ORONO – It was a familiar scene for local cross country fans. Louie Luchini and Joey Luchini walked toward the starting line … Joey draped an arm around his younger brother’s shoulder, leaned toward him and shared a quick word.

They’d done this plenty of times, the Luchinis: Back in Ellsworth. And on courses and tracks across the state.

This time, things were different. And you didn’t have to know their history to figure that out. All you had to do was look at their racing garb.

“It’s good to be racing the same race with Joey,” Louie Luchini said. “It’s just a little weird wearing different uniforms.”

Joey, a University of Maine captain, wore the blue and white of the Black Bears. Louie, who parlayed his Ellsworth High success into a scholarship to national power Stanford, wore the maroon-black-and-white of the Cardinal.

But everywhere Louie went on Saturday, one thing was certain: He was home.

Louie Luchini took the lead in the 8,000-meter men’s race with a surge with slightly more than a mile to go, then settled for second place as freshman teammate Ryan Hall blew by him with 250 meters to go in Saturday’s 10th edition of the Keatinge Invitational.

Hall ran the course in 24 minutes, 0.4 seconds. Louie Luchini clocked a 24:03, while last year’s champ, Mark Pilja of Michigan, was third in 24:07. The first Maine finisher was Michael Lansing, who took 25th in 25:24. Andy Goupee (27th in 25:26) and Joey Luchini (33rd in 25:45) were the next two Black Bears to finish.

Joey Luchini said that when he finished, he had just one question:

“‘How did Louie do?'” Joey recounted. “They said he got second, and I was like, ‘All right!’ That made my day right there.”

The Stanford men, the nation’s No. 2-ranked team, were dominant, scoring 25 points. Arizona was second with 42 while Michigan took third with 76. Purdue (142), Maine (142), New Hampshire (148), Vermont (222), Holy Cross (228) and Central Connecticut (231) rounded out the field.

In the seven-team women’s competition, Arizona tucked seven runners in the top 10 en route to a 19-point score and the team title.

Purdue scored 52 and New Hampshire scored 104. Holy Cross (124), Maine (129), Vermont (156) and Central Connecticut (165) were the other teams competing.

Women’s individual champ Tara Chaplin toured the 3.1-mile course in 16:52.6, while teammates Beth Hoge (17:17) and Erin Doherty (17:28) were second and third.

Chaplin’s time – run over a slightly altered Keatinge course – was the fourth-fastest in race history.

Nicole Pelletier of Presque Isle was UMaine’s top finisher. She took 11th in 18:25. Vanessa Allen (25th in 19:06) and Kathryn Laverdiere (29th in 19:18) were the next two Bears to finish.

Pelletier said the Black Bears’ goals were simple: To take advantage of the top-notch competition and run well.

“[The goal] was just to go out and just be tough,” Pelletier said. “We weren’t looking for times today. We were just looking to go out and run tough and do our best.”

For Arizona, the goal was different, Chaplin said. As the only national power in the women’s race, the Wildcats figured they’d fare pretty well. They wanted to do better than that.

“We had a feeling that we’d be able to dominate here because we weren’t running against ranked teams,” Chaplin said.

In the men’s race, Stanford showed the depth and talent that have made it one of the nation’s track powers.

Making the 25-point total more impressive: Many of the Cardinal’s top runners didn’t attend and will run a meet next week instead.

“I’m the only guy on the team who’s doing both [meets],” Louie Luchini said. “I get to stay home for a week and then fly directly to South Carolina. We didn’t want to make two East Coast trips consecutively. It takes a lot out of you.”

Louie Luchini, who was competing in his first “real” race since March, and Hall broke away from defending champ Pilja in the late going.

“We started surging, trying to hurt the Michigan guy,” Louie Luchini said. “With about 250 left, [Hall] put on a big move and got me there. I’m not a great kicker.”

Hall, a miler, was able to hold off Louie Luchini down the stretch.

Michigan opted for a similar tactic: Among the Wolverines who didn’t head to the Keatinge: All-American Mike Wisniewski and freshmen stars Alan Webb and Nathan Brannen.

Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said because runners face a season that stretches from September through May – and into the summer, for elite-level athletes – he has to be careful not to over-race his best.