'DELAWARE, OHIO 11/19/05 - Saturday was not a good day on the
trails for the Keene State College men's cross country team.
Competing at the NCAA Division IIII Championships in Delaware,
Ohio, the Owls finished a disappointing 23rd in the 24-team field.
However, there was a silver lining to the day as KSC sophomore
Jennifer Adams earned All-American honors with her 20th place
finish in the women's race.
"I really don't have a reason why the men ran so poorly," said a
dejected KSC Coach Peter Thomas. "They tried hard, but just
didn't have anything to show for their effort. It just wasn't
their day."
One of four seniors in KSC's pack, Ryan Gough was the first Owl
runner to the finish line. The Billerica, Mass., native
placed 40th (26:37) on the 8,000-meter course, missing All-America
honors by five spots. Joe Hegarty (Springfield, Mass.) was in 110th
place with a time of 27:19 and Matt Haley (Middleton, Mass.) was
161st at 27:51. Rounding out the KSC runners were Pat Ard
(Kingston, N.H.) (194th/28:27), Joseph Reynolds (Bryant Pond, Me.)
(204th/28:58) and freshman Brock Welch (Merrimack, N.H.)
(208th/29:13). Kevin Kelleher (Rocky, Hill, Conn.) had to
pull out of the race with an Achilles injury.
Keene State finished with 520 points, its worst showing at the
Division III meet. Wisconsin-Lacrosse won its third NCAA
Championship with 94 points. Neal Holtschulte of Williams won
the race in a time of 25:13.
Finishing second at the championships in 1999 and 2000, KSC
hasn't done well on the national stage in recent years.
After placing eight in 2003, they dropped to 20th last year.
Earlier in the day, Adams became the third KSC women's runner to
earn All-America cross country honors. The sophomore from
Saratoga Springs, N.Y., finished 20th on the 6,000-meter course
with a time of 22:45. She is the first KSC women's All-American
since Mary Proulx won the third of her three honors in 2002.
"Jennifer ran a very gutsy race," said Thomas. "She wasn't
feeling her best, but ran strong enough to get the job done. Unlike
last week when she ran nice and easy at the regionals, she had to
work hard the entire race today. "She was tired, but happy
when she hit the finish line."
Both races were delayed an hour due to a build up of frost on
the golf course.
