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Owl runners set for Saturday's New England Championship; With video preview
KEENE, N.H. 11/10/11- This week's unseasonably warm weather is having a positive effect on the Keene State cross country teams as they get set for Saturday's New England Regional championship at Bowdoin College in Maine. "We've had some phenomenal workouts that have really boosted everyone's confidence," said senior and Keene native Paige Mills.
Both Keene State cross country teams are hoping that practice makes perfect and they can carry their strong workouts into Saturday's race. With berths to the NCAA Division III championships on the line, the Owls know they must be ready to go when they step to the start line. "It's do or die," said Thomas Paquette, a junior from Bolton, Conn. "This is the race we've been training for all season."
"We'll need our best effort of the season on Saturday," said Andrea Walsh, a senior who also hails from Bolton. "We're all excited and anxious for Saturday to come."
Mills, Walsh and junior Maggie Fitter (Branford, Conn.) will lead the pack for the KSC team.
The race will take place on a flat course on the Bowdoin campus in Brunswick, Maine. The women's race begins at 11 a.m. and the gun for the men's race will go off at noon. Asked if the course is to his teams' liking, KSC Coach Peter Thomas said, "I'll tell you after the race."
Like most teams in the field, the Keene State runners have already competed on the course, running in the Maine Invitational at Bowdoin back on Sept. 17. "It helps tremendously," said Paquette about the team's ability to race on the course prior to the championship. "All week I've been visualizing myself running on it."
Both teams must finish in the top five in order to claim a berth to the national championship, which will take place the following Saturday, Nov. 19, at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The KSC men's team, which earned consecutive bids from 1997-2005, last went to the championship in 2009. The Owl women captured the program's only NCAA berth in 2006. The top seven runners not affiliated with a team that finishes among the top five are also awarded at-large berths to the championship. Last year, KSC sent two runners from each team to the NCAAs: Tim Pipp and Eric MacKnight from the men's team and women's team members Mills and Walsh. After falling yards from the finish line and placing second at last year's New England regional race, Mills came back to earn All-America honors, placing fifth at the NCAA championship.
Mills wants her team to join her in Wisconsin. "I don't want to go the nationals without them," she said. "This is the team, this is the year."
Unfortunately, the Keene State women have a few roadblocks. Currently ranked 33rd nationally and seventh in New England, the Owls must all excel if they have any hope of finishing in the top five. "We have to run a good race and hope some of the teams in front of us don't run as well," said Thomas.
"We need to be on that day," said Mills. "It's going to come down to one point and one place, so everyone has to go for it."
The Owls compete in the toughest Division III region in the country. Thomas predicts that the five teams coming out of New England will finish in the top 15 in the country, and four will be in the top 10. Defending champ Middlebury and current top-ranked Williams could very well finish one-two. "I could put the KSC team in a van and drive them to any other region and they would qualify without a doubt," said Thomas. "As far as I'm concerned this is our national championship."
Unranked in the region all season, the Keene State men's team is a long shot to finish in the top five. "They haven't been able to put it together all season," said Thomas. "They have good workouts, but don't perform as well in races."
Time is running out for the Owls. "We have to learn to race," said an optimistic Paquette. "I think we can do it. I believe in this team and I believe in myself."
Senior Kevin Hoyt (Newtown, Conn.), Paquette and sophomore Ryan Widzgowski of Camden, Maine will be the front-runners for the Owls.
Thomas is hoping the Owls have a little reverse luck on Saturday "Last year we went into the race ranked fifth and finished ninth," he said. "This year we're going in eleventh, so maybe we can pull off a third or fourth."
While improbable, it's still not out of the question. "I'm going to call it the Maine Miracle," said Widzgowski.
Hoyt and Mills should both be in contention for individual championships. "All of Kevin's races this year have been good enough to get him to nationals, so he just has to do it one more time," said Thomas. "He has to go into the race with the mindset that he's going to get the job done."
Mills is expected to battle Keri Lambert, a junior from Amherst, and Williams' sophomore Chiara Del Piccolo for the women's title "Top three is a realistic goal, and the dream goal is obviously to take the win," Mills said. "I'm not going down without a fight."
