The University of Maine men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Maine State Meet near the campus of Bates College on Sept. 21. The annual event is a large competition between all the varsity programs in Maine.
The state meet includes the typical 6,000-meter race for female athletes and an 8,000-meter race for male athletes. The events were held at Roy’s Disc Golf in Gray, Maine.
Twelve institutions from across the state sent athletes to compete. Runners weren’t only competing for their individual accomplishments, as each team’s top seven runners were also awarded points inversely proportional to their position on the finishing grid. Fewer points is better when comparing team scores.
In the women’s 6,000-meter event, the Black Bears finished third in the team standings. They had an average race completion time of 24:52 and a team score of 99. Bates and Bowdoin colleges finished ahead of Maine with scores of 18 and 46 respectively.
Second-year runner and Maine native Addison Nelson led the pack for the Black Bears, finishing 13th overall with a time of 24:16. Fifth-year student Anna Folley followed, placing 16th overall at 24:23. First-year Searcy Mooney also made a strong showing, finishing 21st with a time of 24:53.
In the Men’s 8,000-meter event, Maine finished fifth in the team standings with a score of 149 and average finish time of 28:21. That being said, Maine only brought five runners to the meet when each team is supposed to score their top seven athletes.
First-year Carter Libby clocked the fastest time for Maine, scoring 15 points and finishing at 26:51. Following closely, was first-year Kyle McClellan, who secured the second spot for the Black Bears with a time of 27:47. Second-year Eli Palmer rounded out the top three for Maine, crossing the line at 27:58.
The Black Bears cross country teams will have a short turnaround, as they head to Columbia, Missouri this Saturday, Sept. 27 to compete in a meet hosted by the Southeastern Conference’s Missouri Tigers.
