Triton's Keely Maguire ran the fastest time of the day Saturday in winning the Div. 2 State Coaches Meet.

A change of scenery and improved training during the summer seem to have done wonders for sophomore Keely Maguire.

An Eagle-Tribune All-Star as a freshman at Georgetown last year, Maguire has improved by leaps and bounds since transferring (mainly for academic reasons) to Triton.

Not only did Maguire finish the year undefeated, fending off challenges from freshman stars Emily Lannois of Hamilton-Wenham and Kirsten Kasper of North Andover, but she improved her times dramatically.

Previously never able to break 20 minutes on the 3.1-mile course at Franklin Park, Maguire captured the Bay State Invitational Division 2 meet in 18:54 and she ran a personal-best 18:26 for 3.1 miles at Bradley Palmer. On Saturday, she had the fastest race of the day at the Division 2 State Coaches Meet Junior-Senior race at Wrentham, finishing in 18:37.1 for 3.1 miles.

"I'm really happy with the way I'm running," said Maguire, who broke two course records during the season. "My main goals were to win the league meet and be Cape Ann League Runner of the Year, so it's been good."

Maguire cites tougher workouts at Triton during the season for sustaining her strength, but points to a strong summer of running under coach Mick Grant for the Lynx Elite for increasing her speed.

"This was the second summer I ran with them but I was able to practice a lot more this year," said Maguire. "I was running more, doing different workouts and working on some shorter distances to help my speed.

"Also, having someone monitor my workouts makes a big difference. Coach Mick has helped me a lot."

Maguire is hoping to cap her fine season on a high note, even better than last year, when she was seventh in Class C and 15th in the Division 2 All-States.

"Coach (Joe Colbert of Triton) wants me to win Class C, which will be tough," said Maguire. "There are a lot of good runners this year, but I'll be bummed if I don't finish in the top five."

While the running has gone even better than expected, Maguire has been pleased with her adjustment to attending a new school. Making life easier, she actually lives closer to Triton than she does to Georgetown High.

Haverhill's Thomas stays unbeaten

Another Lynx Elite runner who has enjoyed an undefeated season is Governor Dummer junior Keara Thomas of Haverhill. Of course, that's nothing new for Thomas.

Since attending Governor Dummer, Thomas has not lost a single race. She's won every dual meet and the Independent School League race three years in a row. She won the Pingree Invitational and she'll be favored to win her third straight New England Prep Division 2 meet this weekend.

In Friday's ISL meet, she broke a 17-year GDA course record that coach Dave Abusamra doubted would be broken. She ran 19:07 for 3.1 miles, breaking the standard held by highly-regarded Amy Russell.

"That was a very tough record," said Abusamra. "I give Keara credit."

Thomas was part of a GDA cross country program that won 60 straight times over five years until this season when a lack of depth resulted in four losses. However, with late-season pushes from the likes of No. 3 runner Ania Krzywicki of Andover and No. 4 Sarah Harmeling of North Reading, GDA remained highly competitive.

Thomas, who will run at the regional USA Junior Olympic Meet at Bryant College, and likely on the same course for the nationals Dec. 10, is putting a heavy emphasis on running well Nov. 26 at the Foot Locker regional in New York.

Based on her season, she should do well there. Her times have improved on every course this year, her best being an 18:18 for 5K at Middlesex.

A little knowledge can go a long way as Pinkerton senior Ashley Morgenstern has proven on the cross country trails.

In past years, Morgenstern began the season like a whirlwind, running like a superstar in early season meets, but then — for a variety of reasons — fading a bit down the stretch in the state meets.

She did recover her sophomore year by finishing third in the Meet of Champions and 17th at the New England championships, but she was generally worn out by mid-November.

That all changed this year. She started the season slowly, finishing a so-so sixth at the Manchester Invitational while battling an ear infection, and running times that were good, but not spectacular.

It was a different story at the Class L Meet Oct. 29, however. This was a meet at which she generally had not performed well. But she peaked this year, placing first in a Derryfield Park personal-best time of 19:11 on the hilly 3.1-mile course. She didn't lose a beat Saturday, either, winning the Meet of Champions.

Morgenstern's titles the last two weeks rank with the top local performances of all time. She is the first local runner to win the Meet of Champions since 1989, when future Dartmouth captain Kristin Cobb of Timberlane bested the field. The next highest finish was the second place of current Boston College runner Jess Flinn of Timberlane in 2002.

"I think I was smarter about training this year," said Morgenstern. "Instead of going all-out all the time, I would train easier some days, harder on other days. I felt better (for Class L) this year."

Pinkerton coach Amy Bernard believes that Morgenstern is also healthier than she has been. "I think we learned from the past years, but I also think that ear infection took more out of her than she realizes," said Bernard. "She's running now the way I expected."

Morgenstern is coming off a banner junior season on the track in which she won indoor Class L titles in both the 1,500 (4:55.10) and 3,000 (school record 10:33.57) and an outdoor Class L crown in the 3,200 (11:23.76).

"There are good things about both cross country and track, but I really enjoy cross country," said Morgenstern. "The team aspect of it makes it a lot of fun."

Her success in both could have her headed to Virginia Tech on a scholarship. An excellent student, who was ranked fourth in her class of 799 last year, she has applied for early decision. She'll find out next month, although her focus now is on the New England Meet Saturday in Thetford, Vt. There the top runners from New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont will compete.

"I would like to be All-New England (top 25) and finish my season with a good race," said Morgenstern.

The way she has run the past two weeks, that shouldn't be a problem.