The Binghamton University track and field teams solidified themselves as forces to be reckoned with at the America East championship in Boston this past weekend. The Bearcats featured six first-place finishes with 12 athletes added to the All-Conference team.

The men’s team came in second place out of a field of nine for the third year in a row, losing only to Albany and beating out third-place University of Maryland, Baltimore County by over 40 points, a finish which is quite significant considering the preseason coaches’ poll predicted a third-place finish by the squad — a finish head coach Mike Thompson was proud of.

“I would say we had an exceptional meet,” he said. “Everything went as well as we could have hoped because we definitely could have gotten fourth.”

Overachieving became contagious as numerous athletes ran season-bests, including a new school record by freshman Zachary J. Keefer who secured second place in the 500-meter with a time of 1:03.36, besting the old record by almost a second. Not far behind was teammate Christian J. Smith, who ran a 1:04.19 to finish sixth.

In another solid performance by a freshman, the team saw a record fall in the heptathlon as Cory Poepperling nabbed the freshman record from none other than Bearcats alumni Rory Quiller, to come in fourth. Poepperling also took third in the pole vault to lead a group of Binghamton vaulters, who locked up places third through sixth.

Junior Cazal Arnett put on a show with wins in the 200 and 400, as well as a strong anchor leg in the 4 by 400-meter relay, which nabbed the gold in a come-from-behind win, to edge out archrival Albany by .02 of a second. The relay included teammates Keefer, Smith and Andrew Haupt.

A significant number of points came from the distance crew, as well, as the defending men’s cross country conference champions showed depth in each race — a performance that distance coach Annette Acuff and her athletes have been working very hard for.

“We scored about 60 points on the distance side, that’s the most we’ve been able to contribute,” Acuff said. “This was the best conference meet we’ve ever had.”

Junior Erik Van Ingen cruised to an easy first-place finish in the mile while teammates Casey Quaglia and Andrew Ugolino rounded out the field scoring sixth and eighth, respectively.

Sophomore Michael Schieck and teammate freshman Aaron Ghobrial scored in the 1,000-meter race, finishing third and fourth. Freshman Jeff Martinez and grad student Christopher Gaube tag-teamed the 5,000-meter race with a second- and third-place finish. Martinez and Gaube showed their versatility by also finishing third and sixth in the 3,000-meter race. Acuff was particularly pleased with Martinez’s performance.

“For Jeff to finish second in the 5,000-meter and then third in the 3,000-meter, it’s an incredible double for a freshman,” Acuff said.

Despite suffering a few setbacks, the women’s team managed a seventh-place finish among tough competition, but it was a finish that Thompson was enthusiastic about.

“It’s unfortunate the women came in seventh place, but they had no margin of error; they performed well.” Thompson said.

The women were led by senior Caitlin Wright, whose win in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:13.62 dominated competition and shattered the old school record by more than two seconds. She was followed by Hana Wright, who finished fourth in 1:15.9.

Another win came from freshman Jessica Hennig, who showed her mettle by battling to a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash, in a school record time of 55.77. Her performance left a particular impression on Acuff.

“She won conference as a freshman,” she remarked. “When I found out we got a high schooler that ran a 56 … she’s going to be really good.”

Other freshmen also stepped up as Jenna Marrione held her own in the pole vault, scoring second place, while Lindsay Raulli ran a personal best in the 5,000-meter to score seventh.

But the veterans proved their worth as well, with a sixth-place finish by senior Kim Williams in the 200-meter dash and an eighth-place finish in the mile by junior Shannon Finnegan.

Overall, Thompson seemed impressed with the performances. “The meet this year was tremendous,” he said. “It was easily the most competitive championship we’ve ever had. So many people stepped up, and that was one of the most exiting parts of the meet.”

The athletes that qualified will be back at Boston University for the IC4A Championships, which are scheduled for March 6 and 7.