PRINCETON, N.J.  10/15/11 – The gamble paid off for Peter Thomas and the Keene State College women's cross country team on Saturday.  Thomas, the longtime Owl cross country coach, took his team out of region, hoping that a strong performance at the Princeton (N.J.) Invitational would pay dividends down the road and give Keene State better footing earning a berth to the NCAA Division III Championships - and the Owls didn't disappoint their coach.

            Not only did the Owls, tied for sixth in New England, finish fourth (153 points) at the Invitational that included seven Division I teams, but more importantly placed just ahead of Haverford (Pa.) University (fifth place -156 points) and Elizabethtown (Pa.) College (eighth place -188 points).  Haverford and Elizabethtown came into the meet ranked third and fourth respectively in the Mideast Region. 

            "I'm very pleased," said Thomas.  "I asked the girls to dig down and run to their ability and they did." 

            Thomas said the Owls performance could have a bearing when it comes to picking at-large teams for the championship.  "If we finish fifth in our region and Haverford places third in their region, they have to take us before they take them."   

            Although it wasn't one of her better races, senior Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.) paced the Owls, placing 17th with a time of 23:27 on long (just over 6K), rolling hill course.  "It was fun running out of region," said Mills.  "We raced very well as a team, probably the best this season."

            Senior Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) wasn't too far behind, finishing 21st with a time of 23:31.  Other top finishers for KSC included junior Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.) who was 31st (23:57), senior Sarah Titus (Derry, N.H.), who placed 32nd (23:59) and sophomore Erin Crawford (Townsend, Mass.), who placed 52nd (24:56).

            Yale University swept the top five spots to win the team title with 15 points.

            The Keene State men's varsity and the Owl women's sub-varsity team competed at the Albany Invitational in New York on Saturday. 

           The Keene State men finished eighth in the 21-team field at the Albany meet with 229 points.  Senior Kevin Hoyt (Newtown, Conn.) led the way for the Owls, placing eighth on the 8,000-meter course with a time of 25:52.  Junior Paquette (Bolton, Conn.) was KSC's second man, finishing 30th with a time of 26:23.  Other top scorers for KSC included sophomore Ryan Widzgowski (Camden, Me.), who was 35th (26:31), junior George Stevens (Alton, N.H.), who placed 69th (27:13) and junior Andrew Sears, (Derry, N.H.), was finished 87th (27:43).

         Host Albany won the championship with 36 points.  The Great Dane's Paul Lagno won the race with a time of 24:42.

        The Owl sub-varsity placed 18th in the team standings with 477 points. Freshman Kaley Mientkiewicz (Hanson, Mass.) was the first Owl to the finish line, placing 88th with a time of 20:41.  Sophomore Nikki Leeman (Round Pond, Maine) was three pots back in 91st place with a time of 20:46.  The last three Owls to score were also closely bunched together, sophomore Emily LaPlant (Hudson, N.H.) was 94th (20:49), freshman Kassy Montgomery (Winooski, Vt.) was 101st (21:03) and junior Janel Haggerty (Gilford, Conn.) placed 103rd (21:06).

       Both Keene State men's and women's team will be looking to defend their Little East titles at the Alliance Championships next Saturday at UMass-Dartmouth.