For much of the past year, Sean Keane has been running against NCAA competition at indoor track meets throughout Canada and the U.S.
And while most of the runners lining up next to Keane wear singlets displaying their university affiliation – from the University of Washington to Portland State to Air Force – the South Surrey teen’s name has always been listed on the official start list next to one word: unattached.
That’s because Keane is still a high school senior at White Rock Christian Academy, and also runs without affiliation at the club level, too. But his unattached status changed last Friday, when he officially signed his name to a scholarship deal from the University of Kentucky.
“You see the guys with their (NCAA) jerseys on… it can be pretty intimidating,” Keane said. “It feels really good to be part of it now.”
The Peninsula native, who came to WRCA from Holy Cross Regional School after his Grade 10 year, weighed offers from a handful of schools south of the border before choosing Kentucky, where he plans on studying kinesiology.
On the track, he’ll run the 800 and 1,500-metres.
“It was a tough choice, but in the end it just came down to coaching and what was the right fit,” Keane said, just moments after putting pen to paper on his scholarship in the WRCA athletics team room.
“The coaching fits me perfectly, the school fits perfectly and academically it’s sound. The campus is really nice and is right downtown (in Lexington), so it’s a little larger than White Rock, but it’s perfect for me.”
And though he’ll only be a freshman next season, there’s every reason to believe he’ll make a big impact at the NCAA level. Keane finished first in the 800-m – clocking a personal best time of 1:51.91 – in a field full of NCAA runners at last month’s Husky Classic at the University of Washington. In the indoor 800-m, he is currently the second-ranked junior runner in both Canada and North America, one spot back of another Surrey runner, Keffri Neal.
Keane is also the defending B.C. High School champion in the 1,500-m and this year will also try to add the 800-m title to his resume. He ran a personal best in the 800 during a preliminary heat at last year’s provincials, but dropped out of the final because it was scheduled for just an hour after the 1,500-m.
“Scheduling is so tight at provincials that it makes it tough – I didn’t have much time to recover – but I’m going to try and go for the double this year, and go out with a bang,” he said.
As both a defending champion in the 1,500 and as one of the top-ranked runners on the continent, Keane expects to run at provincials against a very motivated field eager to topple him, but isn’t worried about any extra pressure his profile may bring.
“There might be a bit more pressure, but it’s all the same when you start racing.”