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Keene State men's basketball team climbs Mount Monadnock
KEENE, N.H., 10/1/09 - The team that climbs together stays together. That what Keene State men's basketball coach Rob Colbert and his staff is hoping after his team recently completed a trek up Mount Monadnock.
Colbert said the climb has become an annual event for his team. "It's been one of the traditions of the program that emanated from prior leadership," he said. "They do it as a bonding experience but it's also as a way to break-up the workout routine before the season gets underway."
Keene native Cameron Fisk, who has made his share of climbs up Monadnock, served as the teams' guide.
"I never climbed, so it was definitely a new experience for me," said Steve Boudreau, a sophomore from North Andover, Mass. "We have a lot of new faces and meshed pretty well during the preseason. It's good for us to accomplish something together."
According to Orlando Zayas, a freshman from Dorchester, Mass., some the Owls in the climbing party had a problem with the descent. We thought the arrow was pointing one way, but it was actually pointing in the opposite direction," he said. "We ended up lost in the woods. Fortunately, we were able to find the path to get down."
Asked he will attempt another climb, Zayas quickly responded," Probably not."
Colbert feels the teams ascend up Monadnock is symbolic for his young Owls. "It's symbolic of the next couple of steps this program is going to need to take with this new group of players," he said. "We're not going to find ourselves on the top of the mountain without doing the hard work that's necessary to get there."
The Keene State men's basketball team opens up its season against Colby-Sawyer College at the Jacob's Bridge Through Autism Classic that takes place at New Hampshire Technical Institute on Sunday, Nov.15.
