The University of Maine men’s cross country team had visions of capturing an America East championship this fall.
The Black Bears didn’t disappoint at Kingsville, Maryland, on Saturday, but missed out on claiming gold by the narrowest of margins.
Coach Mark Lech’s team earned a second-place finish in the meet hosted by Maryland Baltimore County, falling to Stony Brook by a 45-46 count.
“I think they all competed well, I think they all ran their hearts out,” Lech said. “That was all I could ask. That was the whole thing.”
Black Bears senior Jesse Orach continued his outstanding campaign with yet another first-place run.
The Gorham native became the first UMaine runner since 2011 (Bangor native Riley Masters) to win an individual conference crown, completing the five-mile course in 24 minutes, 35.3 seconds.
Lech said UMaine’s other conference championship individual win came from Falmouth native Kirby Davis in 2006.
Six Black Bears wound up finishing in the top 20. Levi Frye earned an eighth-place finish and Aaron Willingham was 11th, followed by Jacob Johns (12th) and Josh Horne (14th).
A big difference was the fact that Stony Brook’s top three runners finished in the Nos. 3, 6 and 9 positions, compared to 1, 8 and 11 for the Black Bears. The Seawolves’ No. 4 man was also two slots in front of UMaine’s Horne.
“We’ve had some thirds and fourths here and there, we’ve always been knocking on the door,” Lech said.
The UMaine women finished eighth in the nine-school field, tallying 230 points. New Hampshire claimed its fourth consecutive league title with 45 points, edging Stony Brook (47).
Leading the pack for UMaine was Hermon native Kaitlin Saulter, who finished 33rd and covered the 3.1-mile course in 18:25.8.
Saulter was in her first season of running cross country for the Black Bears, and will now rest for the upcoming indoor track season after coming down with mononucleosis, Lech said.
“She adjusted well,” Lech said of the transition from soccer to cross country. “She’s always been a driven athlete anyways. The mental aspect of it wasn’t hard because she’s such a competitor. She ran her heart out every race.”
The Black Bears have this weekend off and will return to action on Nov. 11 for the NCAA qualifying meet at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City, where Orach will have his eyes on qualifying for the national championship race.
The qualifying race is 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles.
“He’s just got to get out and try to pull that top 10 to 15 the whole time,” said Lech, who noted that Orach should have a shot at qualifying if he’s in the high, 29-minute range.
Follow Ryan McLaughlin on Twitter at @rmclaughlin23.
