Progress has been the goal: to better a program that started from the ground and has worked its way to an elite level.

The Binghamton University cross country teams continued this theme and their strong season this past weekend at the Buffalo Stampede Invitational as the men’s team claimed first place and the women placed fourth.

“Right now we are excited as a team,” head coach Annette Acuff said. “We are proud with the individual efforts, too.”

The men’s team was led by sophomore Erik Van Ingen and junior Chris Gaube, who finished first and second, respectively. Van Ingen finished the 8,000-meter course in 25:48, while Gaube came in at 25:51. Both runners beat the previous course record.

“We are trying to focus on the team aspect,” Acuff said. “We had some injuries and we had other runners step up: great teamwork.”

With senior star runner Adam Hill sitting the race out, the Bearcats looked elsewhere to pull out the victory.

“With Adam Hill protecting an injury, ensuring his health, it was nice to have other guys step up,” Acuff said.

Hill’s teammate, sophomore Adam Quinn, showed up to compete and finished in fourth with a time of 26:08.

“Adam [Quinn] had a huge performance,” Acuff said. “It was the best 8K that I have seen him run.”

Sophomore Andrew Ugolino finished 12th, while junior Jonathan Peffley rounded out the Bearcats’ top five with a 23rd-place finish, giving Binghamton the win. They beat out 10 other teams and edged second-place Bucknell by four points.

Looking to build on the program’s first ranking in the northeast since its move to Division I, the women’s team came in with high expectations and was not disappointed. The team placed fourth out of 10 schools. Senior star Katie Radzik led the team and placed third, finishing with a time of 18:19 on the 5,000-meter course.

“So far she is running great,” Acuff said. “Her times are faster than I expected at this point, but we will take it one meet at a time.”

Sophomore Ashley Horton followed Radzik with a 15th-place finish for Binghamton. Senior Jamie Schulte, sophomore Paulina Nunez and senior Jennifer Hastings finished 16th, 21st and 22nd, respectively, to round out scoring for Binghamton.

Both teams will look to the prestigious Lehigh Paul Short Run as a better comparison of competition on Oct. 3.

“We are looking forward to Lehigh,” Acuff said. “High-caliber competition, excellent national attention; it will be good for them to compete at that high level.”