Hampden’s Helen Shearer and Bangor’s Megan Randall were two of the University of Maine’s top three finishers in the America East Cross Country championships on Friday, helping lead the Black Bears to their first ever title.
UMaine, picked to finish fifth in the coaches’ preseason poll, tallied 49 points to edge Bryant by two points at the Hopkinton Fairground in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. It was the closest margin of victory since New Hampshire won by two in 2016.
Binghamton wound up third with 71 points followed by Vermont (115), Umass Lowell (131), University of Maryland Baltimore County (149), New Jersey Institute of Technology (180), defending champ and preseason favorite New Hampshire (181) and Albany (273).
UNH sophomore phenom Ruth White from Orono didn’t participate in the race.
Redshirt senior Shearer and redshirt junior Randall crossed the finish line in sixth and eighth place, respectively, with teammate Ruby Krasnow in between them in seventh.
Shearer posted a time of 17:42.20, graduate student Krasnow from Huntsville, Alabama clocked a 17:44.48 and Randall’s time was 17:48.11
UMaine’s Veselja Treacy and Kennedy Taylor finished 11th and 17th, respectively.
“It’s crazy to think it’s the first time ever,” UMaine cross country coach Adam Ward said Friday about the conference title.
He was proud of the effort from his team.
“They were tired. They were dying. They were definitely putting their all into it,” Ward said about the Black Bear women. “But they fought for every little bit in every spot.”
And he agreed that the local runners were a significant part of the win.
“We could not have done this without Megan and Helen,” Ward said. “They’re two huge key pieces of what we’re doing.”
He said it’s nice that they’re both from the Bangor area.
“I think it’s also a great example for a lot of the young runners in this area that aspire to run in college,” Ward added.
Bryant’s Jasmine Trott claimed her first America East individual championship as she covered the course in 17:02.59. Her teammate, Chloe Whiting, was second in 7:09.27 and NJIT freshman Jessie Fotheringham was third in 17:17.34.
Shearer and Krasnow earned spots on the All-America East first team along with Trott, Whiting, Fotheringham, Binghamton’s Sydney Leitner and UMass Lowell’s Georgia Brooks.
Randall and Treacy claimed spots on the second team along with Bryant’s Kelley MacElhiney, Binghamton’s Anna Gansrow and Alice Rappazzo, NJIT’s Sarah Van Ornum and Vermont’s Siena Stanley.
Ward received Coaching Staff of the Year honors. It is just the second time in league history UMaine has received the honor.
Fotheringham was named the Most Outstanding Rookie and Krasnow captured the Elite 18 award for earning the highest grade-point-average. She is working on her PhD in Marine Biology and earned a 4.0 as an undergraduate.
