CASTLETON, Vt. – Senior Tyler Bolaske eased to his second straight individual championship, and it was a sea of red behind him as the Keene State College men's cross country placed their top five runners within the top ten as they ran away to their league-record 18th conference title in a dominant day at the Little East Conference championships hosted by Vermont State University Castleton on Saturday.

The championship is the third straight for the Owls, and was never in doubt, as KSC totaled 28 points to outdistance second-place University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth by nearly 40 points.  And it was Bolaske and Griffin Urnezis, now seniors, leading the way for the second straight year – with many friends to follow.  Bolaske finished in 25:12.6 and Urnezis came in for the silver medal in 25:31.3.  Sophomore Andrew Klinedinst added a seventh-place individual effort in 26:01.9 with junior Nicholas Terranova right behind him in 26:03.9.  Freshman Harper Borden finished in the top ten (26:22.5) at his first conference championship, and junior Ben Tetu was right behind him in 26:35.9.

By the time 11 people had finished, the Owls had made up more than half of the group – cutting their point total at the event nearly in half to continue to stake their claim as the most dominant program in the league.  A trophy case already full of league titles will have to make space for yet one more, joining 1997 through 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 through 2015, and now 2024 through present.
"We left Castleton today meeting our expectations," said KSC head coach Dan Roark.  "We knew on the men's side it was ours to lose and the men stepped up.  We had six runners in the top 11, so it was a really good day.  Having the men win the (team) championship and the individual champion on both sides was a lot of fun.  For the women to have an individual champion after the past four years of Maggie St. John getting second place…it was nice to have the top runner in the conference.  We knew the women were going to compete and it was a tough women's pack where you had four teams fighting for it and unfortunately we were the fourth team in that pack, but we fought hard and had a lot of good days.  A great day of racing and I am really proud of the athletes that put it out there in a championship atmosphere…we will be ready to go in the next two weeks for regionals."

The top four in the women's team standings were separated by just 24 points, with UMass-Dartmouth's five in the top 15 proving to be the difference as they edged the University of Southern Maine (61 points), Plymouth State University (66 points), and KSC (75 points).

For Warner, it was a decisive victory over a pair of seniors, with the Owl junior beating UMD senior Sarah Lynch by over 18 seconds in a finish of 22:30.7.  The finish was nearly exactly one minute better than her time nearly exactly one calendar year ago.

"It was definitely a tough race," said Warner, a Maine native.  "Going out I didn't get out as quick as I wanted to and there were two girls in front of me, but at 4K I just decided to take the lead and from there I was in the front."

The women had five finishers between tenth and 30th, with Ellie Tighe placing 10th for a second-team All-Conference honor in 23:58.6.  Rita Cummings placed 17th (24:09.2), Hannah Duva 21st (24:17.5), Ava Fortin 27th (24:27.5), and Maya Wedge 30th (24:42.1).

KSC has won a whopping 35 individual championships in the conference since joining in 1997, including sweeping both sides now 11 times, with Warner and Bolaske ensuring the first double-gold in the conference race since 2015 when Kait Wheeler won the women's 5K in 18:24 and Philip Parent the men's 8K in 26:14.

Bolaske is the third straight KSC individual champion on the men's side, joining Jake Velazquez from 2024 (24:25.77) and his own title from last season (24:50.00).

The Palmer, Mass. native followed up his conference win last year with a third-place finish at the NCAA regional race and subsequently qualified for the nationals.

"It feels really good…being able to win the team title three years in a row is a really good feeling and being the back-to-back Little East champion is something I really wanted to do, that was one of my goals this year," he said.  "Personally I did not feel great throughout the race…it is a really hard course, but I feel I did my job and am happy (with the finish)."

Was he surprised with the sea of Owls, including Urnezis behind him for a silver medal for the second straight year?  No.

"Did not surprise me," added Bolaske.  "Coming up to the finish line, I was like 'that checks out, that is Griffin'…that is just how he races.  I know when it comes to postseason, he always locks in and he always is very reliable.  He always gets it done when it matters."

"I think we proved why (Keene State was a heavy favorite) today.  Having five athletes in the top 10 and six in the top 11 is dominance…the team has gotten so much better than when I first came here."

KSC will now turn their attention to the NCAA regionals hosted by Bates College on November 14 with national qualifications on the line.  The Owls have been ranked as high as sixth in the region and enter it with more to prove.

"I think regionals will be very exciting this year," said Bolaske.  "I have heard the course at Bates is very, very fast and there are going to be a lot of teams there that are going to try to punch their ticket to Minnesota, us included.  I am feeling really good…spirits are high after our LEC win and I am going to give it all I've got to place as high as I can for my team and would love to try to get the win.  I know the rest of my team is going to do their job and hopefully we can punch that ticket to Minnesota."