WESTFIELD, MASS. 10/7/12 – Senior Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.) and junior Chris Plankey (Bristol, N.H.) were the first finishers for the Keene State College women's and men's cross country team respectively at the New England Championships held at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. on Sunday.

Fitter finished 45th overall, but was sixth among Division III runners, covering the 5K course in a time of 18:21.  Monica Adler, a junior from Boston University won the race with a time of 17:00. 

Plankey was the leading man for the Owls for the first time this season.  He placed 89th overall, navigating around the 8K course in a time of 25:51.  Mike Biwott, a freshman from American International won the race with a time of 23:56.

Junior Erin Crawford (Townsend, Mass.) was the Owls' second runner finishing in 112th place in a personal record time of 19:05.  Other top finisher for the KSC women included:  freshman Kaitlin Wheeler (Exeter, N.H.) whom was 137th (19:21), junior Erin Duffy (Merrimack, N.H.), who was 143rd (19:26) and junior Brianna Enderson, who was in 152nd place (19:32).

Keene State placed 24th in the overall team standings with 589 points, but was fourth among Division III entries.  Boston College captured the team title with 45 points.

Senior Thomas Paquette (Bolton, Conn.) was the second runner for the owls, finishing in 98th place with a time of 25:56.  Other top performers for KSC included:  freshman Ryan Brady (Dover, N.H.) finished in 117th place (26:05), senior Andrew Sears (Derry, N.H.) was 125th (26:08) and freshman Brandon Davis-O'Donnell (Nashua, N.H.) rounded out the scorers for the owls, placing 166th (26:39).

Keene State was 25th in team scoring with 595 points.  It was sixth best among Division III squads.  Dartmouth claimed the men's title with 83 points.

Keene State will race at the Conn. College Invitational next Saturday (11 a.m.)