He's in the running

By Christopher L. Gasper, Globe Staff

Keith Gill has been to the NCAA Division 2 Indoor Track and Field National Championships before. He was at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, the host site for the meet for the second straight time, last year. The difference is, this year he'll be on the track.

The Stonehill College junior is seeded third in the mile for the two-day meet, which starts today , after setting the school record with a time of 4 minutes 7.22 seconds at the Boston University Terrier Invitational Jan. 27.

Gill was relegated to the role of spectator at last year's meet, cheering on teammate David Metzger, who competed in the 5,000 meters.

"Man, watching those races was absolutely killing me, knowing I should be there and would be there and could be there if not for everything that transpired," said Gill, who also set indoor school records in the 800 (1:52) and 1,000 meters (2:27) this season.

Everything that transpired was the sudden cessation of his running career. After a stellar freshman season during which he was named the Northeast-10 Freshman Runner of the Year indoors and earned an All-New England selection outdoors, the former Brockton High All-Scholastic was forced to sit out all but one cross-country meet and the entire indoor campaign his sophomore year. Like an opposing runner with a strong finishing kick, excruciating pain in his legs caught Gill by surprise, not allowing him to run for more than 10 minutes.

Worse than losing the ability to run was the uncertainty as to why. It took, by his count, two or three doctors and about five months for him to get an answer. Last January, Gill was diagnosed with mononucleosis and anemia.

"One of the most frustrating few months of my life," said Gill. "Running is a big part of my life and not being able to do it was tough. When you don't know what's wrong, you don't know if you'll ever come back. I was questioning my career."

Gill had dealt with injuries before. A bout with IT (iliotibial) Band Syndrome as a freshman that sidelined him for the outdoor season -- the IT band is a group of muscle fibers that runs along the outside of the thigh and connects the side of the hip to the side of the knee -- but this was different.

"You could just tell that something wasn't right, but he's so darn tough he just kept trying to push through," said Karen Boen, Stonehill men's and women's cross-country and track coach. "But this was something he couldn't fix. But once we put him on iron pills, he took off."

Gill returned in time for the 2006 outdoor season and finished seventh in the 1,500 meters at the Division 2 NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn All- America honors. He followed that with a 27th-place finish at the cross-country championships in November, garnering another All-America designation. With an eighth-place finish in the mile, Gill, the Northeast-10 Conference Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, can become the first Stonehill athlete to earn All- America honors in three seasons -- cross-country, outdoor track, and indoor track -- according to the school.

Gill's record-setting mile earlier this season is the only time he's run the event indoors this year. He and Boen decided they wanted to save his best for the Division 2 nationals.

"I knew I could go faster, but we didn't see a need to race the mile all out the rest of the season," said Gill, who is one of eight Stonehill athletes competing in the NCAA meet. "The mile is my event. I know I can do it, and I've raced it enough in my life to know I can do it."

Defending Division 2 champion Aucencio Martinez of Colorado-based Adams State College is the top-seeded miler with a time of 4:04.80, but Gill thinks he can close the gap.

"Having run that fast time so early in the season and being in a more intense situation like nationals, I know I can go faster," said Gill. "I'm confident I can hang with and beat these guys. Last year outdoors the goal was All-American -- this year I want to win and I'm confident I can."

That would complete Gill's journey from cheerleader to champion.