A year after the men’s team put up a dominant performance, the Binghamton University men’s and women’s track and field teams return to the America East Championships this weekend hoping to build on their successes from last season.

Last season the men’s team took second place at the conference championships, the best finish in program history. The squad was led by AE Championship Most Outstanding Performer Cazal Arnett. Now a senior, Arnett finished first in both the 200- and 400-meter dash, in addition to anchoring the first-place 4×400 relay team last year. That group set the conference record in the event.

At the same event, Jeff Martinez earned Outstanding Men’s Rookie of the Meet honors after winning the 10,000-meter run and taking second in the 5,000. Casey Gilbert also stood out for his first-place performance in the 400 hurdles. They were both freshmen at the time.

This year’s men’s team is led in part by Arnett. He has finished first in the 400-meter dash twice this season and anchors the 4×400-meter relay team. Gilbert is another member of the relay team and has finished second in the 400 hurdles three times this year.

Martinez built on his freshman season, setting a new school record in the 10,000 at the Penn Relays, where he finished fourth. He had held the old program record in the event. Earlier in the season he beat his own school record in the 5,000 as well, this time at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic, where he again finished fourth. Martinez’s best performance was a third-place finish in the 1,500 at the Cornell Open.

Perhaps the biggest star of all is junior Robb Quiller, brother of former Binghamton All-American pole vaulter Rory Quiller. Robb Quiller is the two-time defending conference champion in the pole vault and has won the event in three of the team’s last four meets. He also ran hurdles this season.

This year the men will benefit from the presence of indoor All-American senior Erik van Ingen. He missed the conference championships last season, but two years ago won the 1,500. Van Ingen has only competed in two events so far this season, but is expected to compete in the championships.

On the women’s side, the team took seventh place at last year’s conference championship. Jenna Marrione, a rookie at the time, took second in the pole vault, while Jessica Hennig had a third-place showing in the 400 as a freshman. The 4×400 team had a third-place finish, anchored by Hennig. Then-sophomore Jessica Conter took fifth place in the heptathlon.

This year Hennig has been the star of the team. She’s coming off an America East Track Athlete of the Week award after breaking her own program record in the 400 en route to a first-place finish at the Cornell Invitational. Her time of 55.43 is the best in the conference for the 400 this year. She also has a second-place finish in the event this season.

Junior Abigail Oakes has a first- and a second-place finish in the shot put, while Marrione and freshman Camille Ginyard have pole vault titles. Sophomore Ashley Aupont has the third-best distance in the conference this year in the high jump, Marrione has the second-best pole vault height and Oakes has the third-best discus throw.

In the conference preseason coaches’ poll, the men’s team was predicted to finish second this season, and the women were picked to finish eighth out of nine teams.

The America East Outdoor Track and Field Championship is scheduled to take place this weekend at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Action is set to begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow and 9 a.m. on Sunday.