WESTFIELD, MASS 11/1/08 - Keene State College is once again King and Queen of the Road in the Little East Conference after capturing both men's and women's cross country championships at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. on Saturday. 

            The KSC women raced to their ninth consecutive LEC crown while the Owl men reclaimed the title after finishing a close second to Southern Maine the past two years. Prior to placing second to the Huskies in 2006 and 2007, KSC had won nine straight races.

            "Except for Southern Maine getting two runners in front of our men, I was pretty pleased with how things went today," said KSC Coach Peter Thomas.  "The guys were packed to together and the freshmen women stepped up and had strong performances. 

            "Both teams wanted to win today," Thomas said.  The men were determined to earn back bragging rights as the top team in the conference and the women wanted to keep their streak alive."

            The KSC men placed all five of its top runners in the top-10 win the LEC Alliance race with 32 points.  Southern Maine was second with 44 points.

            The  Owls were led by the sophomore duo of Brandon Schillemat (Nelson, N.H.) and Craig MacPherson (Derry, N.H.), who finished fourth (25:51) and fifth (25:58) respectively on the 8K course. 

            Junior Pat Davis (Wethersfield, Conn.) was sixth (25:59), senior Jason Garrity (Topsfield, Mass.) placed eighth (26:07), and junior Jared Samuel (Londonderry, N.H.) rounded out the Owls scorers with a ninth place (26:09) finish.

            Southern Maine's Tyler Jasud won the race with a time of 25:41.

            The KSC women ran away from the field with 25 points.  Westfield State was a distant second with 61 points in the Alliance race.

            Junior Rita Marcotte (Heath, Mass.) was the first Owl to the finish line. She finished second, covering the 5K course in a time of 18:34.  Freshmen Heather Pierce (Buckland, Mass.) and Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) were right behind her in third (19:02) and fifth place (19:07) respectively.  Despite nursing an injury, sophomore Nicole Slane (Milford, N.H.) turned in a fine sixth place performance (19:11), and sophomore Amy Knoblock (Plymouth, Mass.) placed ninth (19:40).

          Kerry Arouca of Westfield State won the women's race with a time of 18:27.

          The Owls compete next weekend at the ECAC Championships at Colt State Park in Bristol, RI.