It is tough being a freshman runner. It is hard enough to adjust to harder classes, odd cafeteria food, a new campus, living in a dorm room and tons of new people, but as an athlete you add to this mix new coaches, harder practices, and faster teammates. For Stonehill College’s Kevin Gill, it is even tougher since his older brother, Keith Gill, castes a large shadow. As I reported last week, Keith is a senior at Stonehill and has been setting school records. In fact, this past weekend Keith ran an impressive 4:03 mile at Boston University’s Valentine’s Invitational. Kevin sees his brother’s success as something to motivate him. He explains, “I think people expect me to live up to better his standards,” noting that he believes he has the potential to do so but that it “will take a while.” Kevin is already enjoying some success. He has preliminary qualified for the National indoor meet in the mile with a 4:10.97. He is also part of Stonehill’s DMR, which before this weekend had the top Division II mark in the nation. Significantly, Kevin is the only lower classman on the DMR team, the other three legs consisting of seniors: Richard Gerry, Tom Woods and his brother Keith. Kevin first started running when he was nine years old at the weekly youth races that were held at a local park near his home in Brockton. From there he continued running. “My high school career was good for the most part. I was runner up at state five times, and I was state champion once my junior year in the mile. I improved every season, so that’s why I consider my high school successful,” he explains. He continues, “However I always wanted to qualify for footlocker nationals in cross country, and I could never quite pull it together for the northeast regional race.” Despite never making footlocker, Kevin’s success brought him to Stonehill. “I chose Stonehill for a lot of reasons. But the biggest reason was probably my brother having success with the program. So yeah, my brother did have a big influence on my decision,” he says. At Stonehill, Kevin has learned the many differences between high school and college running. He elaborates, “The workouts are probably the biggest difference. In high school I used to hammer a workout and not worry about pace. Now, I follow a pacing system for every workout. I’m not allowed to workout faster than I can race,” adding “Its motivation for me to run faster in races.” Kevin has set big goals for this season. He explains, “I’d like to be an All-American in the mile for this season. I’d like to run a really fast 1500 meters outdoors, something like 3:49 would be awesome. I’d also like to be an All- American for outdoors in the 1500 meters.” By the end of his college career he would like to achieve what his brother has been aiming for; his goal is to “Win a national championship and run a sub-four minute mile.” Kevin’s goals might be lofty, but this does not mean that he is totally straight-laced. Kevin has a mischievous side. When asked about the craziest running story he had he responded, “I ran a naked mile at night in thunder and lightning with two of my high school teammates.” He adds, “I ran 5:26.” Results for the weekend of Feb 9 Mule relays-University of Central Missouri North West Missouri’s EJ Faulkner preliminary qualified in the men’s 60 m. dash with a time of 6.85 in the preliminary round. In the finals, Fort Hay’s State’s Bryan Haynes preliminary qualified with a time of 6.86. In the 200m dash, Hayne preliminary qualified and won in a time of 21.88. Falkner and Central Missouri’s Kai Roper also preliminary qualified. Missouri Southern’s Phillip Horn also preliminary qualified in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.24. 2008 Valentine Invitational-BU Adams State’s Indira Spence won the 55 m. dash in the time of 7.04. Her teammate Sherline Duncan earned an automatic bid by running a 24.59 in the 200m. Adams State’s Tanya Gaurmer (4:53) and Stony Brook’s Laura Huet (4:55) also qualified in the mile. Adams State’s Sofia Monroe(2:12) and Grand Valley’s Katherin McCarthy(2:13) qualified in the 800m. Adams State’s Corey Lenaris qualified automatically for the National indoor meet with the time of 21.99 in the men’s 200m. His teammate Josh Streeter took second in the men’s 400m dash with the time of 48.11 and also qualified. Hillsdale’s Jared Krout also qualified in the 400m with a time of 48.36. Stonehill’s Keith Gill took second in the mile with a time of 4.03.43 earning him the fastest Division II time in the Nation. His teammate Richard Gerry ran a 4:11.60. Adams State’s Nicholas Lara ran a 1:51.39 edging out Grand Valley State’s Todd Schuster (1:51.71) for fifth place. Both times automatically qualify them. Grand Valley State’s Nate Peck took second in the 5k with the time of 14:07 which qualifies him. UMass Lowell’s DMR took second place with at time of 9:54.15 qualifying the relay team for indoor Nationals. Also, Adams State’s Aaron Braun and Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler were named Cross Country All-Academic Athletes of the Year.