RESULTS
AWARDS CEREMONY

KEENE, N.H.--The Keene State College women's cross country team placed four runners in the top 15 to easily repeat as Little East Conference champions at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.

Women's Highlights

Led by First Team All-LEC Runners Maggie St. John, Anna O'Reilly, and Sarah Ames, the Owls totalled up 46 points to beat runner-up Eastern Conn. State by 16 points.   St. John was second overall in 19:04, while O'Reilly was sixth in 19:40.5 and Ames was seventh in 19:42.0.

Aurora Couto earned Second Team All-Conference honors with a 13th place finish in 20:25.0, followed by Alana Perry (19th, 21:04.3), Alyssa Edgren (30th, 22:05.7), Sara Christian (35th, 22:13.1), Juliana Yialiades (37th, 22:23), Maya Wedge (42nd, 22:34), Autumn Boisvert (44th, 22:39.4), Anna Bentley (51st, 24:07.5), and Melanie French (60th, 26:31.6).

It's the 20th title overall for Keene State, which also won titles from 2000-2016, as well as in 2018 and 2022.  St. John repeated as a First Team All-Conference performer, while Couto and O'Reilly also earned All-Conference nods for the second straight year.

"it's always a special day when you get to host a championship event at home. On top of that we set some lofty team goals for this meet at the beginning of the season and it's a positive experience to see those materialize at the end of the season," said head coach Dan Roark. "This was a full team effort from everyone involved and very happy to have the team and a community involved on this warm fall day. We have two weeks until the regional meet which we look to continue with championship racing at a high level "

Rhode Island College's Haley Oliver was the individual winner in 18:32.9.

Men's Highlights

Freshman Griffin Urnezis and Tyler Bolaske both earned Second Team All-Conference honors to power the Owls to a fourth place finish.  Urnezis was ninth overall in 26:52.6, while Bolaske was 12th in 27:03.9.

Marty Nelligan was 25th overall in 27:50.7, followed by Ben Harley (45th, 29:16), Nathan Giordano (50th, 29:46.7), Tyler Robinson (52nd, 29:42.8), Jonathan MacQuarrie (60th, 30:26.2), and Alex Labrecque (75th, 31:33.2).

The fourth place showing is a one spot improvement from a year ago for the Owls, who were seeking their first title since 2015.   The Owls won the LEC championship every year from 1997-2005, as well as in 2008, 2010, and from 2012-15.

"We had some strong development by the whole team, but especially the newcomers made some big breakthroughs the last few weeks," said Roark. "Having the top two freshmen in conference is a big step forward."

Plymouth State won its second consecutive title, led by LEC medalist Michael Olson, who covered the 8K course in 25:18.7.