Women’s cross country claimed their 19th Little East Conference (LEC) title Saturday, Oct. 29 at Franklin Park in Roxbury, Mass. The Owls received first place out of seven teams with a total of 33 points.
Junior Maggie St. John paced the Owls with a second place finish of the 3.1 mile run in 19:48.7. St. John finished just ahead of fellow Owl graduate student Grace Furlong, who finished in third place in 19:51.8.
St. John was named the LEC Rookie of the Year on Friday, Nov. 4 in the league’s postseason awards, after earning the Rookie of the Week honor four times throughout the season.
“I think our team raced really strong. We had a goal going into the race and we knew what needed to be done. Every girl raced hard and the results showed,” said St. John in an email to the Equinox. “It was my first Little East Conference so I was nervous going into the race, but I am really happy with how my individual race went and couldn’t be more proud of what my team accomplished. We worked hard all season and it paid off.”
Sophomore Aurora Couto finished in seventh place in 20:33.1 and first-year Anna O’Reilly finished in ninth place in 20:44.8. Senior Hannah Jones completed the Owl scorers with a 12th place finish in 21:01.3.
Other Owl runners included first-year Alana Perry (25th, 21:59.5), junior Sara Christian (22:15.8), first-year Sarah O’Connell (36th, 22:33.0), junior Juliana Yialiades (37th, 22:33.7), first-year Kailyn Fleury (48th, 23:54.0), sophomore Sarah Ames (52nd, 24:29.9), sophomore Autumn Boisvert (59th, 26:13.9), and junior Melanie French (66th, 27:26.3).
Athletic Director Phil Racicot said in an email to the Equinox, “I am very impressed with the efforts put forth by the team and Coach Roark, but certainly not surprised by the results. I see how hard the team has trained on a daily basis for months to get to this point and it’s so gratifying to see things come together for them at exactly the right time.”
The win put the Owls at the top of the LEC, a spot they are no stranger to. Keene State won 17 consecutive LEC championships from 2000-16, and once again in 2018, according to the athletic department’s website. It is the first title for head coach Dan Roark, who joined the Owls in February 2022.
Roark did not respond to a request to comment.
Piper Pavelich can be contacted at
ppavelich@kscequinox.com
