The University of Maine men’s basketball team is garnering some attention in national circles as well as New England and the state.

Most publications who do so predict Boston University to defend its America East conference title, but Maine is picked no worse than fourth and is a legitimate contender.

One thing most publications agree on is 7-foot center Justin Rowe being one of, if not the best big man in the conference. Both Street & Smith’s and Sporting News have Rowe as an all-conference first team selection.

Sporting News picks Maine fourth behind B.U., Vermont and Hartford. It also tabs Boston College transfer guard Ludmil “Udo” Hadjisotirov as the league’s “top newcomer.”

Street & Smith’s picks Maine third behind B.U. and Vermont, but Vermont was dealt a major blow as both magazines’ picks for the AE’s top player, Catamounts guard T.J. Sorrentine, may be lost for the season after breaking a bone in each wrist during a collision in a Nov. 1 intrasquad scrimmage.

The 5-foot-11 point junior guard, who was the Roberson America East Player of the Year last year, had both wrists set in hard casts and they will be reevaluated in two or three weeks.

Sunrise Conference salute

The University of Maine-Farmington women’s cross country team managed to snag a few other honors in addition to its Sunrise Conference title as four UMF women were named to the all-conference team.

The Beavers dominated the seven-member team with Kate McGuire, Andra Spearrin, Jolly Chapdelaine, and Megan Roy being selected. UM-Presque Isle’s Erin Schloeman also made the squad.

McGuire, who won the conference’s individual female title with a time of 19 minutes, 46 seconds on the 5-kilometer course; was also named the runner of the year.

On the men’s side, UMF had three runners (Doug Pierce, Brett Almasi and Nick Scott) named to the all-conference squad along with UMPI’s Evan Graves, who was also named the male runner of the year.

Graves won the Sunrise individual men’s championship race with a time of 28:09.18 on the 5.05-mile course.

The Beavers swept the coaching honors as Kelley Cullenberg was named women’s coach of the year and husband Arvid Cullenberg was men’s coach of the year.

Boucher named All-Conference

University of Southern Maine soccer midfielder Jenny Boucher of Madawaska was named a first team Little East All-Conference selection Monday by the league’s coaches..

Boucher, who was named to the second team two years ago, recorded nine goals and 12 assists in her four-year career at USM.

Four USM field hockey players also gained Little East honors as Sarah Dolley of Oakland, Darci Holland of Buckfield and Jodi Eldridge of Westbrook were named to the first team while Renee Heath of Brunswick was selected to the second team.

USM volleyball player Amanda Starkey was named to the league’s all-conference first team.

UMF vs. UMFK in NAIA tourney

The University of Maine-Fort Kent’s Bengals received an at-large berth Monday to compete in this weekend’s NAIA Region 10 men’s soccer tournament at the University of Maine-Farmington.

The Bengals, who compiled a 14-1-1 record during the regular season, are ranked third for the tourney and will battle in-state rival and second seed UMF on Friday. The game follows the 11 a.m. matchup between No. 1 Goldey-Beacom of Wilmington, Del., and No. 4 Green Mountain of Poultney, Vt.

The winners advance to Saturday’s championship game at noon.

UMFK and UMF played to a 0-0 tie in the regular season with UMF eliminating UMFK 2-1 in a Sunrise Conference semifinal.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or aneff@bangordailynews.net