KEENE, N.H., 9/4/10 – There's no place like home for the Owl cross country teams who raced to opening season wins at the Keene State College Alumni Invitational at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.
Led by senior Eric MacKnight's (Newtown, Conn.) second place finish, the Keene State men placed five runners in the top-10 to win the Invitational with 23 points. Junior Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.) won the race going away and the Owls swept the first three spots to take the women's event with 25 points.
MacKnight covered the 5K course in a time of 16:05. "It was a good race. I went out hard and had a lot of fun battling a couple of alums," said MacKnight. "We had a good showing today. Things are coming together for us."
Junior Kevin Hoyt (Newtown, Conn.) was KSC's second runner, finishing third with a time of 16:27. He was followed to the finish line by senior Tim Pipp (New Ipswich, N.H., who was fifth (16:37), sophomore Thomas Paquette (Bolton, Conn,) who was sixth (16:45), and junior Corey Loonan (Sandwich, Mass.), who placed eighth (17:01).
Peter Najem, a recent alum from Derry, N.H., won the race with a time of 16:04.
Mills, last year's LEC runner of the year and a NCAA qualifier, had a run in the park, winning the two-mile women's race with a time of 11:48. "I felt great," said Mills, who finished 30 seconds faster than her closest challenger. "It's always nice running on your home course and hearing all the people yelling out your name."
Senior Amy Knoblock (Plymouth, Mass.) placed second with a time of 12:18 while junior Andrea Walsh finished third (12:12). Sophomore Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn, who placed ninth (12:51) and Natalie Ferro (Dennis, Mass.), who was 10th (12:57), round-out the Owl scorers in the race.
Kimber Stannard of Higganum, Conn. had the top finish among alums, placing 51st with a time of 15:34.
Top Three:
Men: Peter Najem, KSC-Alum (16:04), Eric MacKnight, KSC (16:05), Dave Bridgewater, KSC-Alum (16:10)
Women: Paige Mills, KSC (11:48), Amy Knoblock, KSC (12:18), Andrea Walsh, KSC (12:22)
Team Scores:
Men: Keene State (23), UMass-Lowell (50), Fitchburg State (89), Norwich (125), Babson (142), Assumption (155), New England College (169)
Women: Keene State (25), UMass-Lowell (47), Babson (65), Assumption (120), Fitchburg State (137), Norwich (147)
