CARIBOU – In cross country, the time that really matters to produce a team victory is the pack time – the time differential between a team’s No. 1 and No. 5 runners.

A superstar frontrunner can be consistently at the head of the field, but if there’s no pack behind the runner, the team will end up in back.

So, the mentality of the Caribou boys cross country team this fall will be to establish one of the more formidable packs in the Eastern Maine Class B ranks and hopefully bring some team hardware back to northern Aroostook County.

“The way we function, the team is more important. That’s how we get better, we feed off each other,” said senior Jesse Stephens before practice on a crisp Tuesday afternoon.

“We all work hard as a team,” concurred sophomore frontrunner Christian Sleeper, coming off an outstanding freshman campaign for coach Roy Alden’s Vikings.

The Vikes return five runners from a young 2007 team which exceeded expectations by earning a runner-up finish in the Class B state championship meet last fall.

“We have a lot of tradition here so we’re hoping to have another very, very good season,” said Alden. “[Last year] was a real good year, and they probably overperformed their talent and overperformed in terms of their experience, without a doubt.”

Along with Sleeper and Stephens, Tim Freme, Finn Bondeson and Stephen Melbourne return this season.

The pack-first mentality should make Caribou a dangerous team in Class B not just in Eastern Maine, but statewide.

“The best we can hope for is to improve on last year. Always improving, I guess, is what we’re aiming for,” said Stephens.

The aforementioned mentality will be a key since the Vikes won’t have the frontrunner they’ve had in the past.

“I think they realize they’re dependence on each other. Maybe more so, we’re not going to have someone who’s necessarily a state champion running out in front,” explained Alden.

After their state runner-up performance last year, the Vikes were already looking forward to this season.

“I think it definitely motivated us for this year. It gives us a lot to work toward,” said Stephens.

As for Sleeper, he’s got some goals of his own.

“I’m not positive yet. I want to go under 17 minutes in a 5K maybe,” said Sleeper.

Saunders set for strong season

While chatting with the media prior to practice, Caribou senior Hannah Saunders took a peek outside Caribou’s ski building at her challenging home course, and couldn’t help but smile.

“We have some really nice trails here, a lot of hills,” Saunders said.

Saunders hopes her training on those hills – and plenty of other challenging terrain throughout Aroostook County – will pay dividends in her mission to make some noise against some of Maine’s top schoolgirl runners this fall.

“I want to get top five at states for sure. I don’t know, I’m just constantly looking at dropping my times,” said Saunders.

The Vikes are an early-season favorite in Eastern Maine, which has the frontrunner raring to go even more.

“We have four of the top seven coming back, then we have two really strong freshmen that are coming up,” she said.

Saunders, along with Mount Desert Island’s Heather Spurling and Kim Spencer of Bangor-based John Bapst, should vie for the top spot individually in the East this fall.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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