Not entirely content after winning the program’s first America East Conference cross-country championship last year, the University of Maine men are off and running in 2005.

In their first meet of the season Saturday, the Black Bears had four runners finish among the top 10 and won a Binghamton Invitational meet featuring a solid field of teams including Columbia University and highly regarded conference foes New Hampshire, Maryland Baltimore County, and Albany.

“I think we sent a message to everyone else in the conference, and even if they get better, we’re going to get better, too,” said UMaine cross country coach Mark Lech. “Obviously people will be gunning for us, but we’re ready for that.”

Donald Drake, a junior from Portland, set the pace for the field with a first-place finish over the 8,000-meter course with a time of 25 minutes, 29 seconds.

Maine’s Kirby Davis, Paul Rupprecht, and Josh Trevino finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. The next-highest Maine finishers were Charles Therriault (33rd) and Tyler Alexander (46th).

Drake and Davis are two of the three runners returning this season who finished in the top 10 individually at last year’s league championship meet.

“It was a good sign last year when two sophomores, Drake and Davis, ran well at the conference championships,” said Lech, Maine’s seventh-year coach. “The sophomores kept getting better, and Rupprecht and Trevino finally had their breakout seasons last spring, so it’s all coming together.”

Lech said the big breakthrough for seniors Rupprecht and Trevino came after they learned their limitations. Trevino had been hampered by injuries since coming to Maine and Rupprecht wasn’t able to do what he expected.

“I kept trying to find the right formula with Trevino to avoid those injuries,” Lech explained. “We even ran some tests to see if he had any medical issues, but it’s just that his body mechanically can’t handle the stress of a lot of workout mileage, so I have to back him off every couple weeks or so.”

Rupprecht had his own physical problems, most notably a knee that was giving him pain due to a torn medial meniscus, a torn lateral meniscus, and a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“Yeah, and on top of that, I got anemic,” Rupprecht said. “Instead of surgery, I lifted three times a week and did a lot of strength training. My doctor wanted me to stop running, but I’ve did my own program and right now, I think I’ve found a good balance on my mileage and training.”

With those problems taken care of, Lech has just one more to solve.

“I just have to find that fifth person on the link to make a really strong chain,” he said.

The top candidates for that “link” are Therriault, fellow sophomore David Woods of York, and freshman David Englehutt.

“Woods didn’t run last year. We redshirted him to get acclimated to the college workload and the training. I really think that served him well,” Lech said. “And with Charlie, I don’t think he did a lot of training in high school, so it was an eye-opener for him.”

After a road meet at Massachusetts this weekend, Maine will host two straight meets: against New Hampshire Sept. 23 and the Murray Keatinge Invitational on Oct. 1. The Keatinge has particular significance for the Bears.

“The Keatinge is the next big one as far as we’re concerned, with Stanford, Idaho State, Iowa, Dartmouth, BC [Boston College], Xavier of New Brunswick, Holy Cross, and UNH,” Lech said. “BC finished ahead of us at New Englands, where we went third, last year. I think we should be a top-five team again this year, but we’ve got a ways to go.”

The young UMaine women could be a top-five team as well – in the conference – if some of the inexperienced talent can come of age this season.

Senior Heather Jovanelli of Brewer and junior Hana Pelletier of Belgrade provide the team’s 1-2 punch up front. Teig Choroszy, a former field hockey player from Saco, and fellow junior Shelby Howe of Columbia are solid No. 4 and 5 runners. The question is who will be in the middle of the pack?

If not for senior Kristen Vidlak’s ongoing return from right foot surgery last spring, she would be the logical choice.

“We’re kind of babying her back, but I think as of now she can step it up more,” Lech said. “We’ll see who steps up.”

Two other candidates are sophomores Erin Lawler of Waterville and Lauren LaRoche of Auburn.

Former Brewer High standout Heather Clark, who transferred to Maine from Florida State University two years ago, is no longer with the team. Lech said Clark felt burned out when it came to running and is concentrating on her studies.