KEENE, N.H. – The defending Little East Conference champion Keene State College men's and women's cross country teams were each listed in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association regional rankings presented by athletic.net released on Tuesday afternoon.
The Owl women, 21-time Little East Conference champions including winners of the last three, were ranked No. 8 in the East Region and the lone LEC team listed in the poll. KSC finished seventh of 30 scoring teams at the regional race a season ago, paced by a 24th-place by
Maggie St. John, who is returning this fall. The Hinsdale, N.H. native also added a second-place conference finish (18:44.80) as KSC (28 points) placed four runners within the top six at the league championship, winning by a landslide over second-place University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (71 points).
The KSC men are also ranked eighth in the regional poll on the heels of their first LEC championship since 2015 and 16th overall last year. The Owls graduated decorated senior
Jake Velazquez, who was the East Region Runner of the Year and the Little East Conference individual champion before becoming the 24th male All-American in program history with his 29th-place finish at the NCAA championship. Velazquez won the regional race in 24:35.22, six seconds ahead of Bowdoin College senior Will Goddard. The Owls had three runners place in the top 44 of the regional championship, including
Tyler Bolaske in 33rd and
Griffin Urnezis in 44th, as they placed ninth of 33 scoring teams. Urnezis and Bolaske both return, along with sophomore Ben Tetu, who finished 11th and was an All-Conference finisher in his rookie season.
Head coach
Dan Roark is entering his fourth campaign leading the Owls, having guided KSC to a combined four LEC championships across the two programs while overseeing Velazquez and Jake Pearl qualify for the NCAA championship individually on the men's side and St. John on the women's side.
"Being in the top 10 for the preseason says a lot of where our teams were at the end of last year and we are excited about where this season goes and how we can progress as the season unfolds," said Roark. "We have a lot of work to do but we have a talented group on both sides."
The Owls open their season at home this Saturday with the Keene State Alumni Meet and will race on their home course three times this fall, including on October 4 at the Keene State Invitational and November 1 when they host the LEC championship. The NCAA regional championship will take place at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds on November 15, with the national meet the following week.
