ORONO – They were expecting mud, constant rain, and cool temperatures. What they got was good trails, sunshine, and warm, humid conditions with temperatures in the 70s.

But weather and conditions weren’t the only surprises at Saturday’s 11th Murray Keatinge Invitational collegiate cross country meet.

Nolan Tobey of the University of Maine became the first Black Bear runner to win the Keatinge after surging ahead with a mile and a quarter left, holding off his pursuers down the stretch, and crossing the finish line in front of teammates, fans and coaches who were just as surprised as they were elated.

“We didn’t expect Nolan, at this point in the season, to be where he is,” said men’s cross country coach Jim Ballinger, who credited the efforts of men’s assistant and women’s head coach Mark Lech. “It was just a tremendous race for him with a great effort on his part.

“Looks like this could be a breakthrough for him because it’s the best race he’s ever run.”

Tobey, who missed last season’s Keatinge and another meet with injuries, started surging forward from his sixth-place position on the hill leading to a dirt road running past a barn near the bike path.

The UMaine senior ran the 8-kilometer course in 25 minutes, 26.63 seconds to finish almost 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Timothy Perry from New Hampshire (25:37.23).

“I’m kind of good on hills. I’m kind of short with a low center of gravity,” Nolan said with a chuckle. “We went out a little slower today, but today was awesome. I like hot weather.

“I was running third and sixth, but people started to die up the hill and I got the lead. I just used the downhill and then listened to coach yelling and tried to feed off that.”

Tobey’s finish failed to keep the UNH Wildcats from winning their first Keatinge title as they finished 19 points ahead of second-place Marquette (52) and 52 in front of Maine.

“It’s definitely a huge race for him against some good people. I’m going to try and use that as a springboard to get everyone else up there,” said Lech. “They’re all there right together in workouts Monday through Wednesday, but it’s Thursday-Saturday where they need to put it together like he did today.”

Despite giving top runner Dan Hocking the day off to rest, UNH was solid with four finishers in the top nine.

“Winning this meet makes us feel real positive. We didn’t race particularly well last week at Iona so we decided to come here and now we feel a lot better about things,” said coach Jim Boulanger, whose Wildcats have run in the meet every year. “This is definitely a measuring stick meet. It’s a good indicator for us.”

In the women’s race, the expected duel between nationally-ranked powers Texas A&M and Marquette lived up to the billing as the Warriors of Milwaukee, Wis., held off the Aggies of College Station, Texas, 28 to 33, to win the team title while Aggies senior Melissa Gulli won the individual title comfortably by a 29-second margin.

Gulli, who wasn’t bothered by the heat in the least, cruised over the 5K course with a time of 17 minutes, 4.63 seconds to outdistance Marquette’s Jessie Swan, who clocked a 17:23.71.

“We’re not exactly where we want to be, but hopefully in a couple weeks, we’ll be where we need to be,” Gulli said. “We were hoping to come here and win this, so that’s frustrating.”

The Aggies, who left 95-degree weather in Texas, needed to take a whole day just to get to Orono.

“Yesterday [Friday] was the longest day. We started out at 5:30 a.m. and got here at 8 last night,” Gulli explained. “We drove to Austin, flew from there to Atlanta and then Portland, and then drove up here from Portland.”

Marquette placed five runners among the top nine with Swan and third-place finisher Susan Barth (17:31.54) leading the way. Texas A&M had five in the top 11.

Nicole Pelletier was the highest Maine finisher as she and fellow senior Vanessa Allen finished 12th and 13, respectively.

“The second mile was tough. That’s where I had to push it,” said Pelletier, a Presque Isle native. “Vanessa really helped push me. She was right behind me.”

11th Murray Keatinge Invitational

At University of Maine, Orono, 5 miles

New Hampshire men 33, Marquette 52, Maine 85, Central Connecticut State 126, Colgate 136, Holy Cross 147, Vermont 157

Top 10 overall: Nolan Tobey (M) 25:26.63, Timothy Perry (UNH) 25:37.23, Matt Kalinski (CCSU) 25:41.36, James Olsen (UNH) 25:48.37, Chris Van Cott (Vt) 25:49.63, Brent Des Roches (Mar) 25:51.23, Peter Mallett (UNH) 25:52.63, Jason Crichton (Mar) 25:57.26, Louis DiNuzzo (Col) 26:01.59; Other Maine finishers: 18. Joshua Trevino 26:30.44, 20. Michael Lansing 26:33.36, 22. Jeffrey Caron 26:35.75, 26. Gerry Johnson 26:57.97, 35. Andy Caron 27:14.89, 38. Chad Wright 27:24.02, 39. Tyler Alexander 27:24.34, 44. Ian Fraser 27:41.59, 47. Eric Olafsen 27:54.79, 57. Matthew Ross 28:23.23, 61. Patrick Guerette 28:36.57, 66. Pearce Creasman 28:54.14, 69. Adam Goode 29:04.24, 76. David Manz 29:29.13, 78. Paul Wilmont 29:53.69

3.1 miles

Marquette women 28, Texas A&M 33, Vermont 98, Maine 101, New Hampshire 122, Central Connecticut State 185, Holy Cross 196

Top 10 overall: Melissa Gulli (TAM) 17:04.63, Jessie Swan (Mar) 17:23.71, Susan Barth (Mar) 17:31.54, Meredith Crane (TAM) 17:39.42, Michele Palmer (Vt) 17:40.35, Jennifer Whatley (TAM) 17:57.71, Jodi Jakubek (Mar) 18:05.04, Alli Sauer (Mar) 18:18.93, Sarah Steadman (TAM) 18:24.32; Maine finishers: 12. Nicole Pelletier 18:36.68, 13. Vanessa Allen 18:39.11, 22. Heather Jovanelli 19:06.61, 31. Janeen Shepard 19:48.42, 34. Kristen Vidlak 19:54.91, 41. Miranda Szwec 20:12.92, 44. Jessica Hudec 20:26.73, 47. Annie Howley 20:44.35, 48. Katie Laverdiere 20:45.46, 52. Martha Harris 21:08.38, 56. Theresa Alverez 21:24.27, 59. Amy Potvin 21:34.50, 66. Heather Henningsen 22:33.16