WESTFIELD, Mass. - The Keene State College Owls captured the program’s 10th Little East Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship this afternoon, outdistancing themselves by eight points from second place University of Southern Maine. Huskies’ junior Tyler Jasud (Rumford, Maine) covered the 8-kilometer course at Stanley Park in a time of 25 minutes and 41.87 seconds to win the individual title.

The Owls’ raised the Little East Conference Championship trophy for the first time in three years with a meet-low score of 27 points. Keene State snapped the University of Southern Maine’s two-year reign atop the team standings, while the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth placed third with 75 points.

All five of the Owls’ scoring student-athletes finished in the top-eight of the individual standings, paced by sophomore Brandon Schillemat (Nelson, N.H.). Schillemat was the third runner to cross the finish line, clocking a time of 25 minutes and 51.17 seconds. Classmate Craig MacPherson (Derry, N.H.) and junior Patrick Davis (Wethersfield, Conn.) followed suit at 25:58.70 and 25:59.11, respectively. Senior Jason Garrity (Topsfield, Mass.) edged out junior Jared Samuel (Londonderry, N.H.) for the seventh position and the final spot on the Little East All-Conference team. Keene State College also won the New England Alliance Championship.

Jasud clipped more than eight seconds off his time from last year to win both the New England Alliance and Little East Conference Championships. He averaged five minutes and 10.2 seconds per mile to defeat the 77-person field. Freshman Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.) posted a time of 25 minutes and 44.79 seconds to finish second behind his teammate. Junior Justin Richardson (Turner, Maine) earned a sixth place result, covering the course in 26 minutes.

Eastern Connecticut State University (127), Rhode Island College (150), and the University of Massachusetts Boston (162) filled out the team standings, respectively.

2008 Little East All-Conference Team

1. Tyler Jasud, University of Southern Maine
2. Alex Gomes, University of Southern Maine
3. Brandon Schillemat, Keene State College
4. Craig MacPherson, Keene State College
5. Patrick Davis, Keene State College
6. Justin Richardson, University of Southern Maine
7. Jason Garrity, Keene State College

Click here for the Little East Men's Cross Country Championship Results

Click here for the Alliance Men's Cross Country Championship Results