NORTH DARTMOUTH, MASS. 9/19/09 - The Keene State men's cross country team defended its championship and the Owl women turned in a strong third-place finish at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday.

The Owl men tallied 68 points to win the title.  Stonehill College was second with 96 points.

KSC placed three runners in the top-10 on the five mile course; senior Jared Samuel (Londonderry, N.H.) was the first Owl to the finish line, finishing fourth with a time of 24:53.  Junior Jeff Trethewey (Merrimack, N.H.) was right behind him in fifth place (24:58) while junior Eric MacKnight (Newtown, Conn.) finished eighth (25:09).  Sophomore Corey Loonan (Sandwich, Mass.) (25th/25:310) and junior Brandon Schillemat (Nelson, N.H.) (28th/25:32) round out the scorers for the Owls.

Glarius Rop of AIC won the race with a time of 24:05.

Coming into the race ranked ninth in the region, KSC should move up in next week's poll. The Owls beat ranked teams Brandeis (3) and Southern Maine (4).

The Keene State women scored 115 points to finish behind champion MIT (60 points) and Brandeis (75 points). 

Sophomore Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.) was the Owls top finisher, placing fourth (18:06) on the 5K course.  Junior Allison Chamberlain (Scarborough, Maine) also was in the top-10, finishing seventh with a time of 18:15.

Senior Rita Marcotte (Heath, Mass.) was 28th (19:10), sophomore Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) was 32rd (19:13) and sophomore Haley Lydstone (Bedford, N.H.) placed 44th (19:23).

Jacqui Wentz of MIT won the race with a time of 17:40.

The Owl women, ranked eighth in New England, should also move up in the poll. KSC defeated fourth ranked Colby College, which placed sixth at the UMD meet.

The Owls have next week off and will prepare for the KSC Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3.