Five Owls to Compete at NCAA Track Championships
KEENE, N.H. 05/22/06 - Five members of the Keene State women’s track team will pack up their cleats and head out to the NCAA Division III Track and Field championships that begin Thursday at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill.
Breanne Lucey, a two-time indoor national champion in the 800-meter and distance medley relay, will lead the KSC travel party. The senior from Keene will compete in the 1,500 and 5,000-meter races. Jennifer Adams, a member of Keene State’s champion DMR squad, will also double up. The sophomore from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., will race in the 5,000 and 10K. The Owls will double team the high jump event with Crystal Blamy (Walpole, N.H.) and Krystin Gavin (Brimfield, Mass.) in the field. Blamy earned All-America honors with her fourth-place finish in the event indoors while Gavin, who ran a leg on the Owls’ champion DMR team, will be looking for her first individual All-America award. Samantha Hirsh will be making her first trip to a national championship. The freshman from Holliston, Mass., is entered in the javelin event.
Keene State will be hard-pressed to repeat its indoor championship performance last March, when it claimed a pair of national titles and returned home with five All-Americas and a fourth-place finish. “It’s a lot harder to achieve outdoors,” said KSC coach Peter Thomas. “There are more events and the competition is tougher.”
Lucey, who is ranked second in the 1,500 and third in the 5K, said she will be more relaxed this time around. “I know now what to expect, so that’s a big help. My goal is to win both races. I’m just going to listen to Pete and do what he says.”
Lucey also feels the weather could work in her favor. “I’m pumped,” she said. “I do better in the warmer weather.”
Seeded second in the 10K, Adams will be looking to round out her All-America collection with an outdoor plaque to go with her previously attained cross country and indoor track awards. “Jenn just has to go out relaxed and let the race come to her,” Thomas said. “Her best event is the 10K. Whatever she does in the 5K is a bonus.”
As the first Owl women to qualify for the nationals in the high jump, Blamy and Gavin each approach the event with a different strategy.
“In the high jump, you’re either having a really good day or a really bad one,” Gavin said. “I try to go out and think what I had to do to be successful and not worry about the competition.”
“I focus on making the first attempt at every height,” said Blamy. “That’s really the key when it comes down to deciding who gets what place.”
“Having two competitors from the same team is awesome,” Gavin added. “We work well as a team. If one makes it, the other one has to make it. That’s the way it is.”
Hirsh has the distinction of becoming the first Owl athlete to compete in the javelin at an NCAA meet. “I’m excited, but also a little bit nervous,” conceded the freshman left-handed thrower. “I’m trying to think of it as just another meet.”
Hirsh, who has broken her own school record three times this season, will be looking to uncork another record-setting throw to earn her first All-America honor.
Thomas feels all five KSC competitors have a chance to earn All-America in their respective events. “If everyone performs up to her capabilities, we should finish in the top 10,” he said. “You just have to go in with a good attitude, enjoy the moment, and take the results that you get.”
