MEDFORD, Mass. 1/14/12 – Junior Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.) and senior Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.) led the way for the Keene State College track and field teams, each qualifying for ECAC's and Open New England Championships, at the Tufts University Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

"We had a pretty good day," said KSC head coach Pete Thomas. "Both Maggie (Fitter) and Paige (Mills) had good doubles and scored a lot of points for us."

Fitter took first place in both the 600 (1:38.79) and 1,000 (3:04.17) meter races, while Mills took first in the 3,000 meters (10:11.81) and had a strong showing in the mile (5:15.43).

Also victorious for the Owls, junior Janel Haggerty (Guilford, Conn.) won the high-jump event with a leap of 5'-1.75''.

Freshman Melanie Escalante (New Canaan, Conn.) also had a strong showing in the 600 meters, qualifying for Division III New England Championships with a time of 1:40.44.

In the throwing events, senior captain Keeley Moffitt (Guilford, Conn.) qualified for New England Division III Championships with a throw of 41'-11''.

The Owls as a team finished in fifth place with 93 points. Host Tufts University won the meet with 173.33 points.

For the men, Freshman shot-putter Ben Keach (Newfields, N.H.) took 5th place with a toss of 43'-9.75''.

On the track, sophomore Ryan Widzgowski (Camden, Maine) finished 6th in the mile in a time of 4:30.82.

 Junior Thomas Paquette (Bolton, Conn.) scored in the 3,000 meter race in a time of 8:56.13 and a seventh place finish.

Junior Chris Plankey (Bristol, N.H.) also had a solid race in the 600 meters with his sixth place finish in a time of 1:26.07.

The KSC men finished with 23 points, while Tufts claimed the meet with 187.5 points.

The Owls return to the track next week, as they will head to Springfield College on Saturday, January 21st.