With another season about to kick off, things are looking pretty good on paper for Binghamton University cross country.
The men’s team finished third at the America East championship last fall, a program-best. With every major contributor of last year’s team returning, expectations are just as high.
“We want to finish as high as we possibly can,” head coach Annette Acuff said. “Top three is a realistic finish for us.”
University of New Hampshire, which has been notoriously dominant in the sport for several years, looks just as strong this year and was selected to defend its AE title in the 2009 preseason poll. They received four of the possible eight first-place votes. Stony Brook was second in the poll, followed by Binghamton. The third-place pick was the highest the program has ever been predicted to achieve. The Bearcats received one first-place vote.
“We know the competition is high,” Acuff said. “We’ll do the best we can and hopefully improve on last year.”
The team returns nearly every top runner from last year’s squad and adds six freshmen to the mix. Among the returnees are All-Conference runners Chris Gaube and Erik van Ingen. They finished third and fourth respectively in the AE championships last year and will be the leaders for the team this year.
Gaube, a grad student, has been consistently leading the team since he arrived at Binghamton in 2006, while van Ingen, a junior, joined the club last fall as a transfer from Canisius College.
“I’ve been up there in the conference,” Gaube said about his role on the team. “Being a fourth-year guy I can play a leadership role on and off the course, just really pushing my team to be as high up and to achieve as much as possible.”
“I know the [team] will look to the faster guys and model what they do on and off the course,” van Ingen said about his role. “Leading by example seems to fit me; the team does better when they learn by watching.”
Despite the record finish at the AE meet last season and selection as a top-three preseason favorite, the team doesn’t seem satisfied with that position.
“It’s a race, so it is human nature to want to win” van Ingen said. “Winning is not out of the question with the depth we have this year. We’re the underdog; we haven’t shown what we are capable of.”
The Bearcats’ key returning seniors Adam Hill, Jonathan Peffley and Craig Coon, as well as juniors Andrew Ugolino, Adam Quinn, Casey Quaglia, Gerald McDonald and Dean Colvin, all of who will be competing for the team’s top seven. Head coach Acuff also added an impressive recruiting class of six freshmen.
“All the freshmen have a lot to contribute to our program,” Acuff said. “I definitely see some of them competing for the top seven or even top five positions on our team.”
With the entirety of the team’s scorers returning and six freshmen on board, the team can only get better.
“We’re going to take it one day at a time, one race at a time,” said Gaube. “We know what we need to do, where we need to be and how to push ourselves to the better.”
The women’s cross country team is coming into a year with only one senior and several new freshmen. The team is looking to improve upon its sixth-place finish at the AE championship meet last season.
“It’s certainly a rebuilding year,” Acuff said. “A large part of the squad is juniors so we definitely have room for improvement.”
The team struggled with injuries last season to top runners, making it difficult to have the same runners at every meet.
“We had a lot of health issues last season,” Acuff said. “If we have health this season, it will only help our development.”
The team is smaller this year with only 13 runners, but that only seems to have bolstered their team chemistry.
“We feel like we have a lot of potential,” sophomore Ryann Cretney said. “Good team chemistry in the locker room makes this a good year to build off of.”
Despite the team’s rebuilding efforts this season, the Bearcats intend to surprise some people with the results this year.
“We have high goals and we want to do better than last year,” Cretney said. “I’m ready to shock some people and I hope my team is too.”
The team was selected to finish fifth in the conference in the 2009 preseason poll by the AE coaches. Stony Brook was the unanimous choice to win its third straight conference title, having earned all eight possible first-place votes. Boston University was second, followed by New Hampshire, University of Vermont and Binghamton.
“Our expectations are to improve on last year’s finish in the AE, get back to top-five and becoming more competitive with our depth,” Acuff said.
Top returnees along with Cretney include senior Terry Powell and juniors Alicia Finger, Shannon Finnegan, Ashley Horton, Kim Law, Paulina Nunez and Sarah Veith.
“I am excited for this upcoming season,” Finger said. “It’s such a team sport and everyone needs to be on the same page.”
The team will again be hosting a meet this season. The Binghamton Invitational takes place on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m. on the team’s home course. This is the one and only chance to watch the teams compete all season.
“We have two really great teams,” Acuff said. “We have a lot of talent and we’re looking forward to the season.”