Hall of Fame Profile: Distance specialist Frank Preti led UMaine to a national cross country title in 1915
10/12/2026 1:52:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Hall of Fame
Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine men's cross country team arrived at the 1915 Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association of America (IC4A) championship with high hopes.
Coach Art Smith's Black Bears were fresh off a victory at the New England Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship, which was held on the same course at Franklin Park in Boston.
It was UMaine's first appearance in the IC4As, the biggest meet of the year, which featured several Ivy League programs and the likes of Syracuse and Michigan. It was the equivalent of the national championship at the time.
Junior Frank Preti of Portland was the Black Bears' catalyst and he attacked the IC4As with resolve. He would have been motivated by his longstanding rivalry with UMaine senior captain Roger Bell, but also sought to bounce back after a ninth-place finish at the New Englands.
Saturday, Nov. 20, 1915, belonged to Preti. According to a report in "The Portland Sunday Telegram," UMaine teammates Edmund Dempsey, Bell and Preti were leading the charge at the three-mile mark in the six-mile IC4A race. John Overton of Yale, the eventual winner, moved in front with about 1 1/2 miles to go, with Bell and Preti on his heels.
Overton eventually held off a determined kick by Preti to win in 33 minutes 21 1/5 seconds. Preti clocked a 33:26, five seconds back, and Bell finished third in 33:30 2/5.
Dempsey placed eighth, Albert Wunderlich took 10th and Roscoe Hysom wound up 28th as UMaine outscored Cornell 51-54.
"The greatest surprise was the showing of the Maine bunch," the Telegram report said.
It was one shining moment among many for Preti, whose talents have earned him posthumous induction into the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.
"My dad [Robert Preti] would have been very proud," said Ann Preti Bryan of Cape Elizabeth, one of three living grandchildren of Frank Preti. "It's pretty cool for us to know that they think back that far to honor someone. I think it gives a great legacy to the University of Maine and all the people who've come out of that institution."
The 1915 team previously was inducted into the hall of fame in 2022.
Preti, the son of Italian immigrants Alexander Preti and Giovanina "Jenny" Polati, grew up in Hallowell. They moved to Portland, where Frank was a track and cross country standout for Portland High School.
At UMaine, he competed for the cross country team from 1913-1916 and captained the squad as a senior. Preti turned in numerous top performances during his career.
In 1913, he won the Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Association (Maine State Series) title and placed third at the New Englands. As a sophomore in 2014, he took home the New England individual crown while sparking the Black Bears to the second of three consecutive team championships in that event.
Preti continued to shine during his third year, culminating in his second-place overall finish and UMaine's IC4A crown. As a senior, he won the New Englands and finished 11th at the IC4As.
Preti also competed in five seasons of outdoor track at UMaine, graduating in 1917. That included a semester in 1919 after returning from service in the Navy during World War I.
He claimed the two-mile run at the State Series outdoor championships in both 1914 and 1915.
"My dad often would mention the fact that Frank was a track star in high school and in college, long before there was an NCAA, and that he loved to run," Bryan said.
Preti's involvement with running did not end at UMaine. He coached track and field at Portland High and the University of New Hampshire before becoming a lawyer.
In 1928, he established the Preti Award, presented to the top male and female student-athletes at Portland High. After his death in 1961, the tradition was carried on by his son Robert Preti and has been continued by grandchildren Richard Preti, Nancy Preti Russell and Bryan.
"There's still an award and it's getting close to its 100th year of giving a watch to each of the students," Bryan said.
"If it's a few hundred dollars, it's just going to be gone and you won't really remember it, so we decided to keep giving a watch," she said. "It's pretty cool to be able to carry that on."
The prize for the award, which celebrates its 100th year in 2027, resembles the Washington Alumni gold watch award, presented by the University of Maine Law School, that Frank Preti won in 1921.
Preti was a director of the Portland Boys Club and was its president from 1943-1953. He also served for a decade on the University of Maine Board of Trustees.
Preti for many years practiced law with his son Robert, who later founded the prominent Preti and Flaherty law firm. Frank Preti, Robert Preti, Richard Preti and Nancy Russell all attended UMaine.
The University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet will take place on Friday, Oct. 16 at Jeff's Catering in Brewer, Maine. For tickets, please visit GoBlackBears.com/Tickets. The banquet will also be live streamed at www.youtube.com/@MaineBlackBears/streams.
