The last time the University of Vermont hosted the conference cross country championships, Doug Maisey was a five-year-old boy living outside London and Aly Millett was about to start kindergarten in California. Today, the pair are poised to lead the men's and women's cross country teams into Saturday's 2009 America East Championships at the Catamount Family Center in Williston.

Maisey, whose parents are from Scotland, spent his first 11 years in England thinking he'd spend the rest of his youth playing rugby and going to university somewhere in the U.K. That changed quickly when his family moved to the United States after his father accepted a transfer through his pharmaceutical company. A two-year transfer became a more permanent transplant, and Maisey completed school at Wissahickon High, 16 miles northwest of Philadelphia, where he became an all-state runner.

Maisey visited UVM on the recommendation of a friend and fell in love with the area. Since his arrival in the fall of 2006, when he placed 50th at the America East Championships, the recreation management major with a 3.3 GPA improved to 10th place at the 2008 AE Championships and became the first Catamount since 1996 to earn back-to-back top-10 finishes at the New England Championships.

If Maisey wins the men's race on Saturday at noon, which follows the women's race at 11 a.m., he would be UVM's first men's individual conference champion. The same goes for the men's team, which has never won an America East title. The women's team won a conference crown in 1989 and have had two individual champions: Gabriella Van Rhyn in 1992 and Brenda White in 1989, when UVM was a member of the North Atlantic Conference.

"I thought it was cool that we were moving to the U.S. at first, but once we got here I wanted to go back to the UK right away," said Maisey, who ran one of the fastest races ever by a UVM runner at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 2 with a time of with 24:34. "But I grew to love both places and have really enjoyed my time at UVM. The goal has always been to get better each year. Our team worked hard over the summer and I think we're in a position to finish in the top 5."

Millett's path to Burlington wasn't as improbable as Maisey's given that her mother graduated from UVM in 1981. Even so, she never had a desire to attend UVM until she visited during her senior year at Half Moon Bay High School. The mechanical engineering major chose UVM over the University of Maryland and has flourished ever since. As one of the conferences top runners and member of the America East Academic Honor Roll, Millett has steadily improved her 5K time from around 19:00 minutes to her current best of 17:42.

"It's been a great four years," said Millett, who plans to work as a biomedical engineer after graduation. "The three of us have pushed each other all year, and I really think we're capable of finishing in the 10. If our third and fourth runners close the gap we could do really well as a team."

Unlike Maisey, who has led the men's team all season, Millett has had company from sophomore Morgan Powers and first-year standout Debbie Isen. The trio have alternated among the top three positions with each capable of finishing in the top 10 on Saturday. As a team, the Catamounts have the talent to place among the top three, according to Coach Matt Belfield, who has guided the women's team to a top 15 regional ranking by the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.

"I expect that both teams are ready to generate their best performances of the year," said Belfield, who considers Binghamton the men's pre-meet favorite and Stony Brook the team to beat among the women. "The men can realistically finish as high as third if they run well, but a good day could mean sixth place. I'm very excited to see Doug mix it up with the front runners, and I think John Little and Shane Snyder are ready to be in the hunt for top-15 placing."

For more information, visit the America East Conference Championships website.