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CAPE ELIZABETH — Luke Marsanskis didn’t have the same college training regimen to lean on, but this was still his day.

Unlike last year, the 24-year-old Cumberland native wasn’t preparing for cross country season at the University of Maine ahead of this year’s Beach to Beacon 10K race.

It didn’t matter. Marsanskis repeated as Maine men’s champion with a time of 29 minutes, 27 seconds. He finished in 29:12 last season.

“I think not training for a college cross country season this time definitely (had an impact),” Marsanskis said. “I want to train for longer distances, and this is sort of earlier in my build, I’d say. Hopefully, I can get back into that shape soon, but I’m happy I was still able to win.”

Marsanskis, whose time last year was just two seconds short of the Maine record, beat Colin Cernik of Portland (29:40). Aaron Willingham (30:26), Alec Troxell (30:37) and Will Geoghegan (31:04), all of Portland, rounded out the top five.

A year ago, no one was close to Marsanskis in the Maine men’s division. Then a UMaine graduate student who would become the Black Bears’ first competitor at the NCAA cross country championships since 2013, he won by more than two minutes over Ryan Jara of Gorham.

It was far from a decisive win for Marsanskis this year. In a race in which his closest pursuers all finished ahead of last year’s second-place time, Cernik, competing in his first Beach to Beacon 10K, pushed him from start to finish.

“That must have been a big PR for him,” Marsanskis said of Cernik. “Halfway through the race, I said, ‘OK, let’s see what’s going on behind me,’ and he was right there. I’ve worked out with him a lot, so I said, ‘OK, we’ve got a bit of competition here.’”

Indeed, it was a personal record for Cernik, who beat his old mark by nearly 30 seconds. Quickly shaking off the “morning legs” he said he feels during a race, Cernik got out to a fast start and finished moments after Marsanskis.

“He won it last year, and just knowing him and what he’s capable of running, I’m not shocked at all that he won,” Cernik said. “I knew he was going to be tough to beat, but one of these days, I’ll get him. … I think that was the hardest race I’ve ever had. I got out fast; I was pretty close to my 5K PR in that first 5K. … My PR was on the track, so now that I’ve run much faster on the road, I’m excited to see what I can do on the track again.”

Willingham was pleased to finish Saturday. After placing fourth among Maine men in 2023, he failed to finish last year’s race after an injury forced him to exit the course.

Like Cernik, Willingham said he had a remarkably fast start to the race — “too fast,” in fact. Being able to chase Cernik and Marsanskis in front of him was a major reason for his 52-second improvement over two years ago.

“Those were the definite top two on my radar, and it was all about running them down,” Willingham said. “I’ve been begging for people like them to be in Portland to train with for years now, and it’s nice that they’re here. It’s a great way to get better.”