ORONO – The 13th Murray Keatinge Invitational seemed to play upon a familiar theme Saturday – supremacy by a Maine cross country runner.

Brown sophomore Patrick Tarpy of Yarmouth finished first with a time of 24 minutes, 19.5 seconds over the 5-mile course in the men’s race, giving the title to a Maine native for the third straight year.

Dartmouth captured the men’s team title with 35 points while Brown finished second with 48. Iowa (61), Maine (111), and New Hampshire (155) rounded out the top five in the 11-team meet. Maine’s fourth-place finish is its best ever in the meet.

Southern Methodist University won the women’s race with 35 points and was followed by Boston College (72), Dartmouth (74), Iowa (109) and Dalhousie (113). Maine (283) finished ninth in the 12-team field.

Tarpy said it was his ability to jump out to an early lead that enabled his victory in the prestigious collegiate meet which also featured powerhouse programs Dartmouth and Iowa.

“It’s just about getting out and getting a hard effort,” said Tarpy. “I wanted to get right to the front and push the pace.”

Tarpy, the main man on a talented Brown squad, was followed by fellow Maine native Jeff Gaudette, who snatched second place with a time of 24:25.8. Both Gaudette, a Biddeford native, and Tarpy were running in their first race of the season.

“It was a good race; I was pretty happy that we were able to get the top two spots,” said Gaudette. “Being hometown Maine guys it was cool to go 1-2.”

On what turned out to be a surprisingly fast course, Gaudette felt it was the duo’s ability to break away in the middle miles that made the difference.

“We tried to take it easy in the first mile, and then really push the second and string everybody out,” said Gaudette. “We did exactly that and then [Tarpy] made a great move to break things out. From there you just try and hang on.”

Maybe even more impressive than Brown’s one-two punch of Tarpy and Gaudette was the display of dominance put on by perennial power Dartmouth. The Big Green sliced through the crowded field to place four finishers in the top 10.

Dartmouth head coach Barry Hardwick believes the race will serve as a good springboard for the rest of the season.

“Winning today is going to make our guys really excited and help us out in the national polls,” said Hardwick. “This is our first official meet of the season and it was a great way to start things off.”

Hardwick believes it was his team’s ability to run as a pack that ultimately led to its success.

“The thing I am very happy about is that our top five guys packed in really great,” said Hardwick.

Dartmouth was led by another Maine high school star: Yarmouth’s Ben True. True, the Class B high school state champion in 2002 and 2003, finished first for the Big Green in fourth place overall with a time of 24:31.7. True savored the chance to run in what was basically a homecoming.

“It’s nice to be back in Maine, its nice friendly atmosphere,” said True. “It’s a great course to start off the season.”

For the Black Bears, the race gave the squad an always popular chance of beating league rival UNH. Maine didn’t disappoint, beating the Wildcats by more than 40 points. Leading the way for Maine was senior standout Mike Lansing, who placed 10th overall as the highest finisher for the Black Bears in 24:45.30.

“I wanted to get top five. I faded to 10th, but it’s a huge personal record for me,” said Lansing. “We definitely beat UNH today, so that is always a plus.”

“It’s great to have so many different teams out here competing,” added Lansing.

Lansing was followed by senior Jeffrey Caron, who finished 19th (25:11.5). Kirby Davis (21st, 25:14.7), Edward Caron (27th, 25:32.70), and Joshua Trevino (44th, 26:04.40) rounded out the top five for the Black Bears.

Maine head coach Mark Lech said his team still has time to progress for the end of the season.

“We are still on our way; we’ve got for four more weeks ’til the championships,” said Lech.

In the women’s meet, SMU’s Karin Van Booyen won in 17:02.90 over the 3.1-mile course while Hana Pelletier’s 33rd in 18:26.70 was the best UMaine finish.

Other UMaine finishers included Shelby Howe (60th, 19:12.20), Miranda Szwec (68th, 19:22.80), Kristen Vidlak (76th, 19:35.60), and Charlotte Howley (85th, 20:02).