'WESTFIELD, MASS. 10/29/05 - Both Keene State men's and women's cross country teams kept their respective winning streaks intact with impressive victories  at the Little East Conference-Alliance Championship at Stanley Park on Saturday.

Senior Ryan Gough (Billerica, Mass.) won the individual championship, and the Owls placed six runners in the top-10 to claim their ninth straight title.  Meanwhile, the KSC women, led by sophomore Jennifer Adams' (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) first place finish, raced to their sixth straight title.

"Everyone ran reasonably well, said KSC Coach Peter Thomas.  "It was a good tune-up for the NCAA regional meet in a couple of weeks."

Gough, who raced to his third individual title this season, clocked a winning time of 25:23 over the five mile course.   Teammate Joseph Hegarty (Springfield, Mass.) was right behind in second (25:38) while Matt Haley (Middleton, Mass.) took fourth (25:54). Rounding out the top-10 finishers for KSC were Pat Ard (Kingston, N.H) (8th/26:20), Kevin Kelleher (Rocky Hill, Conn.) (9th/26:24), and Joseph Reynolds (Bryant Pond, Me.) (10th/26:27).

KSC finished with 24 points to easily outdistance runner-up Southern Maine (82 points).

Adams, a sophomore, continued her strong season on the trails by posting a time of 18:05 on the 3.1 mile course.  She beat the second place finisher Sara Marouk of Southern Maine by 38 seconds.

Shannon O'Brien (Tilton, N.H.) finished third with a personal best time of 19:19, Sophie Holly (Ledyard, Conn.) was sixth (19:32), Stephanie Westcott (Bellows Falls, Vt.) took seventh (19:50), and Krystin Gavin (Brimfield, Mass.) was 10th (20:06).

The Owls tallied 27 points to beat host Westfield State (64 points) for the women's team title. The top seven conference finishers earn All-LEC/Alliance honors.

KSC competes next Saturday at the ECAC Championship at Conn. College in New London.