WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. 11/13/10 – The Keene State College men's and women's cross country teams each qualified two runners for the NCAA Championships as junior Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.) led the way with her second place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships at Mount Greylock High School near Williams College.

For the men's team, senior's Tim Pipp (Keene, N.H.) and Eric MacKnight (Newtown, Conn.) earned a berth to next weekend's NCAA Championships at Wartburg College in Iowa with their 4th and 5th place finishes respectively.

"That was a great finish for Tim," said KSC head coach Pete Thomas. "I told him he should finish in single-digits but he did better than I expected."

"I broke the lead pack figuring I wouldn't have as much of a kick at the end," said Pipp. "At one point I dropped back to about eighth but finished well and I'm really happy with my finish."

Junior Kevin Hoyt (Newtown, Conn.)  finished in 22nd, while sophomore Andrew Sears (Derry, N.H.) and senior Jeff Tretheway (Merrimack, N.H.) finished in 73rd and 77th for the Owls.

With their performances, Pipp, MacKnight and Hoyt earned All-Region honors.

As a team the men finished ninth with 181 points. MIT won the team championship with 93 points.

Joining Mills next week at NCAA Championships, will be junior Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) with her 12th place finish. Senior Amy Knoblock (Plymouth, Mass.) was the next Owl to cross the finish line in 24th place. "Andrea ran real well," said Thomas. "Amy also did well but she missed qualifying for NCAA's by one spot."

Mills, Walsh, and Knoblock were all named to the All-Region team.

 Sophomore Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.) and junior Sarah Titus (Derry, N.H.) rounded out the Owls top five with 46th and 74th place finishes.

As a team, the women finished in sixth with 158 points.