Stonehill Siblings Run for National Distinction

By Jim Fenton, Brockton Enterprise

March 12, 2008

Easton, Mass. - They were introduced to competitive running at the weekly races held by Dave Gorman at D.W. Field Park in Brockton.

Keith Gill was 12 years old and his brother, Kevin, was 9 when their mother, Elaine, saw an opportunity to get them involved in the sport.

"One day, my mother saw something in the paper about the races, cut it out and brought us over there," said Keith. "We beat everyone else in our age groups."

"We knew in gym class that we had some talent running distances," said Kevin. "We were always the fast kids in grade school."

The Gill brothers have not stopped running - or having success - since those early days during careers that have followed similar paths to Brockton High School and now Stonehill College.

This week, they will be competing in the mile race at the NCAA Div. 2 Championships in Mankato, Minn., brothers attempting to earn All-America status in the same event.

Kevin Gill, a senior, is the No. 1 seed in the nation after turning in a time of 4:03.43 this season while Keith Gill is the No. 11 seed and one of only two freshmen to have qualified with a time of 4:10.37, which placed him second in New England.

They will be in separate seven-runner heats on Friday with nine of the 14 milers qualifying for the finals on Saturday and the top eight getting All-America recognition. Stonehill's Dickie Gerry is also in the mile with the Gills.

It is a long way from D.W. Field Park, but it is a scene the Gill brothers, both former Enterprise athletes of the year in track, have been part of before.

"It almost feels like we're back at our roots at Brockton High," said Kevin. "He's the best guy in the race and I'm the slowest. It's like when I was the freshman in high school and he was the senior. It feels good."

Said Keith, "It's been fun this year. It is just like back in high school. It's good because we both know how much we love to run and how much we want to achieve something. We both support each other and use each other to get faster."

Keith will be competing in the NCAAs for a fifth time, including two cross country races while his younger brother took part in the national cross country race last fall.

For Keith, his sensational winter season, which includes a win in the 800 at the Northeast-10 Conference meet, has come after he missed nearly the entire cross country season due to a stress fracture in his left foot.

In a career that has been plagued by injuries and illness, Keith has had to make one comeback after another, and he's done that this winter by rising to the top of the national list in the mile.

Keith also became the school's first New England champion recently by winning the 1,000-meter event in 2:24.73 and is the NE-10 athlete of the year.

"When he became our first All-New England champion, he said he was going to be our first national champion, too," said Stonehill coach Karen Boen. "That's the way Keith is. It's not a swagger, but he sets high goals."

His stress fracture last fall was another setback that he had to overcome, and once Keith got healthy, he was back running personal-best times.

"It was just bad luck," said Keith of the injury. "I might have stepped on something like one week into the season.

"It was bad. This was supposed to be our big year in cross country and for me to go down was just a killer. I was mad. It seems like I'm always trying to come back and trying to prove that I'm still good."

Kevin Gill, the NE-10 freshman of the year, made an immediate impact on the Skyhawks' program this winter, breaking records for first-year runners and earning a trip to the NCAAs. He will also run in the distance medley relay race.

"It's definitely something I hoped for, but I didn't think it was possible for me," said Kevin of getting to the NCAAs as a freshman. "This is a big deal for me. It was a goal that I had.

"Coach Boen does a really good job preparing me to race well and I still think I can go faster than I've been running this season."

Boen has watched the Gill brothers push each other this season with each reaching new levels in their careers.

"Keith has always been Kevin's idol, and it's a two-way street," said Boen. "If Keith can do it, Kevin thinks he can do it, too. Kevin keeps Keith honest, making him run a lot faster. They are like dueling banjos. They are very supportive of each other."

Keith's records at Brockton High were broken by his younger brother. Keith, who could return as a fifth-year senior in 2008-09, figures the same thing will happen at Stonehill in a couple of years.

"What he's doing this year, it absolutely does not surprise me," said Keith. "He's a beast. I'll be surprised if he doesn't break all of my records here. I would never underestimate my brother. He's like me. He won't settle for anything less.

"He's helped me a bunch this year. In workouts, if I'm falling off in that last interval, he'll pass me and make me pick up the pace. He makes me run that much faster. We work off each other."

Kevin looked at several colleges before deciding that being a teammate of his brother would be the best fit.

"It's been good being here," he said. "It motivates me when I see him run fast. The more he does, the more I want to train. He sets the bar, and I try to take it away from him."