, one in cross country (1987), two in indoor track (1986, 1988), and three in outdoor track (1985-86, 1988), while receiving all-conference honors nine times.
A philosophy major at Wooster, Keller went on to earn a master’s degree in geology from the University of Colorado, and has devoted her professional career to “transferring scientific information to the public.” She was responsible for the development of the GeoCorps of America program at the Geological Society of America, and now works as a research associate at Colorado State University, where she provides geological findings to the National Park System.
Keller, who completed the Los Angeles Marathon in 1992, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, David Lynn. The two enjoy cooking, gardening, and traveling, most recently to the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean.