Taylor Driggers had a good feeling after arriving for the New England Alliance/Little East Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday at Fitchburg (Mass.) State.

Conditions were nearly perfect, with little wind and comfortable temperatures.

On her second long jump attempt of the day, Driggers broke a 32-year old Eastern Connecticut State University program record and a Little East meet mark with a winning distance of 18 feet, one inch.

Driggers, a Norwich Free Academy graduate, already owned the school indoor record in that event.

Let's just say she's having a pretty fabulous freshman season.

A reaction from a spectator after her record-setting jump told her that she had done something special.

"When I landed, a spectator said, 'wow, that looked really good.' I stood up and walked out of the pit and I looked at it," Driggers said. "I high-fived my coach. I was pretty happy."

Driggers is part of a young and improving women's track and field team. Twelve of the 15 athletes on the roster are freshmen, including Savonnah Artis of Waterford and NFA graduate Nicole Coughlin.

An accomplished track athlete at NFA, Driggers has steadily improved in her first collegiate season.

During indoor season, Driggers established herself as one of top jumpers in the Little East. She set the school record in the triple jump until Artis topped that mark. She accomplished a pair of firsts at Eastern – becoming the first female track athlete to achieve All-New England status in the long jump and triple jump and earning the program's first conference rookie field athlete of the year award.

"I wasn't expecting it, to be honest," Driggers said of her success. "When the coaches told me that I broke the (indoor) record, I was just astonished."

Her sparkling performances built her confidence and served as motivation to keep the momentum going into outdoor season.

Driggers, who also competes in the 4x100 relay, added to her impressive resume last weekend. She became the first Eastern female to capture the long jump in the championship meet's 17-year history.

She took advantage of benign wind conditions to shatter former NFA standout Judy Pemberton's Eastern record of 17-5.75 set in 1983. Her personal best as a high school senior covered 17-10.5, good enough for second at the Class LL meet.

Driggers knows Pemberton, who works at NFA.

"I think she also holds the 400 meter record at Eastern, too," Driggers said. "She's very fast. It would definitely be cool to talk to her about it."

Last year, the NFA track coaches told Driggers that her best track days were ahead of her. She appreciated the encouraging words.

"If I was having a bad day, they would tell me there's a lot of room for improvement and at college, that's when it would happen," Driggers said. "I still do use a lot of the techniques the NFA coaches taught me. They were amazing coaches. My coaches here also are amazing."

Driggers is hoping to extend her college season for as long as possible. She's competing in the New England Division III Championships later this week. Then Eastern will travel to the New England Open Championships the following weekend. Both meets are at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.

"Hopefully, if I can just jump a few more inches I might qualify for nationals," said Driggers, who wants to be a personal trainer someday. "I would love to go."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe