BU, UNH favorites for America East crowns

For the third time ever and the first time in seven years, Boston’s Franklin Park will host the America East cross country championships Saturday afternoon.

Although the venue may not be a regular feature of the event, the fact that Boston University men and women, along with the New Hampshire men, are among the top contenders in the field is.

The BU Terriers have won 11 of the last 13 women’s conference titles, while the UNH Wildcats are aiming for their fourth men’s crown in the last five years. The Wildcats’ primary competition in the men’s meet may come from the Terriers, the traditional league power with 10 titles to their credit.

Boston University junior Jochen Dieckfoss is going for his third straight men’s individual title after covering the 8-kilometer course at the University of Maine in 24:38.2 last year. The top returning runner in the women’s field is Vermont junior Michele Palmer, who finished second (17:16.8) at Orono in last year’s 5K race.

The top Maine runners are South China senior Nolan Tobey, who finished 18th at the New England Championships men’s race, and senior Vanessa Allen of Bath, who finished 32nd in the women’s.

The men’s race will start things off at 2:15 p.m. and the women’s race is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

The conference records are owned by BU’s Karl Rasmussen (24:14.2 in 1994) and BU’s Larissa Kleinmann (16:40.0 in 1998).