The Binghamton University men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the America East (AE) championship held at Stony Brook University on Saturday with the men taking third and the women finishing seventh.
Coming into the race, the men had looked to become the first back-to-back AE champions since New Hampshire accomplished the feat in 2008.
The women, on the other hand, had their sights set on improving from last year’s performance, in which they placed eighth out of the nine teams.
The men were led by senior Collin Frost, who crossed the finish line of the 8,000-meter course at the 25:10.73 mark, securing All-Conference honors with a fourth-place overall finish. This marks the best individual finish by a Binghamton athlete in the conference championship since 2009, when Erik Van Ingen took first overall.
BU head coach Annette Acuff could not have been happier with Frost’s performance.
“He ran a perfect race,” Acuff said. “He had a lot of pressure, and he put a lot of pressure on himself, and I’m really proud of how he handled it.”
Also earning All-AE honors was senior Ethan Hausamann, who finished the men’s race ninth overall with a time of 25:32.44. Frost and Hausamann now become the fifth and sixth BU men’s athletes to place in the top 10 at the America East championships twice in their career.
Rounding out the rest of the scoring five for Binghamton was a trio of of veterans: junior Eric Holt, who finished 19th overall with a time of 25:56, and seniors Andrew Roache (26:00.15) and Jon Vallecorsa (26:07.87), who placed 21st and 25th, respectively. As a team, the men scored 78 points to finish in third out of the nine teams, just four points shy of second-place Stony Brook, who scored 74 points.
UMass Lowell took the win on the men’s side in dominating fashion, with a score of 42 points to record the school’s first America East championship in any sport.
“UMass Lowell had an incredible race,” Acuff said. “They ran to the best of their abilities.”
On the women’s side, the Bearcats improved by one spot over last year’s performance to place seventh out of nine. Despite the finishing toward the back of the pack, Acuff was pleased with her team’s performance.
“That’s the best they could’ve done,” she said. “We’re just not better than the rest of those other teams. I didn’t expect us to really finish fifth or sixth.”
Senior Alexis Hatcher led the Bearcats, covering the 5,000-meter course with a time of 19:19.43, good enough for 17th place.
Acuff was happy to see Hatcher complete her final America East Championship on a high note.
“I think she finished on a great note as a senior,” Acuff said.
Sophomore Allison Davis (19:48.83) and freshman Jessica Thatcher (20:05.74) finished next for the Binghamton women, crossing the line in 31st and 41st place, respectively.
Christina Melian, a Stony Brook junior, won the race in a time of 17:53.24, helping to lead her team to a third place finish.
In the final standings, it was New Hampshire who took home the title for the women, putting three runners in the top seven to score 45 points.
With the AE season now over, Acuff hopes to see her team challenge themselves to rebound from its performance.
“Sometimes you have some races where you don’t run to your full potential, but you’ve got to let that go,” she said. “You have to move on. That’s why we race. That’s why we’re in athletics.”
The Bearcats now turn their attention to the NCAA Northeast Regional.
“Hopefully we can have everyone run a little bit stronger,” Acuff said.
The race is set for Friday, November 13 in Boston, Massachusetts. The start times for the races have yet to be announced.