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By TRAVIS LAZARCZYK Staff Writer 10/11/2007

Staff Writer

The addition of Bangor, Brewer and Hampden to the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference cross country championships makes a deep and talented field even more competitive.

"Certainly, KVACs is always a deep meet, anyways," Mt. Blue head coach Kelley Cullenberg said. "Having Bangor, Brewer and Hampden makes it bigger. Brewer has some depth on its girls team. It will be that much more exciting this season."

The KVAC meet will begin at 3 p.m. Friday at the University of Maine at Augusta. The girls race will be first, with Class A and B runners together. The boys will follow, and like the girls race, Class A and B runners won't be separated until the finish.

Friday's forecast calls for rain and wind, and that could make running difficult.

"It will make a mess of the course. UMA doesn't handle rain very well," Waterville head coach Koren Coughlin said. "But we train in the rain to race in the rain."

One of the Class A newcomers, Brewer, comes into the girls race as one of the favorites. At the Mt. B

lue relays last week, the Witches finished just two seconds behind Brunswick over the 10.15 mile race.

"After Brunswick and Brewer, it could be anybody. If we have a good day, we could be in the mix," Cullenberg said.

Maranacook, Leavitt and defending-champion Waterville should vie for the Class B girls title. Maranacook is led by Jenny Monsulik, who placed fifth individually at the Mt. Blue Relays. For Waterville, Hannah Bard and Katie Jacobs are the top runners.

"Every meet, (Jacobs) has improved," Coughlin said.

Led by Mohamed Noor, the Lewiston boys are the clear favorite in Class A.

The Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 in the state in the latest coaches' poll. With last year's conference champion Eric Marceau back, Mt. Blue figures to be near the top. The Cougars are ranked fifth in the state.

"I'm hoping we're going to be right there," Cullenberg said.

At the Festival of Champions race on Sept. 29 at Belfast, Noor took first place with a time of 15 minutes, 53.78 seconds, while Marceau placed fourth (16:16.05).

Cony's Luke Fontaine finished third as a freshman last season and should contend again.

In the Class B boys race, Maranacook and Waterville, which finished 1-2 last season, are the favorites again.

Coughlin said Leavitt and Medomak Valley are also contenders.

"If every one of us has a good race, anything can happen," Coughlin said.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

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