With five America East teams in attendance, the meet was a perfect opportunity for the team to get a feel for the conference meet. Strategy dictated the Black Bears may not have wanted to run their fastest race.

“We were told to not go all out in this race,” senior Jordan Daniel said. “If we had gone all out, then we’d have like a month and a half until we were back [for conferences], and that might or might not be a good thing. So it was smart for the team to perform the way we did.”

The women’s team managed third place out of the five America East teams. Hartford, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Stony Brook and Binghamton were not competing. The Stony Brook women are unanimously ranked No. 1 in pre-season polls.

Sophomore Corey Conner, coming off a spectacular freshman campaign, continued her front running ways — taking second place behind Boston University’s Andrea Walkonen, who many expect to win her third individual championship this season. Conner finished the five-kilometer course in 18:25.13.

“It was exciting to finish second, even though all the teams weren’t there,” said Conner. “I think it was even more exciting that our team got third place. I think we surprised a lot of the other teams with how well we came out and performed, so hopefully we have them a little scared.”

Conner was followed by Daniel (6th, 18:52.79), junior Allie Conner (11th, 19:13.27), sophomore Hilary Maxim (20th 19:55.36) and junior Cynthia Hunter (24th, 20:01.45) to round out the scoring team.

For the men, sophomore Riley Masters continued to lead the way, finishing the eight-kilometer course in fourth with a time of  25:41.40. After an award-laden freshman season, Masters is confident, but says he’s not feeling the pressure to duplicate his performance.

“Last year went very well, and as of right now, I’m just focusing on getting back out there and running as well as I can for the team,” Masters said. “I still feel like I have a way to go before I am ready to run fast.  I’m hoping by the time conferences rolls around I can be in contention for the win.”

After losing three scorers from last season, the men’s team had strong finishes from its younger runners, including sophomore Dave Currier, who finished 18th and may be ready for a breakout year.

“I feel like every guy on this team is ready for a breakout season. Everyone has improved greatly over the last year,” Currier said. “I finished third [on the team] last weekend, but next weekend any one of the guys could be in that place.”

Senior Miles Bartlett was a veteran presence for the Black Bears, finishing 17th, just in front of Currier. Just a split second behind Currier was freshman Taylor Phillips. Senior captain Corey Bean rounded out the scoring with a 27th place finish. Overall the men earned a fourth place finish.

The teams will head to the University of Massachusetts this weekend to take on the Minutemen along with Vermont, Connecticut and Colgate. The meet begins Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

Freshman Taylor Phillips crossed the line first with a time of 16:33. With most top runners on both teams sitting out, the meet became more of a glorified training session for younger competitors.

“This is really just a chance for some of the freshmen to get their feet wet and get used to running in a meet,” senior runner Miles Bartlett said during the race.

Showing early promise despite running at only threshold pace were Phillips and fellow freshman runner Patrick Mullarkey, who took second with 16:36. Veteran Black Bears have pointed to the pair as runners to watch. Neither seem to feel pressured in the wake of excellent first seasons last year by current sophomore runners Riley Masters, Corey Conner and Hilary Maxim.

“It is great that Riley had the success that he did last year,” Mullarkey said. “I just want to run some fast times and contribute to the team in any way possible.”

“The freshmen are doing a great job adjusting [from high school] to college running,” Masters said. “I think they feel a little pressure, but that’s needed for them to do well. They will learn what it takes to be successful at this level very quick.”

The men’s team, led by senior captain Corey Bean, was selected in preseason polls to finish fifth. There are nine teams in the America East conference. Bartlett and Masters were the top two finishers at last year’s conference meet.

After losing Chuck Therriault and Dave Englehutt to graduation, the Black Bears will ask runners like Dave Currier to step in and score points on a more regular basis. Senior runner Chris Harmon, a consistent scorer last season, will sit out the season as he deals with viral meningitis.

On the women’s side, freshmen Whitney Chamberlain and Hope Hopkins took second and third place respectively. Chamberlain crossed the line in 20:41, while Hopkins finished in 21:25.

“I felt like I ran pretty fast, but I definitely had more in me. I can’t wait until an actual meet,” Chamberlain said. “I don’t really feel like there is that much pressure on me to make a contribution right away. I know that I’m only a freshman, and I have a lot of time to improve.”

The women’s team, led by senior captain Brenna Walsh, was picked to finish fifth in the conference as well. They also return their top runners in Conner and Maxim.

After losing their captain Stephanie Jette to graduation, the Black Bears will look to get help from runners like senior Chelsea Leeman and junior Vanessa Letourneau, who scored at several meets last season.

The Black Bears’ next meet will be the America East pre-race in Burlington, Vermont. The meet will give runners a chance to see their competition within the conference for the first time.