KEENE, N.H. 9/29/07 - Competing on their home turf for the only time this season, Owl men's and women's cross country teams turned in dominating performances to run away with victories at the 13th Annual Keene State Invitational at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

Ranked 12th nationally and third in the New England Region, the Owl women finished with 26 points to easily out-distance Springfield College (66 points) and win their second straight KSC Invitational.

Senior Jennifer Adams (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) captured individual honors with a winning time of 18:09 on the 5K course; She was 32 seconds ahead of second place finisher Catherine Beck of Tufts (18:41). It was the second win of the season for Adams who also won the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational. "Everything went pretty smoothly," said Adams. "I just went into the race with a relaxed feeling,"

All five scorers for the Owls finished in the top-10. Freshman Nicole Slane (4th, 19:12; Adelle Zocher (6th, 19:51), Katelynn Carr (9th, 20:18), and Rita Marcotte (10th, 20:26) all turned in solid efforts for KSC.

The Keene State men's team (23 points) had an equally strong performance claiming eight of the top-10 places to win their ninth home Invitational in the last 10 years. UMass-Lowell was second with 53 points.

Mark Garcia, a former Owl now running for UMass-Lowell won the race with a time of 26:25 on the five mile course. KSC freshman Craig MacPherson was six seconds back to finish second (26;31). " We're a really deep team," said MacPherson, who posted his best freshman debut by an Owl runner on the course.. We don't have a superstar who's a favorite to win nationals. We have 10 guys who are willing to work hard every day."

"I thought the guys put in a good effort on our course," said KSC Coach Peter Thomas. "It's another stepping stone in the course of their development over the season."

Other top finishers for KSC included Jason Garrity (3rd, 26;39), Jared Samuel (5th, 26:52), Sam Wood (6th, 27:00), and Charlie Baldour (7th, 27:16).

Keene State will compete next Saturday at the All-New England Championships at Boston's Franklin Park.