After sweeping the Canisius Alumni Challenge earlier last month, the Binghamton men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the America East Championships last Friday. The men finished in second place, not far behind victors UMass Lowell, while the women secured a third-place finish.

“I think that we certainly had a great season as far as training goes,” Binghamton head coach Annette Acuff said. “We were very healthy this fall. And we had a nice buildup going into the America East Championships, and we rested pretty well. So I honestly think that it was just perfect timing. It’s difficult every year to get it just right, but I think our timing was really good in terms of our progression throughout the season and how well we recovered going into the America East Championships.”

As the AE cross country championship got off to a start with the men’s 8k, an atypically healthy Binghamton squad was eager to make a splash. When the race came to a close, the Bearcat men had returned with a historic performance, earning a program-record five all-conference selections.

Leading the pack was sophomore Bobby Mayclim, who never came in behind sixth place at the three waypoints before claiming a fourth-place finish with a time of 24:29.08. Trailing just seconds behind Mayclim were sophomore Nick Thomas with a time of 24:34.25 and junior Liam Cody with a time of 24:36.43, finishing in sixth and seventh place, respectively. All three of Binghamton’s top finishers made significant strides from last year’s AE cross country championships en route to making first-team all-conference this year, where Mayclim finished in 21st, Thomas in 27th and Cody in 59th.

“I think the guys were certainly highly motivated and excited to be there and see what we could do this year,” Acuff said. “And certainly our goal was to try and compete against [UMass] Lowell and the other top teams in the conference as best as possible. Our goal was to finish in the top two, and we were able to achieve that goal. So definitely give all the credit to the guys, I mean, they were very locked in all season long.”

Rounding out the top-10 finishers for the Bearcat men, senior Andrew Rosenblatt’s cross-country career came to a close as he finished ninth with a time of 24:42.07, picking up his second consecutive second-team all-conference nod. The final all-conference selection for Binghamton was freshman George Thomatos, who finished in 12th place with a time of 24:52.64, making the second team.

Several other freshmen turned in notable performances, as Anthony Zazzaro and Noah Hilker also finished 19th and 23rd with times of 25:06.00 and 25:17.17, respectively. With a historic performance, the Bearcats finished with 38 points, within 14 points of meet winners UMass Lowell, earning second place and the lowest total in an AE cross country championship since 2009.

“That’s a great accomplishment, you don’t often have freshmen finish all-conference, especially 12th,” Acuff said. “It’s a pretty great accomplishment for [Thomatos]. And then the other two freshmen that were top 25, it just puts it into perspective, like last year, [Mayclim], he was the only freshman that was in the top 25 and every year it’s a little bit different in terms of competitiveness certainly. But I think our freshmen really bought into our system with training and really took very good care of themselves.”

In the women’s 5K race, senior Sydney Leitner led the way with the Bearcats’ best overall finishing time. After an eighth-place position at the first checkpoint, Leitner powered through the remainder of the race to finish fourth with a time of 17:36.24, picking up a first-team all-conference selection and becoming just the second runner in program history to earn four AE all-conference honors. Earning her second consecutive AE second-team all-conference nod was sophomore Anna Gansrow, who finished 10th with a time of 17:51.70.

Rounding out the AE second-team all-conference performances for the Bearcat ladies was freshman Alice Rappazzo with a 12th-place finish in her AE debut and a time of 17:58.30, marking the fourth consecutive year that a Bearcat lady picked up all-conference honors. Narrowly missing out on a top-14 finish was junior Brynn Hogan, as she came in 15th place with a time of 18:11.81. When it was all said and done, the Bearcat women placed third as a team with 71 points.

“We have a really young team and I am so proud of how they did today,” Leitner told bubearcats.com. “They have a lot of years left in them and they put their best foot forward every day.”

Binghamton’s 2025 cross-country campaign will come to a close at the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet on Friday, Nov. 14. First race will be at a time to be determined at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, New Hampshire.