The Binghamton University indoor track and field team competed in its first meet of the season last Saturday at the Cornell University Indoor Invitational, breaking school and freshman records in the process.
Though no team scores were kept at this meet, both the men and women’s teams impressed head coach Mike Thompson.
“I thought the men and the women both looked really good,” Thompson said. “They competed hard, and there were a lot of great performances. Some people didn’t think they did as well as they should have, and I would disagree with that, but that’s a good thing. When you’re not satisfied, it means you’re going to try and do better. So I was very pleased with the meet.”
The men are coming off a promising season, where they placed second in the America East Conference championships for the second consecutive time. This time, their sights are set a bit higher.
“Well the men want to win conference,” Thompson said. “And I think they have a chance to do that.”
The Bearcats proved it by their performance in Ithaca. Junior sprinter Cazal Arnett placed first in the 300-meter dash and the 1600-meter relay, setting a new school record for the 300. Although Arnett is a seasoned veteran, winning the AE Rookie of the Year in 2008, the newcomers stepped up as well. Freshmen Adam Helman, Devinn Askew and Eric Van Aerman all recorded personal bests, with Helman and Askew setting freshman records.
“Van Aerman had a big personal best in the pole vault,” Thompson said of his new team members. “He jumped 16 feet and 4 3/4 inches. His previous indoor best was only 15-3 so over a foot more for him.”
Helman also had a personal best in the pole vault with 16-0 3/4 inch. In his first college meet, he jumped a foot higher than he ever jumped before. Meanwhile, Askew broke the freshman record for the 60-meter dash, finishing in third place with seven seconds on the clock.
“The freshmen guys were second in the 4-by-400 relays,” Thompson said. “We had the two fastest 4-by-400 relays at the meet, first with Cazal [Arnett], and the second one was four freshmen. Devinn Askew did really well in the 60-meter dash, that was a freshman record for Devinn.”
The men’s team is not the only one who hopes to return this season as an improved team. The Binghamton women’s track and field team also has aspirations of moving up in the conference.
“Last year they were fifth outdoors and sixth indoors,” Thompson said. “I think if they were in the top three that would be great, but top four certainly would be awesome. I think if everything comes together, top three is possible.”
Although the women’s team did not rack up as many accolades as its counterparts, it did break a school record with freshman sprinter Jessica Hennig in the 300, finishing at second place in 41.38 seconds. Jasmine Hinson also ran in the 300 coming in fourth place with 41.87 seconds.
“I think if you look at the 300 results we had something like eight girls in the top 15, which was great to see,” Thompson said. “We have a lot of [sprinters], with a lot of depth.”
Junior shot-putter Margaret Tinker also performed well, as the top finisher on her team, placing second in her event. The women are looking to forget their disappointing sixth-place finish last season, and hope that the new freshman talent such as Hennig and Jenna Marrione will help them do just that.
Thompson is optimistic that with their dedication to the sport they can improve their standing.
“The women maybe aren’t quite as talented as the men,” he said. “But their work ethic and their discipline and their attitude really makes up for that, and I think they’ll do very well this year.”
Even though the season has just begun, there is already some talent to keep an eye out for. On the women’s team it is Michelle Eberheart, Hinson, Kim Williams, Kaitlin Sullivan and Hennig who will stand out initially, according to Thompson.
The men have no dearth of talent themselves. Thompson listed many names across the different events, but notably the standouts would be Arnett in sprinting, Jesse Fuca in the hurdles, Corey Poepperling in the multi events, Helman in the pole vault and Eric van Ingen in distance, just to name a few. It is evident by this long list that Thompson thinks both the men and the women are going to have an exciting season.
“The men’s team is loaded with a lot of talent,” he said. “And [on] the women’s team we have a lot of people with a good amount of talent.”
The squad does not compete again until Jan. 16 at the Syracuse Invitational, but Thompson knows that after the break comes business.
“I expect everybody to practice intelligently, and compete aggressively and make smart decisions and see what we get,” he said. “I think that we have a lot of talent, and most people seem to be very disciplined. So I expect them to execute … I think both the men and the women can do better than the coaches picked them to do in the beginning of they year … We’ll just take it one day at a time.”