FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2009

Men's Cross Country

Runner of the Week
Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.), Sophomore, University of Southern Maine

Gomes placed third out of 144 runners to lead University of Southern Maine Huskies to a solid fourth place finish at the 15th Annual Keene State College Invitational. The Peabody, Mass. product covered the five-mile course in a time of 26 minutes and eight seconds at the highly competitive meet leading four Huskies' runners who finished in the top 20. Southern Maine scored 70 points to place fourth out of 11 schools.

Rookie of the Week
Andrew Sears (Derry, N.H.), Freshman, Keene State College

Sears had the best finish by a Owl freshman at the KSC Invitational on Saturday, placing 43rd overall with a time of 27 minutes and 23 seconds.

Women's Cross Country

Runner of the Week
Rita Marcotte (Heath, Mass.), Senior, Keene State College

With Keene State missing its top two runners, Marcotte stepped up to lead the Owls to a strong second place finish at the KSC Invitational on Saturday. The senior finished eighth with a time of 19 minutes and 22 seconds on the 5K course.

Rookie of the Week
Jennie Foley (Bangor, Maine), Freshman, University of Southern Maine

Foley led the Huskies to a second place finish at the Pop Crowell Cross Country Invitational with her team-best second place result. Foley covered the Gordon College course in a time of 18 minutes, 59 seconds to finish only four seconds behind the race winner. The Huskies tallied 65 points, placing five runners among the first 30 finishers, and improved five places over last year's seventh place result (262 points).