Sports

Cross Country: Black Bears race by Wildcats

Posted on Sept. 28, 2009, at 2:25 a.m.

Although the rivalry between the University of Maine and the University of New Hampshire is more pronounced in other sports, a head-to-head victory over the Wildcats on the court or the field is always satisfying.

This weekend the Black Bears got it done on the trail, as the men’s and women’s cross-country teams both notched victories in a dual meet.

Despite sitting sophomores Dave Currier, who has felt ill after not having a break all season, and Riley Masters, who is resting a sore leg, the men’s team outpaced the Wildcats on their way to a narrow 27-29 win.

UNH also held out several of their top runners in preparation for larger meets later in the year.

“UNH always sits their top five or six runners at the dual meet. So [we] all treated the race like it was a workout,” senior captain Corey Bean said.

Senior Miles Bartlett crossed the line first in a time of 25:42. Bean finished in third at 26:22. Sophomore Spencer McElwain took fifth, and junior Marc Halverson earned seventh. Both scored for the first time this season. Freshman Taylor Phillips rounded out the scoring team, finishing 11th. Freshman Joseph Lamonte was the sixth and final male runner for UMaine, finishing just behind Phillips for 12th place.

The women’s team, finally competing at full strength, handily beat the Lady Wildcats 25-30. The effort was led once again by sophomore Corey Conner, who finished the course in 17:35.

Senior Jordan Daniel finished second on the team at the America East pre-race two weeks ago and missed a meet at the University of Massachusetts last weekend. Junior Vanessa Letourneau missed the pre-race, but took second on the team last weekend. This week, both women competed, with Daniel taking second place and Letourneau nabbing fifth.

Junior Allison Conner and senior captain Brenna Walsh completed the scoring for the women, who fielded 16 runners out of the 21 listed on their roster.

Next weekend, UMaine will host the annual Murray-Keating Invitational, the largest home meet of the year. While several teams who have competed in past years will not be returning, including the two-time champion Duke University women’s team, there will be a stronger international presence this year. Dalhousie University and St. Francis Xavier University, both in Nova Scotia, as well as New Brunswick University will join the Black Bears, as will the College of the Holy Cross, Robert Morris University, and the Boston College women.

“I want to see us take the team title at Murray Keating because it’s looking like we stand a good chance of doing that,” Bean said.

The meet begins Saturday at 10:00 am.

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