Homegrown talent fuels Black Bears’ title run Pack mentality leads to first AE crown

When it came to team philosophy, the University of Maine men’s cross country team’s mirrored that of the World Series champion Boston Red Sox: “Why not us?”

Although sixth-year head coach Mark Lech didn’t use that reference with his team, he did use another baseball analogy to show how it was that his unheralded Black Bears were able to win the first America East conference championship in the program’s history.

“It’s like the Atlanta Braves. They look great during the regular season and then run out of gas in the playoffs. I think that’s what happened to New Hampshire,” Lech said.

Maine, which finished second in 2000 and 2002, ended a three-year AE title run by UNH on the Wildcats’ home course in Durham, inviting another comparison to the Red Sox, who won the American League pennant at Yankee Stadium.

But instead of clutch hitting and solid pitching, the Bears did it with performances rich in quality and quantity – all of which came from runners made in Maine.

Senior Mike Lansing of Lovell finished second overall with a time of 24 minutes, 31.4 seconds over the 8,000-meter course to head up a quintet of runners who all finished among the top nine. New Hampshire’s Anthony Truax won the race in 24:27.

“Actually, all five of them came within 20 seconds of each other,” said Lech, who along with track and field coach Jim Ballinger was chosen AE men’s coaching staff of the year. “Mike came within four seconds of winning the whole thing, Jeff Caron was two or three seconds behind him, and Andy [Edward Caron] was just behind him, too.”

Auburn’s Jeff Caron (no relation to Andy) was fourth with a time of 24:32 and fellow senior Andy Caron of Topsham was right behind at 24:38 in fifth. Then came the sophomores. Kirby Davis of Falmouth was eighth at 24:44 and Portland’s Donnie Drake (24:46) was ninth.

“It was a dominating race and those five times probably put us in the top 15 times all-time for America East individually,” said Lech. “The big thing, as far as the race, was having all five of our guys ahead of UNH’s No. 2 runner.”

It wasn’t like the Black Bears came out of nowhere. Several league coaches considered them a strong contender and even a favorite.

“A couple weeks ago, we were third at the New England championships out of 43 teams, even though we were missing Andy [unable to finish due to bronchitis],” said Lech. “So we figured we were in a good position to contend for the title with him back.”

Home-course advantage was both a curse and a blessing for the Wildcats, according to Lech. Sure, they were more familiar with the course and enjoyed solid fan support, but Lech said he thinks the pressure of being a three-time defending champion was also greater on their home turf.

Whatever the reason, Lech said he hopes the program can not only savor this win, but use it to further the overall growth and visibility of the program.

“Hopefully, we can get people to stand up and take notice,” Lech said. “Hopefully people will see where we not only have Maine guys on this team, we’re also very successful with them.”

Maine’s women finished ninth as Boston University won its 13th title.

Lech said his young Bears squad gained valuable experience this fall and will be greatly augmented by the return of Brewer’s Heather Jovanelli, spending a semester abroad in England, and the addition of fellow Brewer alumna Heather Clark. Clark was redshirted this fall after transferring from Florida State University and suffering some injuries over the summer.

“I think next year you could see a flip-flop where the girls make a run and the boys are the young team learning the ropes,” Lech said.