2010 New England Alliance Women’s Cross Country Championships

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Hosted By Worcester State University

Moore State Park, Paxton, Massachusetts

PAXTON, Mass. --  Keene State College captured its 11^th consecutive New England Alliance Women’s Cross Country Championship by placing four of the top five runners in the event on Saturday afternoon at Moore State Park.

The Owls posted a team score of 19 points to best runner-up Southern Maine by 63 points in the competition and in the process claiming their 11^th straight Little East Conference title as well.  Westfield State and Bridgewater State tied for third place with team scores of 111 points, while UMass Dartmouth followed with 122 points in fifth place in the event that combines competition between the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference and the Little East Conference.

Keene State junior Paige Mills (Keene, N.H.) took top individual honors in the competition, as she posted a time of 18:10.4 over the 5K layout to best junior teammate Andrea Walsh (Bolton, Conn.) by 50 seconds and senior teammate Amy Knoblock (Plymouth, Mass.) by a full minute in the runner-up and third place positions, respectively.  The Owls completed their team scoring with a fifth place effort from sophomore Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.) of 19:26.2 and an eighth place performance by junior Haley Lydstone (Bedford, N.H.) of 20:09.6.

UMass Dartmouth freshman Dekontee Chea (Chelmsford, Mass.) placed fourth with a time of 19:20.7, while Southern Maine sophomore Molly Carl (York, Maine) was sixth with a time of 19:27.2.  Bridgewater State junior Molly Rouillard (Dartmouth, Mass.) and senior Jessica Eidinger (Sutton, Mass.) finished in seventh and ninth place, respectively, with times of 19:49.9 and 20:13.2, while Rhode Island College senior Katie Desrosiers (Warwick, R.I.) rounded out the top 10 individual finishers with a time of 20:15.2

Worcester State (158), Eastern Connecticut (176), Rhode Island College (178), Salem State (261) and Framingham State (315) rounded out the top 10 team scores in the New England Alliance, followed respectively by Fitchburg State (323), MCLA (329) and Massachusetts Maritime (378).

Senior Meredith Hall (Duxbury, Mass.) paced Massachusetts Maritime with an 87^th place individual finish in her final collegiate race with a time of 23:23.0, while sophomore Sophie Enman (Marblehead, Mass.) and freshman Elizabeth Leonardi (Sandwich, Mass.) followed in 113^th and 121^st place, respectively, with times of 25:12.7 and 26:10.8.  Junior Julie Shebroe (Little Falls, N.J.) and freshman Lauren Bateman (Newbury, Mass.) rounded on the scoring with times of 26:58.8 and 27:29.1 to finish 124^th and 129^th, respectively, for the Buccaneers in their season ending competition.