Don’t let Brewer track coach Dave Jeffrey convince you that he’s in for a building year this season.

Other coaches in the Penobscot Valley Conference know better, too. Because though Jeffrey’s roster does contain a lot of freshmen among its 58 girls, they aren’t your ordinary yearlings.

One is Rachael Bodkin-Rubino, who won Eastern Maine indoor titles in the mile and two-mile and didn’t lose to an EM foe in those events all winter. Another is Jen Puiia. The middle-distance ace was also undefeated in EM, has high jumped 5 feet and long jumped nearly 16 feet.

Add the upperclassmen: sprinter Jen Kunz, a transfer from Hampden, sprinter Carrie Murphy, hurdler Rachel Young and thrower Christi Thomas, and you’ve got a good nucleus.

And the distance runners teamed to take second in the state cross country meet last fall, and are another strong point.

“Obviously, Brewer (is a favorite), Old Town coach Rod White said. “They had a strong indoor team and most of them are running outdoors. Hampden’s girls are usually pretty tough, too.”

Jeffrey is pleased with what he does know about his team, but is eager to get to know them better.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids,” he said. “I think we’ll find some people as the season goes on.”

White’s Old Town team is without 60-second 400-meter runner Debbie Godsoe, who has given up competitive athletics due to a heart condition. But Godsoe is back as a non-competing captain, and the Indians have 40 girls out.

“Most of them are young,” White said. “But we’ll be in the thick of it come big meet time.”

Bolstering Old Town’s hopes is the return of sprinter Kim Chaisson after an injury-plagued sophomore season.

Senior Brooke Birmingham holds the school indoor long jump record, and excels in the triple jump, while junior speedster Theresa Roy returns.

Sophomore Elizabeth Holmes should see some success in the 400, and senior Mali Dana is a 3,200-meter specialist.

In Hampden, coach David King says he possesses something he never has on the girls side of the ledger.

“We’ve got quality across the board,” King said of the key to the Broncos’ hopes. And in Class B, he’s hoping for good things.

“My honest opinion is that my girls team is going to be one of the top teams [in Class B].”

Senior shot-putter Shilo Marden is back, and teamed with sophomore javelin specialist Amanda Burrill, who has thrown nearly 100 feet already, the Broncs should score well in the throws.

Toss in sprinter Samantha Brann and a talented jumping corps, and Hampden looks tough.

Bangor gets the nod as a contender from rival coaches, after the Rams showed steady improvement over the course of the indoor season.

Coach Gary Capehart’s crew will be paced by junior jumper Sarah Parcak, distance runner Hollie Harnish, and 400 ace Jill Swoboda. Leslie Bradford and Brooke Hayes should also score.

In Class C, defending EM champ Orono had the preseason look of a contender, but standouts Molly Holmberg and Megan Westhoven left the team after one day of practice. Both ran legs on the 1995 state champion 400 relay team.

Now, according to assistant coach Bill Meehan, the squad is quite inexperienced.

Leading the way will be freshman thrower Kate Yerxa, who had success in the shot put indoors and will have two more events in which to score outdoors.

Also looking to score will be freshman sprinter Caroline Tjempkema, junior high jumper Liz Chambers, who has leaped 5-2, and sophomore sprinters Melissa Hebert and Alicia Vinal.