BOSTON, MASS. 10/8/11 – Returning to the trails for the
first time in three weeks, the Keene State College cross country
teams raced at the New England Championships at Boston's
Franklin Park on Saturday.
The Keene State women had the better day, placing 20th in the
39-team field with 548 points while the Owl men tallied 798 points
to finish 31st in the 43-team field.
Boston College with 38 points won the women's team title
and UConn, with 149 points won a closely-contested men's
championship.
Senior All-American Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.)
had the top finish for the Owls, finishing 11th on the 5.017K
course in a time of 18:12. Mills was the top Division III
finisher in the race. “I was very happy with my
finish,” said Mills, who earned All-New England honors.
“I really wanted to get All-New England my senior year.
This course has always haunted me. I've never done what I
wanted to do in this race. Today, I just knew I had to run
confidently. It's easy to get psyched out from all the
competition.”
Senior teammate Andrea Wash was KSC's
second runner, placing 75th with a time of 19:15.
“We've been out of the racing scene for awhile, so it
was good to get back,” said Walsh. We enjoy running
against the Division I teams. It's a little intimidating, but
it's good practice for the regionals when we face so many
teams.”
Junior Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.)
who finished 125th (19:55), senior Sarah Titus
(Derry, N.H.), who was 152nd (20:15), and freshman Riley
Wilk (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) in 185th place (20:43) were the
scorers for the Owls.
Katie Matthews of Boston University won the race in a time of
17:18.
Senior Kevin Hoyt (Newtown, Conn.) was the
first Owl to the finish line, finishing 61st and covering the
men's 4.95 mile course in a time of 26:03. Junior
Tom Paquette (Bolton, Conn.) was the second KSC
runner, placing 110th in a time of 26:41. Other top finishers
for the Owls include sophomore Ryan Widzogowski
(Camden, Maine) who placed 189th (27:40), junior Andrew
Sears (Derry, N.H.) who finished 213th (28:06), and junior
George Stevens (Alton, N.H.), who placed 225th
(28:29).
Glarius Rop of AIC won the race in a time of 24:13.
Keene State competes next Saturday at the Albany, N.Y.
Invitational.
