Over the weekend, the Binghamton track and field teams competed in three separate meets. The Bearcats started their weekend on Thursday at the Penn Relays and then competed in the East Coast Relays from Friday to Saturday. The weekend ended at the Big Red Invitational in Ithaca, New York. There was no team scoring at any of the meets, but several Bearcats recorded podium finishes.
“Overall, I feel like the team is really coming together and we’re in great shape going into the [America East (AE)] conference meet,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson.
On Thursday, two Bearcats traveled to compete in the Penn Relays. Facing an impressive field of competition, redshirt freshman Brian Luciano captured silver in the men’s hammer throw with a distance of 200-9. Senior Gianna Hoose also competed at the meet, finishing 14th in the women’s hammer throw with a distance of 159-5.
“[Luciano’s] season has been really good and with consistency comes big performances,” Thompson said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the really big performance that he still has in him because he has been very consistent.”
On Friday, the Bearcats headed to Jacksonville, Florida, where they competed in the East Coast Relays through Saturday. On the men’s side, senior Marcus Johnson finished seventh in the 400m hurdles and crossed the line in 52.42. Then, in the 4x400m relay, BU took fifth with a time of 3:12.62 from senior Oliver Madariaga and junior Joey Cardascia, as well as sophomore Samson Joseph and Johnson. On the women’s side, in the 4x100m relays, Binghamton finished 13th with a time of 46.36 from graduate students Gabby Hyatt and Sophia Morone, sophomore Angie Mesa-Espinosa and freshman Tatum Norris.
“That was a good time for [men’s 4x400m relay team],” Thompson said. “I think they can run a couple of seconds faster but it was great to see them run really well. They’re in great shape, right now.”
On Sunday, BU competed at the Big Red Invitational, where several Bearcats recorded podium finishes. Three Bearcats took home gold medals — junior Lucciana Robertson won the high jump with a distance of 5-7 1/4 and freshman Vicky Mordvinova won the 800m with a time of 2:16.55. On the men’s side, freshman Nate David won the men’s 200m with a time of 22.14.
“I was really happy with how everyone performed at Cornell today,” Thompson said. “I was especially happy with my women in the long jump. The potential that they have showed up today and I’m looking forward to seeing them take it to an even higher level at the conference meeting this coming weekend.”
On the men’s side, two Bearcats rounded the top three of the 200m, as senior Taiki Hirooka and sophomore Kevin Smith finished second and third in the race with times of 22.15 and 22.90. The Bearcats struggled in the 110m hurdles and the 100m. In the 110m hurdles Freshmen Angelo Confort and Christian Primavera, finished seventh and eighth out of eight with distances of 15.11 and 15.62. Next, in the 100m, three Bearcats finished back-to-back in sixth, seventh, and eighth place in an eight-man race. This was done by David, Hirooka and Smith who recorded 10.86, 10.92 and 11.09 times respectively.
“I was really happy with the sprinters on the men’s side,” Thompson said. “I thought they continued what has been really solid season for them.”
On the women’s side, in the 4×100, Binghamton’s relay team of seniors Penelope Paldino, Jessica Faustin, Caroline Fatta and Emily Gorczynski finished second. Next, Hoose captured the bronze medal in the discus throw with a distance of 128-5. Hoose also placed fifth in the hammer throw with a distance of 161-5. In the 100m freshmen Kaylen Tenemille and Ashlyn Rattray finished fourth and fifth with times of 12.32 and 12.43. In the shot put was freshman Deborah Estabine, who finished fifth with a distance of 40-6 ¾. Junior Jessica Prentice finished fifth in the 400m with a time of 59.80 and then third in the 200m with 25.41. In the 200m freshman Kaya Duran placed fourth with a time of 25.65 and Rattray placed fifth with 26.02.
“I’m happy with everyone, at this point there’s really nothing to work on,” Thompson said. “All the work has been done in the previous nine months and it’s just a matter of having a nice easy week of training and going into the conference meet feeling refreshed and ready to go.”
The Bearcats are set to compete in the AE Championships starting on Saturday, May 4. First event is set for 10 a.m. at UMBC stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.