The Binghamton men’s and women’s cross country teams closed out their season on Saturday, competing in the ECAC/IC4A Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York. The men finished in 19th while the women took 16th.

With the Bearcats’ top runners resting, some new faces were given a chance to compete.

Leading the men was freshman Nate Howe, who covered the 8,000-meter course in 27:18.7, good enough for 66th out of 183 runners. Following him was sophomore Billy Hector, who crossed the line at 27:31.5 in 77th place.

Next was another pair of freshmen, Daryn Hutchings (27:56.5) and Matt Gill (27:59.1), who finished in 96th and 100th place, respectively. Rounding out the scoring five was the only upperclassman on the men’s side who was competing, senior Jade Marhaba (28:10.9), who took 109th.

As a team, the men placed 19th out of 22 teams, scoring 419 points. Northeastern took the top spot, scoring only 77 points.

On the women’s side, the Bearcats scored 481 points to finish 16th of 17 teams competing. Marist took the win in the women’s race, with 80 points.

BU Head Coach Annette Acuff wasn’t looking just at the team’s total score for this meet, however.

“This was more of a developmental meet,” she said. “We weren’t worried about our team score, just looking to be as competitive as we can be.”

Senior Shannon O’Hara led the women, covering the 5,000-meter course in 20:13.2 and taking 84th out of 163 runners.

Finishing next was junior Kailey Dwyer (20:33.5) and freshman Jenny Yakir (20:59.5), taking 102nd and 117th place, respectively. Rounding out the top five runners for the Binghamton women were freshmen Amanda Kobiolka (21:29.5), who finished in 132nd and Savoy Curry (22:18.8), who finished in 146th.

With the cross country season now behind them, the Bearcats will now turn their attention to the track.

At last year’s America East Championships for Indoor Track and Field, the men took second, while the women took third, each in a field of nine. For the men, it was their seventh time in eight seasons taking the runner-up trophy.

Acuff’s biggest goal is always to see improvement out of all of her runners, and this season is no different.

“Primarily what we look for is our kids improving and developing from the year before,” she said.

Although the AE Championship isn’t until late February, this meet is already in the mind of the Binghamton squad.

“Our conference championship is very important from a team perspective,” Acuff said. “Hopefully it all comes together at the AE Championships.”

But first, the Binghamton runners will take some time off.

“They’re taking a break from running for a little while,” Acuff said. “Most of these kids have been running since the summer time.”

The Bearcats are scheduled to kick off their indoor track season at the Greg Page Relays, hosted by Cornell. The meet is set for December 5 at Barton Hall in Ithaca, New York.