On Jan. 17, the Binghamton University track teams were back in action at the Army Quad indoor meet at West Point, after resting up for over a month since their last performance at the Cornell Relays. The extensive time between the two events proved not to harm to the men’s team, who concluded with a solid second-place finish thanks to senior Joanel Lopez.

Lopez, competing in the shot put and weight throwing events, highlighted the Bearcats’ performances. In the shot put, he recorded a first-place mark of 15.75 meters, easily beating out Army’s Joe Nemeth’s score of 14.99, while in the weight throw he achieved another first-place finish of 17.10 meters, narrowly defeating the mark of 16.94 set by Army’s Trent Kraychir. BU head coach Mike Thompson liked what he saw from Lopez and felt the team has been progressing very well so far this season.

“Joanel had a great first meet and it was nice to see,” he said. “The goal for the team is to stay healthy, and I think they have been progressing nicely.”

Other notables include sophomore Cazal Arnett, who won the 500-meter race with a time of 1:07.00, and freshman Eric VanAernam, who notched first in the pole vault with a tally of 14-11. Overall, there is a good feeling in the air because goals are being reached, Thompson said.

“The men are doing pretty well,” Thompson said. “The main goals are geared toward goals at the end of the season, so we will have to improve. But we have guys that are disciplined enough to do what they want to do.”

The women’s team was not as successful, finishing last in total team scoring. However, there were many positives to draw on, including junior Caitlin Wright’s second-place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:19.22, and senior Carly Gross placing second in the pole vault with a mark of 10-6. Still, Thompson acknowledged that there is much room for improvement.

“I feel the women have potential, but need to overachieve to do well in our conference. They are doing OK, but they need to step up.”

The Bearcats then traveled to the New York City Armory to compete in the Great Dane Classic this past Friday. Once again, the men’s team enjoyed a strong showing, finishing fifth out of 29 teams, but the women struggled to finish 26th.

Senior Joanel Lopez was a bright spot for the men’s side yet again, as he placed third in the shot put with a distance of 53-1, easily breaking his own school record of 51-9 set back in December. Lopez finished second in the weight throw as well, with a mark of 57-8, proving the sky is the limit for this young man, as noted by Thompson.

“He knows what he wants to do and he does it,” he said. “It is great that he threw as far as he did — I was not surprised.”

The men’s distance medley team, consisting of junior Chris Gaube, sophomore Eric Van Ingen and freshmen duo Mike Schieck and Jesse McCormick, also looked sharp with a first-place team time of 10:06, easily beating second-place Duquesne by 12 seconds.

Over on the women’s side, junior Caitlin Wright placed seventh in the 800 with a time of 2:19.67, while senior Carly Gross, participating in the pole vault, also finished seventh with a mark of 11-3 3/4. These performances drew Thompson’s attention, who admitted that the women’s squad has some work to do in order to get where they want to be.

“They just need to keep working one day at a time,” he said. “Some of the really talented people were doing well at the beginning of the season, but I have been impressed with a lot of people that I was not expecting to be factors, which is good.”

Next up for the Bearcats is the Penn State National Open, set for this Friday and Saturday.