DELAWARE, OHIO 5/27/11  - Keene State College's Andrea Walsh came up short in her bid for All-American, finishing 13th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase race at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at Ohio Wesleyan University on Friday night.

Walsh, a junior from Bolton, Conn., posted a time of 10:54.27 in the challenging seven lap event that consists of five hurdles and one water obstacle.  Kimberly Chin, a senior from Baldwin-Wallace (OH) College won the race in a George Gauthier Track record time of 10:24.22.  

As expected, the top four runners moved out to a substantial lead, leaving the rest of the field to jockey for position behind them.  Walsh stayed with the second pack until running into trouble going over the water obstacle during the third lap.  "Andrea got cut-off going over the hurdle and lost momentum," said KSC Coach Peter Thomas.  "When that happens, you're rhythm gets thrown off."

Thomas said Walsh was disappointed, but pleased that she never gave up.  "She gave it her best effort," he said.  It was a great accomplishment for her to qualify for the championships for the first time.  Hopefully, she'll learn from the experience and come back next year and do better."

Keene State will have two athletes competing on Saturday.  Senior Amy Knoblock (Plymouth, Mass.) will run in the finals of the 1,500-meter race and sophomore Glenn Guilmette (Kensington, N.H.) will compete in the javelin event.