WATERFORD, Conn. – Senior
Tyler Bolaske broke his previous 8K personal record by over 17 seconds to finish fourth in a nationally-competitive men's field of over 240 runners as the Keene State College cross country teams competed at the Connecticut College Invitational hosted at the Harkness Memorial State Park on Saturday.
Among a field that included 11 top 30 teams nationally on the men's and women's sides each, the Owls battled and featured some strong performances – none stronger than another impressive effort for the Palmer, Mass. native in his fourth season with the Owls, who finished in 24:08.0, shattering his previous-best personal time of 24:25.9 at the same event last year. He remained in the mix with the leaders in the entirety of the men's blue race – a field that also included nationally-relevant individuals – and ultimately missed out on a runner-up finish by eight seconds, posting an average mile time of 4:51.3. Wesleyan University's Dylan Cote, who won the race in 23:52.8, had an average mile effort of 4:48.2.
KSC also got top 100 finishes in the elite men's race from junior Nicholas Terranova (71st) in 25:15.8 (another personal-best) and senior
Griffin Urnezis (85th) in 25:25.1. Sophomore
Andrew Klinedinst finished well within the top half, placing 119th in 25:46.8. Ben Tetu (26:00.8) and
Harper Borden (26:08.8) also set new collegiate-best times, with Borden 22 seconds better than his first collegiate recorded time three weeks earlier. The Owls finished 13th of 26 teams in the strong field, compiling 378 points. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the team event with all five in the top 20 for 57 points while Wesleyan University junior Dylan Cote won the individual event in 23:52.8.
On the women's side, junior
Kallie Warner turned in another strong performance, placing top-100 of 259 in the blue elite race with a 22:25.2 finish. The rest of the KSC contingent ran in the white race, with sophomore
Ellie Tighe leading the way in 72nd of 317 in 23:59.9.
Rita Cummings finished in 24:15.9 to make the top 100 (99th) while first year
Hannah Duva was 114th in a personal-best 24:25.6, 17 seconds faster than her previous best 6K time.
Middlebury College won the team event in the blue race, beating Williams College by the slimmest of margins (63-65) while also having the individual champion Audrey Maclean in 20:36.6.
"It was four races…we had a busy day but I think all four races had productive results for the Keene State Owls today," said head coach
Dan Roark. "I think we really ended on a good note with the fourth race with the men having a really strong performance…really mixing with some national-type competition. From top to bottom I think the men had a strong day and I think we had more to give, which is really exciting. In two weeks we have our LEC meet and I am excited where they are. On the women's side, we had some really good progression. I think we had some strong LEC competition we saw here today and we know where we stand and know what we have to do in two weeks, so that sets us up well. I think there is definitely some improvement on both sides that we can see, but as I said we had some strong performances and it was a good day overall – a chilly day. But I think in all four races we had positive results and excited for what we can do in the next two meets…keep on inching forward toward postseason."
The Little East Conference championship will be hosted by Vermont State University Castleton on Saturday, October 31 before the NCAA regionals hosted by Bates College two weeks later.
