The 2023 cross country Little East Conference championships began at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28 with the sun running hot over the Owl Athletic Complex. By noon, however, a cloud cover and a breeze had taken hold and the men’s team finished fourth.
The KSC women’s cross country team brought home first place at the championships. Senior Maggie St. John came second overall in the 5k with a time of 19:04, with 28 seconds between her and the overall winner, Rhode Island College’s Haley Oliver. Keene State took 46 points overall, with nearest runner-up Eastern Connecticut State taking 61. St. John and two other runners, sophomore Anna O’Reilly and junior Sarah Ames, received First Team honors. O’Reilly was sixth overall with a time of 19:40.5, and Ames was seventh with 19:42.0.
One runner from the women’s team, junior Aurora Couto, received Second Team honors, finishing 13th with a time of 20:25.0. Sophomore Alana Perry and first-year Alyssa Edgren also placed in the top 30, with Perry in 19th at 21:04.3 and Edgren in 30th at 22:05.7.
The men’s cross country team competed in the LEC as well, running the 8k and placing two runners in the top 15. First-year Griffin Urnezis placed ninth overall with 26:52.6 and first-year Tyler Bolaske placed 12th with 27:03.9. Junior Marty Nelligan also reached the top 30 overall, placing 25th with 27:50.7.
The men’s team placed fourth overall, taking 113 points, while Plymouth State University came in first with 34. Plymouth State placed five runners in the top 15, with Michael Olson coming in first with 25:18.7.
Charlotte King can be contacted at
cking@kscequinox.com
