The University of Maine men and women’s cross country teams ventured to Boston to take part in the Battle of Beantown. Both teams competed in the event that featured teams from coast to coast.
The women’s side featured 188 total runners from 22 colleges. Providence won the crown, with Indiana finishing as the runner-up. Georgetown, Dartmouth and Cornell rounded out the top five teams on the day.
The UMaine women came in 21st, with the top performer being third-year Kaitlin Saulter, finishing the 5k course at Franklin Park in 18:58, good for 107th place. Third-year Haley Lawrence, the reigning America East Performer of the Week, made it to the finish line next for the Black Bears with a time of 19:08 for 128th place.
Other notable runners for the women’s team were first-year Emma Jourdain, who finished her first Battle in Beantown event with a time of 19:36, putting her in 160th place. Fourth-year Nora Hubbell came in fourth for Maine, in 169th place overall. Her time was 19:49. Rounding out the top five finishers for Maine was fourth-year Cassandra Howard, just three places behind Hubbell with a time of 20:00.
Fourth-year Ahlin Sungsuwan and third-years Faith Gardner and Hope Gardner also took part in Friday’s competition for the Black Bears .
On the men’s side, 156 total runners from 18 different schools ran the eight kilometer course. Syracuse won the day, while Illinois finished in second place. Indiana, Brown and Boston University rounded out the top five.
The Black Bears came in 15th overall. Their top runner was third-year Aaron Willingham, finishing in 42nd place. Willingham crossed the finish line in 25:17, averaging a 5:06 mile. Daniel Lesko also finished within the top 100 runners, placing 98th with a time 26:02.
Simon Powhida finished four places after with a time of 26:05. Second Jacob Terry finished next for the Black Bears with a time of 26:28, which was good enough for a 127th place finish. To round out the top five for Maine was fourth-year Logan Moses with a time of 26:49. First-year John Hassett came in at 27:02 with a 141st place finish. His mile-split time averaged 5:27.
Both teams will be back in action after taking the week off before heading back to Boston on Oct. 7 to race in the New England Championships.
