Conference running titles on line at UMA
By JOE HALPERN
Sports Editor
With its steep hills and slick terrain, the cross country running trial at the University of Maine at Augusta has always been tough on competitors. But ask the Mt. Blue runners where their favorite place to compete is and the Cougars are likely to chant "U-M-A" over and over.
"Our kids have gotten to call UMA their home course. That's how much they enjoy running there," said Kelley Cullenberg, coach of the Mt. Blue High boys and girls teams.
The Farmington school has certainly enjoyed some great victories at UMA, the site of today's Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships. The Cougar girls, who have won three of the last four Class A titles there, and are going for their sixth straight conference crown today on the college campus. They will be the favorite in Class A along with Leavitt, Brunswick and possibly, Mt. Ararat high schools. The Cougar boys, meanwhile, are also looking to repeat as KVAC champs at UMA.
Today's KVAC Class A and B championship meets, with some 21 schools entered, begins a busy weekend of cross country competition at soggy UMA. The Mountain Valley Conference meet will also be contested there Saturday. The East/West Conference meet is being hosted by Richmond High.
Mt. Blue is hardly the only central Maine team aiming for conference team title. The Cony High boys in KVAC Class A, the Maranacook Community School boys in the KVAC Class B, the Monmouth Academy and Wiscasset High girls in the MVC and the Valley and Richmond boys in the East-West Conference meet are very much in the running for first-place plaques.
In fact, the only team being called a prohibitive favorite in the conference meets being contested at UMA are the Lisbon High boys in the MVC.
"The Lisbon boys are no doubt the team to beat but after them it's pretty wide open in the MVC with us and Wiscasset," said Rick Amero, whose Monmouth boys finished second to Madison last year.
In the MVC girls competition, it will be Monmouth's depth against Wiscasset's front-running speed. Wiscasset's Chelsea Waltz and Quincey Arey are two of the fastest runners in the conference, but Monmouth has the advantage of having stronger Nos. 4 and 5 runners. But will it be enough?
"Monmouth's pack (runners) in a race like this definitely gives them the upper hand," said Warren Cossett, whose Redskins captured the Class C title two years ago.
Mt. Blue's Matt Dunlap is expected to battle Edward Little's Sam Fletcher and Morse's Alex Farrell and Kevin Roy for individual honors in KVAC A. Cony's Marc Beaudoin, who finished second to Dunlap in last week's Mt. Blue Relays, will decide today if he can run with his ailing hips. Maranacook's Forrest Tobie and Leavitt's Steve McCarthy look to be the fastest in KVAC B.
For the KVAC A girls, Mt. Blue's Lily Hanstein, Mt. Ararat's Jess Wilcox and Waterville's Erin Lawler are the frontrunners.
In the MVC meet, Waltz and Arey of Wiscasset will run against Lisbon's Merissa Gross and Dirigo's Terry Slawer. The Lisbon boys, who've been ranked in the top 10 in the statewide coach's poll throughout the season, have potentially the top three runners in the MVC in Jared Cloutier, Troy Clark and Dan Suthers. Richmond's Spencer Trott and Valley's Mark Gaudet look to be the fastest in the East-West Conference.
Joe Halpern - 621-5636
jhalpern@centralmaine.com
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