For a team away from home for the first time this season, the Binghamton University men’s cross country team showed no signs of homesickness as it put forth its best performance in team history at the Lehigh/Paul Short Run, finishing 11th in the 42-team field.

“Overall, I was very pleased by how everyone did,” said Bearcats head coach Annette Acuff. “We ran how we expected. It was the most competitive meet we’ve had this season.”

BU junior Erik van Ingen led the way in his first race of the season, finishing 17th out of 386 runners, the best finish a Binghamton runner has ever had at Lehigh. He ran the 8,000-meter race in 24:03.

“The race was a good indicator of my fitness,” said van Ingen. “It was an overall good run for me.”

Acuff echoed the same sentiments.

“We thought top 20 was realistic [for van Ingen] with the competitive teams at the meet,” she said. “Making the top 20 was great.”

Van Ingen didn’t participate in the team’s first meet, the Binghamton Invitational on Sept. 12, because of an extended outdoor track season that had him competing through June. He placed 45th in the 1,500-0meter run at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon on June 25.

BU graduate student Chris Gaube came in second for the Bearcats and 50th overall with a time of 24:35. Freshman Jeff Martinez came in third for the Bearcats, placing 103rd overall with a time of 24:59. Rounding out the top five were juniors Adam Quinn and Casey Quaglia, finishing 116 and 134, respectively.

Indiana University won the men’s team title, followed closely by Iona College and North Carolina State placing second and third, respectively.

The Bearcats finished the highest among the America East quartet of Binghamton, Vermont, UMBC and New Hampshire that competed at the event.

“We definitely wanted to beat them,” said Acuff.

Following BU’s impressive finish at Lehigh, the Bearcats saw a bump in this week’s USTFCCCA Northeast regional poll, moving from 14th to 9th. Binghamton jumped past New Hampshire this week and is now the highest-ranked America East program.

Weather conditions did not have a seriously negative effect on the meet friday.

“The weather was nice and cool,” van Ingen said. “The course was pretty fast; no standing water.”

The women’s team finished sixth out of 39 teams in the Brown Race at the meet.

Acuff lauded her women’s team, saying she was happy with their results.

“[I saw] a lot of development,” she said. “I was very pleased with our freshmen’s performance.”

Freshman Rachel Miura led the way for BU, finishing 31st with a time of 22:30.

“Outstanding first 6K race for [Miura],” said Acuff. “For a freshman, she showed no fear.”

Junior Kim Law finished second, coming in 50th overall with a time of 22:55. Law improved her time by 89 seconds from last year’s meet at Lehigh.

Rounding out the top five for the Bearcats were juniors Alicia Finger, Paulina Nunez and senior Terry Powell who finished 59th, 65th and 93rd, respectively.

The meet gave both teams a good barometer for current abilities and areas that need improvement.

“It looks good as far as what we can do in our conference,” Acuff said. “Our goal is to race harder and smarter together, to run as a pack.

Binghamton heads to the Penn State National Open on Friday Oct. 16.

“It’s a reputable cross country meet,” van Ingen said. “It’s an opportunity to prepare for the America East meet. We ran well [at Lehigh], which is a good sign; we hope that trend continues.”