'KEENE, N.H. 10/1/05 - Ryan Gough raced to a first place finish and the Owls placed four runners in the top-10 to lead the host team to the 11th Annual Keene State College Cross Country Invitational Championship on Saturday.  It was the seventh time in the last eight years that the Owl men have claimed the title.

KSC, ranked second in New England and 13th nationally, finished with 31 points to outdistance Dartmouth (49 points).Southern Maine was third with 80 points. 

Gough crossed the finish line in a time of 25:30 to win his second individual championship this season.  "I just tied to take it to them. I knew there wasn't a ton of competition, so I wanted to take it out hard and put on a show for everybody" said Gough, who pulled away at the two mile mark.

Patrick Ard was second (26:08). Other top KSC runners included Joe Hegarty (5th/26:22) and Matt Haley (9th/26:58).

Dartmouth College finished with 41 points to edge Keene State (53 points) for the women's title.  It was the second straight year the Big Green women have captured the Invitational. Springfield's Meg Young defended her individual championship with a time of 18:24 over the 5K course. 

Jennifer Adams had a strong second place performance for KSC (18:31). "I felt really good the first mile and a half and just tried to work on my kick at the end. It was a good race for us leading up to the New Englands"

Other top finishers for KSC included Sophie Holly (8th/19:56), Erin Landon (10th/20:03), and Shannon O'Brien (15th/20:18).

Both Owl teams will compete at the New England Championships next Saturday at Boston's Franklin Park. 

Men's Individual Results: (Five Miles)

1.Ryan Gough, Keene State (25:30), 2. Patrick Ard, Keene State (26:08), 3. Josh Briggs, Baldwin Wallace (26:14), 4. Grant Allen, Dartmouth (26:19), 5. Joe Hegarty, Keene State (26:22), 6. Curtis Wheeler, Southern Maine (26:37), 7. Vinny Olsen, Dartmouth (26:42), 8. Jackie Kilcommons, UMass-Lowell (26:55), 9. Matt Haley, Keene State (26:58), 10. Nick Wheeler, Southern Maine (26:59);

 Team Results:

1. Keene State 31; 2. Dartmouth 49; 3. Southern Maine 80; 4. UMass-Lowell 97; 5. Baldwin Wallace 108; 6. Tufts 169; 7. Wheaton 214;8.  Fitchburg State 234, 9. St. Anselm 240;

Women's Individual Results: (5K)

1. Meg Young, Springfield (18:24), 2. Jennifer Adams, Keene State (18:31), 3. Megan Via, Bladwin Wallace (19:25), 4. Susan Abramczyk, Dartmouth (19:29), 5. Ashley Scullion, Baldwin Wallace (19:42), 6. Natalie Todd-Zebel, Dartmouth (19:51), 7. Kathleen Rice, Dartmouth (19:55), 8. Sophie Holly, Keene State (19:56), 9. Alyssa Brigham, Springfield (19:59), 10. Erin Landon, Keene State (20:03);

Team Results:

1. Dartmouth 41; 2. Keene State 53; 3. Springfield 82; 4. Baldwin Wallace 83; 5. Wheaton 100; 6. UMass-Lowell 173; 7. Fitchburg State 216;