The jubilant LEC Champions on Saturday, May 8. Note junior attackman Cam Sousa holding fallen goalie Alec Corliss' #31 jersey in the lower left. In a remarkable display of camaraderie, Sousa ran back to grab the jersey and make sure his teammate, who contributed so much to the victory and was at that moment on his way to the hospital, had a presence in the historic photo.

The Keene State College men’s lacrosse team will face Castleton State College at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12th, at the Owl Athletic Complex for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Owls received the automatic bid into the tournament after their thrilling 14-10 home-turf victory over the Eastern Conn. State Warriors on Saturday in the LEC Championship game. Sophomore attackman Griffin Meehan scored six of those Owl goals, setting a new school record of 66 goals in one season and earning the distinction as the  tournament’s MVP.

The Owls managed to win the championship on Saturday despite the fact that their top goalie, junior Alec Corliss, suffered a broken leg midway in the third quarter. Corliss, who had made phenomenal 10 saves, several on point-blank shots, went down following a collision at the side of the net.

KSC enters the NCAA Tournament riding a nine-game winning streak.

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The dust has settled, the votes have been counted, and the 2003–04 Owl men’s basketball team has been selected as KSC’s Team of the Decade. This team, which captured the program’s first Little East Conference championship and advanced to the “Elite Eight” of the NCAA tournament, received 207 first-place votes in the Athletic Department’s online poll.

The 2008–09 men’s swim team, which placed third in the ECAC Division III championship and won a first-ever NEISDA title, took second place in the poll, and the NEISDA and LEC champion 2008–09 women’s swim team came in third.

Were you an athlete on one of these outstanding teams? Were you a fan? Use the “comments” link below to give us your opinion.

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With the 2000–09 decade coming to a close, the Keene State College Sports Information Department invites you to help pick the top Owl team of the past 10 years. We have created a list of teams, with their highlights, from each of Keene State’s 18 programs from 2000–09. Please use our online survey form to cast your vote for the greatest Keene State College team of the decade!

You can vote up through Jan. 17, 2010; we’ll announce the results on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

(1/20/10) THE VOTES ARE IN! See which team won.

LEC tournaments start tomorrow here at KSC as four Owl teams have earned coveted spots. The men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey teams have grabbed top seeds, while the KSC women’s volleyball squad is seeded fourth.

Looking for its sixth-straight LEC tournament title, the Keene State field hockey team (16-4) gets the ball rolling with a quarterfinal game against eighth-seed Salem State (8-8) on Tuesday night (6 p.m.), and the defending champion Keene State women’s volleyball team (18-16) takes on fourth-seed Rhode Island College (17-18) in a quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. at Spaulding Gym.

The KSC men’s soccer team (13-6) faces fourth-seed UMass-Dartmouth (9-6-2) on Wednesday (6 p.m.), while the Owl women (13-5-2), who get a first-round bye, take on the winner of the #4 Western Conn.-#5 Southern Maine game on Thursday (6 p.m.).

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Jenna Patnode rounding the bases (courtesy photo)

Base-stealing champ Jenna Patnode, a senior from Surry, N.H., was one of 10 student athletes named winners of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) 2009 Golden Shoe Award. NFCA and Adidas present the award annually to the top base stealer from NFCA member schools. Besides a wealth of other accolades, Patnode holds a school-record for stealing 47 bases in a single season. She finished her Owl career with a grand total of 99 steals. Her 47 steals ranked her second in the NCAA standings and were the most steals in NCAA Division III play during 2009. She was the only player in the country with 40 or more swipes last season.

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(l to r) Brian Kolacz, Peter Najem, and Allison Chamberlain

Three Owl tracksters stepped out to win themselves – and KSC – some serious bragging rights. Allison Chamberlain, a sophomore from Scarborough, Maine, was named the Little East Conference Women’s Outdoor Track Runner of the Year. Senior Peter Najem, from Derry, N.H., was named the LEC Track Athlete of the Year, and sophomore Bryan Kolacz (Brentwood, N.H.) was selected as the LEC Field Athlete of the Year. Brian was also the 10th Keene State College student-athlete in men’s track and field to capture a national championship with his 61.48-meter hammer throw at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships hosted by Marietta College (Ohio).

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The Little East Commissioner’s Cup (courtesy photo).

Keene State College athletics set a record that will be tough to beat when it won its ninth-straight Little East Commissioner’s Cup. The Owls averaged 6.552 points to win the trophy in each of the nine years it has been awarded. The Commissioner’s Cup measures an institution’s overall performance in the 19 sports that the Conference sponsors. They don’t call us the top NCAA DIII public intercollegiate institution for nothin’.

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Brian Kolacz in action.

Sophomore Bryan Kolacz hurled his hammer 201′8″ at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Marietta, Ohio, on Thursday afternoon (May 21, 2009). The throw broke the record at the Don Drumm Stadium, where the event was held, and was the best of the season, winning Kolacz the NCAA DIII national title.

Kolacz joins a select group of 10 national champions from Keene State. He is the first KSC men’s athlete to earn the honor in a field event since Paul Trocki won the decathlon in 1979. And his best may be yet to come: Darcy Wilson, the Owls’ throwing coach, thinks Kolacz has just scratched the surface of his potential in the sport. “Bryan knows what he needs to do to become a better thrower,” she said.

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Amy Watson

Head field hockey coach Amy Watson has been promoted to full-time status. She’s just starting her 20th season at Keene State and has had a very impressive record coaching the Owls. She’s seen the field hockey team capture seven Little East Conference championships (1998, 1999, 2004–08), earn six NCAA berths (1998, 2004–08), and claim the 2003 ECAC New England title. She has also produced 12 All-Americans.

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The Owl softball team headed to Brandeis Univ. on Sunday, May 10, ready to settle the score with the team that unseated them in last year’s championship. And settle the score they did, with a decisive 11-1 win over Brandeis. It was a glorious day for this Owl team.

The new – and very happy – ECAC Division III New England champs. (Photo courtesy of Brandeis University)

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