UM teams poised for league cross country meet

It’s conference championship weekend for Maine college cross country teams.

Both America East and the New England Small College Athletic Conference are holding their big fall meets Saturday in Albany, N.Y., and Middlebury, Vt., respectively.

The University of Maine men’s and women’s teams figure to be right in the thick of things at the America East meet, although neither Black Bears’ squad is expected to win.

“I think on the men’s side, [New Hampshire] has a strong team again, but it will be a two-way battle with Albany, which will have home-course advantage,” said UMaine assistant coach Mark Lech. “We should be no worse than fourth. I think it’ll be between us and [Boston University] for third place and our team will have to be firing on all cylinders.”

The Maine men will be led by junior Jeff Caron of Auburn.

Lech sees the women’s meet as much more wide open, although New Hampshire is a strong favorite in that as well.

“Boston University is usually a strong contender, but they’re not as strong this year. After them, it’s really a crapshoot,” he said. “I tend to give UNH the nod because they have five women who run a lot closer together and higher up than the other teams.”

Lech expects his young women’s squad, led by junior Heather Jovanelli of Brewer, to be a solid bet for third place.

“It’s going to be very close,” he said. “I don’t think the margin between first place and fifth place will be very much.”

Individually, BU senior Jochen Dieckfoss is the man to beat after winning the last three title races. Last year, he ran the 8,000-meter course in 23 minutes, 45 seconds. If he wins Saturday, Dieckfoss would be only the second male runner to win four straight titles. His main competition will come from UNH’s Steve Meinelt, Tony Truax and Peter Mallett.

Vermont junior Michele Palmer shapes up as the top women’s runner. She’s looking to follow up back-to-back second-place finishes with a first this year on the 5,000-meter course. Palmer’s toughest competition could come from Stony Brook’s Jackie Nunez along with BU’s Dina Mijuskovic and Jessica Iannacci.

The action begins at noon with the start of the women’s race. The men toe the starting line at 1 p.m. This is the first time in the 14-year history of the meets that Albany has hosted the event.

Middlebury College will host the NESCAC championships Saturday with the women’s race starting at 1 p.m. and the men at 2 p.m.

Defending NCAA champion Williams could start a run of its own after dethroning the four-time league champion Middlebury women last year. Middlebury and Trinity are ranked 1-2 in a national poll. In the men’s race, Bowdoin hopes to defend its crown against challenges from No. 9-ranked Tufts and No. 18 Williams.