NORTH DARTMOUTH, MASS. 10/29/11- Keene State seniors Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.) and Kevin Hoyt (Newtown, Conn.) raced to first place finishes at the Little East Conference Cross Country championships held in North Dartmouth on Saturday. 

Mills, who won the race for the second year in a row, covered the 5K course in a time of 18:02, holding off Southern Maine's Molly Carl, who finished three seconds behind her at 18:05.  "I might have been a little overconfident, but I ran very relaxed and comfortable," said Mills.  "I didn't realize that Molly Carl was right behind me, so I had to pick it up at the end.  It was nice to win the championship in my final year.

The Owls placed all five of its scorers in the top-10 to win the team championship for the 12th straight season with 24 points.  Junior Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.)  and senior Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) were Keene State's second and third runner.  Fitter finished third with a time of 18:25 while Walsh was right behind her in fourth place with a time of 18:53. 

Sophomore Erin Crawford (Townsend, Mass.) and senior Sarah Titus (Derry, N.H.) round out the scorers for Keene State.  Crawford placed seventh with a time of 19:23 while Titus was ninth, clocking a time of 19:29.

Hoyt was the first runner to the finish line in the men's race, posting a winning time of 24:50 on the wet and muddy 8K course.  A strong finish by the senior enabled him to beat out Conor McCloskey, who finished second with a time of 25:43. I was very happy with my performance,' said Hoyt.  "The race worked out just the way I wanted to happen."

The Owls were unable to defend its LEC crown. Southern Maine edged Keene State 31-36 to capture its fourth title in the last six years.  

Sophomore Ryan Widzgowski (Camden, Maine) and junior Tom Paquette (Bolton, Conn.) also had top-10 finishes for the Owls.  Widzgowski finished fourth with a time of 25:48 while Paquette placed seventh (26:00).

Juniors George Stevens (Alton, N.H.) and Andrew Sears (Derry, N.H.) round out the top scorers for KSC.  Stevens placed 11th (26:20) while Sears was two spots back in 13th place (26:30).

Keene State competes next Saturday at the ECAC Championships in Williamstown, Mass.