NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - The Keene State College women's cross country team easily defended their Little East crown today at the LEC Alliance Cross Country Championships in North Dartmouth, Mass.

The Owls, who captured their eighth straight title, tallied 37 point to out-distance runner-up Westfield State (72 points) . Senior Jennifer Adams (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) won the individual women's championship. She finished the 5k race in a time of 17:52. Adams, who shared the individual championship with teammate Breanne Lucey last year, ran away from the pack. She beat her closest competitor, Eastern Conn's Karina Johnson by 1:42. The Owls had six runners place in the top 10. Freshman Cassie Larmand (Greenville, N.H.) took fifth finishing at 19:42 , sophomore Kaitlyn Carr (Scituate, Mass.) finished sixth at 19:46, senior Sophie Holly (Ledyard, Conn.) finished 12th at 20:15, and sophomore Rita Marcotte (Heath, Mass.) was 13th at 20:21.

Looking to regain their title, the Owl men scored a team total of 38 and placed second in Southern Maine (31) for the second straight year. The Owls placed four runners in the top-10, but couldn't hold off the Huskie who claimed the top two places. USM twins Nick and Curtis Wheeler both crossed the finish line at the 25:06 mark to take first and second place. They were followed by teammate Chris Hopkins 25:31 placing fourth. The Owls then took places five, six, and seven as sophomore Jared Samuel (Londonderry, NH) 25:33, freshman Craig MacPherson (Derry, NH) 25:38, and freshman Eric Macknight (Newtown, Conn.) 25:41 finished seconds behind. Sophomore Patrick Davis (Wethersfield, Conn.) finished ninth with a finishing time of 25:47 and sophomore Sam Wood (Laconia, NH) rounded out the scoring placing eleventh finishing at 25:52.

KSC had won nine straight LEC Alliance Meets from 1997-2005.

"The races went pretty much as expected," said KSC Coach Peter Thomas. "The women weren't challenged, and the men were in a dog-fight with Southern Maine. The guys ran well, but Southern Maine had an excellent day and just ran better."

The Owls next meet is scheduled for Saturday at the ECAC Championships in Williamstown, Mass.

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