As the Binghamton University track and field teams participated and achieved solid performances in the Bucknell Outdoor Classic this past weekend, another Bearcat — sophomore Erik van Ingen — took part in the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University and earned a spot in the upcoming NCAA Championship.

On Saturday, van Ingen notched a first-place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:46.19. That mark trumped his previous best of 3:47.45 set at last week’s Bucknell Invitational and automatically qualified him for the NCAA championship because of the regional qualifying standard of 3:47.80. Although the East Regional meet of the NCAAs does not take place until May 29 and 30, Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson was pleased with van Ingen’s admirable performance and had high praise for his young athlete.

“He ran really well again,” Thompson said. “He never surprises me and it’s exciting to see. He’s one of the better people in the nation in the 1,500.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the team was impressive in its own right at the Bucknell Outdoor Classic. Senior Justin Hidalgo led the way with his first-place tally of 178-10 in the hammer throw, while senior Junior Obionwu finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 49.27. Other notables include freshman Nelson Hall, who finished third in the high jump with a distance of 6-4 1/4, and freshman Robb Quiller, who earned third in the pole vault with a height of 15-3.

Thompson enjoyed the fine play from one of the team’s leaders, Hidalgo, as he stepped up in a big way.

“He threw extremely well and achieved a big personal best,” Thompson said. “It was exciting and was the highlight of the meet for us.”

Over on the women’s side, freshman Kaitlin Sullivan turned in the best performance with a second-place finish and a time of 15.13 in the 110-meter hurdles. Fellow Bearcats freshman Sarah Mikulski placed right behind her with a time of 15.74, while junior Caitlin Wright earned a time of 1:03.41 in the 400 hurdles, good enough for second place.

Afterward, Thompson gave his thoughts on the overall efforts from the women, as well as the men.

“I felt there were some good performances and some average ones,” Thompson said. “We will really have to step up in the next two weeks. We haven’t looked as sharp as we can, so I hope it happens by next Saturday and Sunday.”

The Bearcats’ next event is the Penn Relays, set for Thursday through Saturday.