KEENE, N.H. 8/30/08 - The grads ruled the road at Saturday's Keene State Alumni meet.  Alums, Dave Bridgewater and Stephanie Westcott raced to a first place finishes in the tune-up meet for the Owls. Bridgewater crossed the finish line in a time of 15:52 while Westcott topped the women's field with a time of 12:29.

                "It was an excellent turnout, "said KSC Coach Peter Thomas.  "Dave is still the king of the road."

                Both winners said experience was the difference. "I have a little bit more experience than the rest of the field," said Bridgewater, who recently enrolled in grad school at Quinnipiac and still runs for the Boston Athletic Association.  "It brought back good memories.  I wish I was still here."

                "I did better than I expected. I have a little advantage with my age," said Westcott, who will serve as an assistant with the Owls this season.      

                Several alums including Sarah Miller admitted they were a little out of shape.  "Being in the real world it's tough to balance work and working out," she said.  "Running gets the short end of the stick."

                "I started running in April for the first time in 20 years, so it was hard keeping up with all these youngsters." said Troy Patoine, a 1992 grad. 

                Among current KSC runners, senior Pat Craven (North Kingstown, R.I.) won the men's race (16:18) and sophomore Amy Knoblock (Plymouth, Mass.) (12:42) was the women's winner. 

                The Owls open up their season next Saturday at the Trinity Invitational. The Owl men are ranked 20th nationally and fourth in New England.