The men and women’s cross country team travelled to Baltimore, Md. on Saturday, Oct. 29 for the America East Cross Country Championship meet. The men returned with a second place finish overall and fourth-year redshirt Jesse Orach with a first place finish.
Orach came in first overall with a time of 24:35.3, beating the second place finisher by nine seconds. Orach’s average mile pace was just under five minutes. Last year, Orach placed seventh in this meet with a time of 25:24.48.
After Orach, there was one other Maine runner to place in the top 10. Fourth-year Levi Frye came in eighth place with a time of 25:05.2 improving from his previous performance. Last year, Frye came in 14th with a time of 25:39.68.
Second-year Aaron Willingham come in 11th followed by third-year Jacob Johns in 12th. Willingham had a time of 25:13.0 and Johns had a time of 25:13.8. Shortly after them was second-year Joshua Horne in 14th place with a time of 25:16.0. Finishing up Maine’s performance in the top 20 was second-year Simon Powhida in 19th place with a time of 25:24.9.
The team scored 46 points, coming in second place overall, with Stony Brook winning by one point.
On the women’s side, third-year Kaitlyn Saulter came in first for Maine in 33rd place with a time of 18:25.8. This was a new fastest time for Saulter, beating her time from the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Invitational (18:31) by six seconds. University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) third-year Elinor Purrier came in first with a winning time of 16:27.
Next for the Black Bears was third-year Eleanora Hubbell in 41st place with a time of 18:36.6, followed by second-year Haley Lawrence with a time of 18:48.2 in 51st place.
Other top finishers for the Black Bears were third-year Tiana Bibb in 63rd place with a time of 19:12.1 and second-year Faith Gardner in 70th with a time of 19:25.6.
The women’s team came in eighth out of nine teams overall with 230 points, while UNH came in first with 45 points.
Both the men and the women will travel in Van Crotlandt Park, N.Y. on Friday, Nov. 11 for the NCAA Qualifier.
