NORTH DARTMOUTH, MASS.10/27/07 - The Keene State College
women's cross country team easily defended their Little East crown
today at the LEC Alliance Cross Country Championships in North
Dartmouth, Mass.
The Owls, who captured their eighth straight title, tallied 37
point to out-distance runner-up Westfield State (72 points) .
Senior Jennifer Adams (Saratoga Springs, NY) won the individual
women's championship. She finished the 5k race in a time of
17:52. Adams, who shared the individual championship with
teammate Breanne Lucey last year, ran away from the pack. She
beat her closest competitor, Eastern Conn's Karina Johnson by
1:42. The Owls had six runners place in the top 10. Freshman
Cassie Larmand (Greenville, NH) took fifth finishing at 19:42 ,
sophomore Kaitlyn Carr (Scituate, Mass.) finished sixth at 19:46,
senior Sophie Holly (Ledyard, Conn.) finished 12th at 20:15, and
sophomore Rita Marcotte (Heath, Mass.) was 13th at 20:21.
Looking to regain their title, the Owl men scored a team total
of 38 and placed second in Southern Maine (31) for the second
straight year. The Owls placed four runners in the top-10, but
couldn't hold off the Huskie who claimed the top two places.
USM twins Nick and Curtis Wheeler both crossed the finish line at
the 25:06 mark to take first and second place. They were
followed by teammate Chris Hopkins 25:31 placing fourth. The
Owls then took places five, six, and seven as sophomore Jared
Samuel (Londonderry, NH) 25:33, freshman Craig MacPherson (Derry,
NH) 25:38, and freshman Eric Macknight (Newtown, Conn.) 25:41
finished seconds behind. Sophomore Patrick Davis
(Wethersfield, Conn.) finished ninth with a finishing time of 25:47
and sophomore Sam Wood (Laconia, NH) rounded out the scoring
placing eleventh finishing at 25:52.
KSC had won nine straight LEC Alliance Meets from 1997-2005.
"The races went pretty much as expected," said KSC Coach Peter
Thomas. "The women weren't challenged, and the men were in a
dog-fight with Southern Maine. The guys ran well, but
Southern Maine had an excellent day and just ran better."
The Owls next meet is scheduled for Saturday at the ECAC
Championships in Williamstown, Mass.
