October 27, 2012

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Keene State College cruised to the program's 12th overall Little East Men's Cross Country Championship this morning at Stanley Park on the campus of Westfield State University. Rhode Island College senior Conor McCloskey (Wakefield, R.I.) was the first runner to cross the finish line to earn the individual title.

The Owls combined to score 28 total points to raise the program's third conference championship trophy in the past five years. The University of Southern Maine earned runner-up honors followed by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (92), Rhode Island College (102), Eastern Connecticut State University (131), and University of Massachusetts Boston (162).

McCloskey became the fifth Anchorman to win the Little East individual championship and first since Eric Lonergan in 2006. The senior from Wakefield, R.I. covered the 8-kilometer course in a time of 25 minutes, 37.71 seconds to outlast Husky senior Julian Gazzelloni (Windham, Maine) by nearly eight seconds.

Keene State senior Andrew Sears (Derry, N.H.) led a pack of Owl runners across the finish line, completing the distance in 26 minutes, 10.36 seconds. Junior Ryan Widzgowski (Camden, Maine) tripped the timer at 26 minutes, 14.24 seconds, while sophomore Christopher Plankey (Bristol, N.H.), senior Thomas Paquette (Bolton, Conn.), and freshman Ryan Brady (Durham. N.H.) finished seventh through ninth overall, respectively.

The 8-kilometer course will serve as the site of the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship on Saturday, November 10.

2012 All-Little East Men's Cross Country Team

1. Conor McCloskey, Rhode Island College
2. Julian Gazzelloni, University of Southern Maine
3. Andrew Sears, Keene State College
4. Ryan Widzgowski, Keene State College
5. Lee Cattanach, Eastern Connecticut State University
6. Christopher Plankey, Keene State College 
7. Thomas Paquette, Keene State College