Binghamton University continued its track and field season Friday at the Penn State National Open with numerous impressive performances, highlighted by three school records, including one in each of the distance medley relay, the 800 and the shot put events.

Freshmen Michael Schieck and Jesse McCormick, as well as sophomores Cazal Arnett and Erik van Ingen, make up the distance medley relay team. They had a successful run, finishing fourth with a time of 9:53.13, which easily surpassed the old school record of 10:11.47 that was set last season. Bearcats head coach Mike Thompson had many positive accolades for this squad.

“I liked everything. They all ran really well,” he said. “I was hoping for at least 9.55 and they achieved 9.53. It was exciting to see and I think they can run even faster by the end of the season.”

In addition, van Ingen took part in the 800 and finished sixth with a school record showing of 1:51.89, edging out Frank Savinon’s previous school record of 1:53.08 set six years ago. Senior Joanel Lopez did not fare as well as he would have liked in the shot put, placing 11th, but he too set a record with a distance of 53-8.5, beating his previous high of 53-1 set last week.

The Penn State National Open was followed by the Colgate Invitational, which was a success for both teams. Thompson was impressed with the efforts he saw and had high praise once again.

“Overall, I thought they competed pretty well,” he said. “Colgate is not a bad facility, but it’s not as fast as some of the other tracks, so I felt the times were good considering the track.”

The men’s top performers included freshman Nelson Hall, who placed second in the high jump with a mark of 6-4, and senior Justin Hidalgo, who finished third in the weight throw with a distance of 51-71/4. These performances helped vault the men into a tie for third in total team scoring with 44 points.

As great as the men performed, the women’s team did them one better, placing second in the women’s meet with a tally of 77 points, trailing only host Colgate. The women’s side turned in solid showings by freshmen Kaitlin Sullivan and Samantha Howell who both finished second in the 60 hurdles and in the 400, respectively. Another freshman, Jessica Conter, mustered a dominating performance en route to a second place finish in the 200 with a time of 20.66.

Thompson felt the women took a positive step forward leading into the Collegiate Invitational and beyond.

“I am happy with how they did at Penn State and Colgate,” he said. “They are on the right track. There are three weeks until the America East Championships in Boston where I believe they will look a lot sharper.”

It will be a busy weekend for the Bearcats, who will participate in the aforementioned Collegiate Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the New York City Armory, in addition to the Syracuse Invitational, which is set for Saturday.