Despite the lure of free lobster and the unique lobster buoy trophies which have become popular with race competitors, the field of teams won’t be as large as usual for the 11th annual Murray Keatinge Invitational at the University of Maine in Orono Saturday.

Neither of the 2001 championship teams – the Stanford University men or the University of Arizona women – will be back to defend their titles. However, five of the teams that competed in the men’s and women’s races will return.

The favorites heading into Saturday’s races on the UMaine campus appear to be New Hampshire and Colgate in the men’s race along with Texas A&M and Marquette in the women’s.

The men will kick things off at 11 a.m. with the start of the five-mile (8-kilometer) race and the women’s 3.1-mile race (5K) race will follow at noon.

This year’s total field is down to 14 teams (seven men and seven women) after 16 competed last year.

Race organizers and UMaine coaches Rolland Ranson and Jim Ballinger said the drop in teams resulted from some teams, which normally travel to compete in every other year, opting to double up the last two years to compete in the 10th annual event, which specifically honored its benefactor and namesake, who died two years ago from heart disease.

Keatinge was the man who suggested to Ballinger that a UMaine proposal to host a top-notch national track meet every spring might not work, but that a cross country meet likely would.

Other teams scheduled to attend are Maine, Vermont, Central Connecticut, and Holy Cross. The weather report isn’t favorable, but teams will be ready to run in the rain. A slight change to the course, not affecting distance, has already been made due to a particularly wet spot near the corn field.