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The preseason polls for the America East conference are in, and the University of Maine’s indoor track and field season is about to get under way.
The men’s team, spearheaded by last season’s Most Outstanding Rookie Riley Masters, has been pegged sixth in the poll, up one spot from last year. The team finished sixth at the conference meet in February of this year.
Masters is coming off a knee injury that forced him to miss the cross-country championships, but all signs point to another solid indoor campaign for him.
“Right now my goal is to begin things where I left off last year,” Masters said. “Not running cross took a toll on me mentally, but I am back in shape and I think I am ready to run some good times.”
“My knee has never felt better. I feel like I’m back to the same runner I used to be,” he said.
Veteran distance runner Corey Bean, one of the team’s four captains, is currently dealing with a knee issue of his own. Bean has been diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease, which affects the point where the patellar tendon meets the tibia. The disease is three times more likely in men and five times more likely in athletes, but treatment options are relatively simple. Bean has slowly resumed running again.
“I’m actually not transitioning very well from cross-country to indoor,” he said. “I’ve just started running again the past couple of days, and it’s doing better, but I only ran two miles today and yesterday.”
The University of Albany men’s team set a conference scoring record last season with 211 points and are the heavy favorite this season, earning eight possible first place votes, as coaches are unable to vote for their own team. Albany has won the conference championship for the last four years.
The men’s team may be somewhat lacking in experience, as they field a young team. Of the 33 athletes listed on their Web site, 22 of them are underclassmen — 15 freshmen — compared to 11 upperclassmen, six of whom are seniors.
“The youth of the team is mostly just encouraging, because it shows how much of a future the program has,” Bean said. “They all have a lot of potential, and it’ll be interesting to see how they develop. They’re a great group of guys to train with because they’re all very motivated.”
The women’s team, led by recently crowned cross-country champion Corey Conner, has been picked fourth — the same spot they were expected to finish last year, though they ended up fifth. The women of Boston University, coming off their fourth consecutive conference championship, are expected to repeat, earning six out of eight possible first place votes.
Conner’s first indoor season was also spectacular, as she qualified for ECAC’s in the 1,500-meter run, finishing 10th. In light of her recent success, Conner hasn’t concerned herself at all with thoughts of a sophomore slump.
“I’m not really worried about a slump, only because I enjoy running and being with the team,” she said. “As long as you keep that in mind and have fun with running and your events, a slump shouldn’t come your way.”
The women’s team will have to deal with the loss of sprinter Vicki Tolton to graduation. Last year, Tolton was nearly perfect in the 400-meter dash on her way to capturing the America East and Eastern College Athletic Conference championships in the event.
The sprint crew will instead look to senior Allyson Howatt for experience and leadership in the short races. Despite saying she was “disappointed in [her] individual performances” last season, Howatt has performed at a high level in the past, being named Most Outstanding Performer at the outdoor conference meet in 2008, and says she is ready to put up personal bests — and perhaps school records — in several events.
“I’ve learned a great deal over the past three years,” Howatt said. “I think all of my experiences go into making me a more effective runner, but I think this year I’m going to carry a level of patience that I haven’t in the past.”
The women’s team will introduce several underclassmen as well, and after the introduction of potent scoring threats like Conner, Katherine McGeoghan, Jesse Labreck and Shaniqua Burgess last year, Howatt is eager to see what the rookies can contribute.
“As older athletes, we’ve shared our ups and downs with them in hopes that we can help them from making the same mistakes we did,” Howatt said. “We have a very talented group of freshman and I am excited to see them perform.”
Seniors Vanessa Letourneau and Jordan Daniel, both coming off a solid cross country season, should also fill leadership roles nicely. Letourneau ran the anchor leg of the 4×800-meter relay team at last year’s conference meet and turned in strong individual performances at 800-meters throughout the season. Daniel’s time improvement during the cross country season should help her to become a factor in the 5,000-meter run, the race she focused on for most of last season.
Field athletes like senior jumper Tanya Simard, a consistent presence in both long and triple jump, will add to the Black Bear women’s depth as well.
Competition begins at home as the Black Bears host the University of New Hampshire Wildcats for a dual meet. The meet begins Friday at 4 p.m. and will resume Saturday at noon.
