WESTFIELD, Mass. - Keene State College cruised to its ninth consecutive Little East Conference Women’s Cross Country Championship this afternoon at Stanley Park with a 35-point victory over the University of Southern Maine. Junior Rita Marcotte (Heath, Mass.) was the lone runner in the 53-person field to complete the 5-kilometer course in under 19 minutes to capture the individual crown.

The Owls have are the lone team to win the conference championship this decade, beginning their reign in 2000. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth earned a third place finish in the team standings with 82 points.

Marcotte covered the course in a time of 18 minutes and 34.64 seconds to become the ninth straight Owl to win the Little East individual championship. She dominated the field, finishing nearly 27 seconds ahead of her closest competitor, teammate freshman Heather Pierce (Buckland, Mass.). Classmate Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) edged sophomore Nicole Slane (Milford, N.H.) for fourth, while sophomore Amy Knobloch (Plymouth, Mass.) rounded out the Keene State scoring contingent in sixth.

University of Southern Maine senior Gabrielle Cyr (Fort Kent, Maine) prevented the Owls from sweeping the top-five spots on the podium with a third place time of 19 minutes and six seconds. Freshman Courtney Testa (Hopkinton, Mass.) placed seventh to earn the final spot on the Little East All-Conference team.

Rhode Island College (92), Eastern Connecticut State University (123) and the University of Massachusetts Boston (183) completed the six-team field.


2008 Little East All-Conference Team

1. Rita Marcotte, Keene State College
2. Heather Pierce, Keene State College
3. Gabrielle Cyr, University of Southern Maine
4. Andrea Walsh, Keene State College
5. Nicole Slane, Keene State College
6. Amy Knobloch, Keene State College
7. Courtney Testa, UMass Dartmouth

Click here for the Little East Women's Cross Country Championships Results

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