KSC Qualifies Pair for NCAA Championships

KEENE, N.H. 11/11/07 - Keene State College will have a representative in both the men's and women's races at the NCAA Division III Cross Country championships at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. on Saturday. 

While Keene State Jennifer Adams, a senior from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., knew she'd qualified with her first place finish (21:20) at Saturday's New England Regional championships , Jared Samuel, a sophomore from Londonderry, N.H., had to wait to get the final word on Sunday.

"I was holding my breath the whole day waiting to hear the news," said Samuel, who finished 12th with a time of 25:11. 

According to Keene State College Peter Thomas, the NCAA took five teams from the New England region opening up the door for Samuel. The top seven runners no affiliated with the five teams received at-large berths to the national meet.

"I felt he had a good chance to go," said Thomas.  "He's made significant improvement throughout the season."
Samuel said he had to work himself into shape after spending the summer working at Canobie Lake Park.  I was working form open to close and didn't have much time to train," said Samuel, who worked as a cashier and pizza cook at the park.  I tried to get up in the morning to run, but I was still tired."

When Samuel returned to campus this fall, he followed Thomas's workout and slowly worked himself back in shape.  "It took awhile for me to get going this fall," he said.

Picking up the pace as the season progressed, Samuel placed sixth helping to lead the Owls to the Saratoga Invitational title and a week later finished fifth at the LEC championships.

Samuel came to Keene State from Londonderry High where he earned All-New England and All-State cross country honors as a senior.

"I just looking to go out to the championships and represent Keene State the best that I can, "he said.  "I'm just disappointed that the men's team didn't qualify."

The KSC men, which qualified for the championship nine straight years (1997-2005), placed eighth at the New England Regionals with 206 points. The Owl women, looking for a return trip to the championships, were 10th with 301 points.