The University of Maine made it official Thursday by announcing that former UMaine hockey player Dan Kerluke will remain with the UMaine hockey team’s staff as a full-time coach.

Kerluke was a volunteer assistant with UMaine last year. He and longtime assistant and chief recruiting coordinator Grant Standbrook are essentially swapping places as Standbrook is becoming a volunteer assistant.

A native of Brampton, Ontario, Kerluke spent three seasons as the head coach of the Bangor High School varsity ice hockey team, leading them to the playoffs each season. His Rams won a school-record 18 games in 2004-05 and broke several other statistical records. He played for UMaine from 1997 to 2001 and won a national championship on the 1999 squad.

Kerluke played 152 games for the Black Bears, scoring 54 goals and adding 54 assists. He earned Hockey East Academic Team and Maine Scholar Athlete honors. In the 2001-02 season, Kerluke played in the West Coast Hockey League with the Idaho Steelheads and WCHL champion Fresno Falcons.

Men 2nd, women 7th in XC polls

The University of Maine men’s cross country team has been picked second in the annual America East preseason poll voted on by league coaches. The UMaine women were picked seventh.

The top pick for the men is New Hampshire with seven first-place votes and 63 total points. Maine had one first-place vote and 53 points. University of Maryland Baltimore County is third with a first-place vote and 48 points. The rest of the voting went as follows: Boston University (41), Albany (36), Stony Brook (34), Vermont (22), Binghamton (19), and Hartford (eight).

Senior Kirby Davis of Falmouth leads the Black Bears as the returning league individual champion. He is one of the Bears’ five returning point-scorers. Maine finished third in the conference last year.

The women’s favorite is BU. with eight first-place votes and 64 points. UNH is second with 55 and Stony Brook third with 44. The rest of the voting had Albany (4), Binghamton (39), Vermont (36), Maine (22), UMBC (16) and Hartford (eight) rounding out the league order.

The UM women, who also return five of their top seven, will be led by Hana Pelletier of Belgrade.

UMaine, which hosts the league championship meet Oct. 28, starts the season Sept. 15.