ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The first-ever indoor long jump qualifier for the Keene State College track and field program, Aidan Law finished 11th and just missed the finals as he competed at the NCAA championships on Friday afternoon at the Golisano Training Center on the campus of Nazareth University.

Law posted a mark of 7.04 meters in his third jump, tying ninth-place Max Albertson of St. Olaf College for the last finals qualifying spot.  However, Albertson had a better second-best jump (6.93 meters to 6.78 meters), and then both were knocked out when the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Sebastian Jefferson posted a mark of 7.18 meters in his third try, shattering his 6.65 mark on the second attempt and nullifying three fouls.

Law - a second team All-American - improved every jump, going from 6.48 on the first try to 6.78 on the second try.  In order to, at the time, move him alone into ninth place, he needed a mark of 7.05 meters.  He twice exceeded that this season, including breaking his own school record by jumping 7.26 meters at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on March 8 that vaulted him to the national scale.  That mark would have given him a seventh-place finish nationally in this event.  At the time, it was tied for the 10th best mark in Division III, and he entered this event as the No. 9 seed.  Law also jumped 7.14 meters at the Little East Conference championship, at the time a KSC school record as well – behind only Eastern Connecticut State University's Michael Collins Jr. (7.27 meters).  Collins was seeded sixth thanks to a 7.32 mark in December, but wound up 20th in this event with a 6.80 meter jump.

Joshua Rivers defended his individual national championship in the event, posting an impressive 7.81 meter jump on his sixth attempt to better previous marks of 7.58 on the third try, 7.65 on the fifth, and 7.75 on the second – all of which would have outdone second-place Henry Brandstadter (Emory University), who posted a 7.51 meter jump on his last turn.  Rivers entered with a top seed mark of 8.13 meters, a Division III record he set in December.  His final 7.81 mark set a new championship and facility record.  Last year, he won the individual national championship with a 7.58-meter jump on his first try.  Brandstadter was second with a 7.34 mark.

"Being 11th at this caliber of meet is something to be proud of," said Keene State head coach Dan Roark.  "Coming into the national meet, it is like no other meet we have been to this year.  We had big goals and came up a little short, but proud of him and the work he put in to get here.  He learned a lot from this experience, and I know he will use it going forward to become better."

Law is the KSC men's first indoor qualifier since 2020 when Ben Musese made the NCAA championship in the triple jump before the event was cancelled.  Prior to that, the Owls had not had an NCAA qualifier since 2014 (Ryan Widzgowski).  KSC has made 17 appearances at the NCAA championship in the Division III era (since 1997), finishing as high as eighth in the country in 2000-2001.  Mark Miller twice won individual national championships in the 1,500 meters (2001, 2003).

The Owls will now shift their attention to the outdoor season, which begins with a trip to Georgia and Emory University for the Thrills in the Hills March 26-29.

"With a strong indoor season, I think we have bigger things to come in outdoor and we are excited for the warm weather," said Roark.

KSC set nine new school records this winter, including Law in the long jump, 200 meter dash, and 400 meter dash.  He was also part of a new school-best 4 x 200 meter relay with Jonathan DeAguiar, Keith O'Donnell, and Kyle Thomas.