Host Cornell University dominated, but the Binghamton University men’s track and field team put up a strong second-place showing at the Upstate Challenge on Saturday, while the women finished in fourth place.
The full-day event featured six teams from Upstate New York — Cornell, Binghamton, Syracuse University, University at Buffalo, Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland. Cornell finished in first by a wide margin for both the men’s and women’s meets, with the teams putting up 235 points and 282 points, respectively. The Bearcats were second in the men’s events, with the team posting 96 points, and fourth in the women’s events, posting 34 points.
Senior Cazal Arnett helped lead the men’s team, winning the 500-meter dash in a time of 1:04.49. He also anchored the 4×400-meter relay, with the team finishing second with a time of 3:23.30. The relay team also featured sophomore Dustin Ross and seniors Christian Smith and Andrew Haupt. Haupt also made his presence felt in the 60-meter dash, finishing third in the race and setting the Binghamton University record with a time of 6.97 seconds, while Ross finished sixth in the 500-meter with a time of 1:06.77.
The men’s 4×800-meter team also finished second in a time of 8:09.46. The young team featured freshman Chris Fernandez, senior Andrew Ugolino and sophomores Brendan Connell and Anthony Gaetani. Ugolino had a sixth-place finish in the 1000-meter run, followed by Connell in seventh.
The best Bearcat performances came in the men’s 3000-meter run, with Binghamton runners finishing in first, third and fourth. Senior Adam Quinn led the way, followed by junior Tyler Stachecki and senior Chris Raulli. Sophomore Casey Gilbert also had a notable performance, earning a fourth-place finish in the men’s heptathlon.
Sophomore Robb Quiller followed in his older brother’s tracks, finishing tied for second in the pole vault with 4.65m, just behind teammate and winner sophomore Adam Helman’s 5.00m performance. Quiller’s brother, Rory, holds the record for the pole vault at Cornell’s Barton Hall, with a height of 5.50m.
Other noteworthy performances from the Bearcat men’s team include junior Colin Anderson finishing in third place in the weight throw, junior Chris Veney earning third place in the long jump and junior Nelson Hall finishing second in the high jump.
The women’s team struggled on the day, putting up just 34 points. Junior Kaitlin Sullivan was the bright spot for Binghamton. She finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.19 seconds, and ran the first leg for the third-place 4×400 relay team. Freshmen Kathleen Klein and Erika Kisel and junior Jess Conter were also on the team.
The other top performance for the Bearcats came from sophomore Jenna Marrione, who won the pole vault with a height of 3.60m in the finals. Other women’s runners to finish prominently included freshman Jessica Goldberg’s sixth-place finish in the pentathlon, freshman Camille Ginyard’s third-place finish in the pole vault, Klein’s third-place finish in the 400-meter dash and sophomore Ashley Aupont’s fifth-place finish in the high jump.
The track and field teams are scheduled to be back in action this weekend, as they participate in the Penn State National Open, which is set for a 5 p.m. start on Friday.