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Mt. Blue's Marceau never thought he'd be one of best in state
By TRAVIS LAZARCZYK
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 11/27/2007

By TRAVIS LAZARCZYK

Staff Writer

Perhaps nobody is more pleasantly surprised with how Eric Marceau's high school cross country career ended up than Marceau himself.

"My freshman year, I never would have thought I'd be where I am today," the Mt. Blue High School senior said.

Then, Marceau was a novice runner who came out for cross country only after deciding he didn't like football. Now, after improving each season, Marceau is one of the top runners in the state.

Marceau capped his high school cross country career in fine fashion this fall, finishing third in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference meet, fourth at the Eastern Maine championships and second in the Class A state meet.

For his efforts, Marceau is the Morning Sentinel Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year for the second year in a row.

Marceau came to the cross country team as a freshman with potential, but no experience.

"He didn't know much about running," Mt. Blue cross country coach Kelley Cullenberg said. "He didn't take it very seriously. He didn't challenge himself all that much."

Cullenberg said she saw more dedication from Marceau after the outdoor track season his freshman year. Marceau said he realized he could work harder after his sophomore year.

"I knew (going into) junior year we had a couple good runners graduating," Marceau said. "I knew I had to step up."

One of those graduating seniors was Adam Deveau, who learned he was fighting leukemia shortly after graduation. Deveau's fight against his illness and his running ability served as an inspiration to Marceau, who wore a self-made T-shirt in honor of Deveau during each race.

"He's still a big influence (to me)," Marceau said of Deveau, who is now recovering and in school at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. "He's one of the best runners I've ever met."

Marceau's biggest improvement this season came in the form of increased stamina.

"I've really just become a much stronger runner. Now I can run at a hard pace for a lot longer," Marceau said. "It's kind of like, I wish the 5K was a little longer."

Marceau said the Cougars' tougher regular season races also helped him prepare for the championship events at the end of the season.

"Last year, although the KVAC was competitive, it wasn't anything like our schedule was this year," Marceau said.

In no race was the combination of a brutal regular season and stamina apparent than the state championship in Turner. In slick and muddy conditions, Marceau ran alongside eventual state champion Mohamed Noor of Lewiston for most of the race, until Noor pulled away late. Noor finished 11 seconds ahead of Marceau, but that was much tighter than the Eastern Maine race the week before, when the Lewiston runner finished 22 seconds ahead of him.

Marceau called the state race his best of the season.

"One of the greatest accomplishments for (Marceau) at states was he closed the gap tremendously with Noor," Cullenberg said. "He ran most of the state meet right with Noor."

Marceau is the defending KVAC outdoor champion in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. He'll use the indoor track season as base training for the outdoor season, where he hopes to repeat his conference titles and maybe add a few state crowns.

Marceau has applied early decision to Brown University and will soon learn whether he's been accepted to the Providence, R.I., school. He's also considering George Mason University.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

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