NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - The Little East Conference office handed out its hardware for the 2008 women's cross country campaign after a vote by the head coaches. Keene State College earned at least a share of all three major awards as junior Rita Marcotte (Heath, Mass.) and freshman Heather Pierce (Buckland, Mass.) were named the Little East Runner and Rookie of the Year, respectively. Owls' skipper Peter Thomas joined University of Southern Maine's George Towle as the Co-Coach of the Year.

Marcotte paced the conference field in each of the three championship meets she competed in, including a 27th place finish out of 330 runners at the 2008 NCAA New England Regional. The native of Heath, Mass. covered the 6-kilometer course in a time of 23 minutes and 48.1 seconds to help Keene State sit ninth in the team standings. Marcotte became the ninth-consecutive Owl harrier to capture the individual Little East Conference Championship title, completing the 5-kilometer course below the 19-minute mark (18:34.64). She also earned All-New England Alliance after finishing second in the 116-student-athlete field. Marcotte was named the conference's top weekly runner four times on the campaign.  

Pierce made an immediate impact in the Keene State lineup, as the Buckland, Mass. product finished second overall and was the top rookie at the 2008 Little East Conference Championship, completing the course in a time of 19 minutes and 2.18 seconds. She also earned All-Little East and All-New England Alliance for her performance on Nov. 1. Pierce capped her rookie season at the NCAA New England Regional Championship, covering the course in 24 minutes and 57.4 seconds to finish 78th overall. She also paced the Keene State contingent at the Saratoga Invitational. Pierce was named the Little East Weekly Runner of the Week once, while capturing the top rookie award four times.

Thomas led his charges to the seventh position in the final Division III Women's Cross Country New England Region rankings, according to the published report on Nov. 4. Keene State raised the Little East Conference Championship trophy for the ninth consecutive campaign, defeating its closest competitor by 35 total points. The Owls also captured the New England Alliance Championship on the same afternoon, increasing their winning point total to 36 points over Westfield State College. Thomas and his squad nearly qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA New England Region Championships. He trained the conference's top runner for the second straight season (Jennifer Adams), while also placing three student-athletes on the annual All-Academic Teams.

Towle earned at least a share of the Little East Conference Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive season. He guided his Huskies to a 19th-place finish at the NCAA New England Regional Championship, defeating 30 other regional squads with 590 total points. The University of Southern Maine posted a second place team score at the Little East Conference Championship, while finishing one spot back in the New England Alliance Championship team standings. Senior Gabby Cyr (Fort Kent, Maine) paced the Huskies the entire season, earning All Little East Conference/All-New England Alliance honors. Towle trained one All-Little East runner, three All-New England Alliance harriers, and seven All-Little East Academic members.