The Binghamton track and field teams competed at the Penn State National Open in University Park, Pennsylvania, over the weekend. The two-day meet ended with no team scoring for both the men and women, but several Bearcats set new records and had top-10 finishes.

“I thought as a whole the meet went really well,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “There were a few people that were a little bit off, but I would say most people performed well and, with a few weeks left before the [America East conference meet], they’re in great shape and should really be sharp and ready to go for the biggest indoor meet of the year.”

Redshirt sophomore Brian Luciano broke his own school record in the weight throw this weekend, taking home gold with a distance of 70-1.5. He becomes the first-ever Bearcat to surpass the 70-foot mark in the weight throw, and his distance of 70-1.5 now unofficially ranks No. 26 in the nation. Along with his new record, he also remains undefeated this season in the weight throw with a first-place finish at Penn State.

“[Luciano is] in a perfect spot for where he should be in the season,” Thompson said. “His goal a couple days ago was to improve his distance on the national level, because he’s right on the cusp of qualifying for the national championships, so he improved, it was his first 70-foot throw. Overall, it was just good to see him continue to improve and he’s got a couple more competitions left and hopefully he can add like another meter to his personal best and that should get him to the national championship.”

Senior Joe Cardascia broke the program record in the 500m with a 1:03.13, which was originally set in 2014 with a time of 1:03.36. His performance also earned him a second-place finish. In the 4×400 relay, BU finished in third with a time of 3:15.00 courtesy of graduate students Marcus Johnson and Oliver Madariaga, junior Samson Joseph and Cardascia. Freshman Oliver Jibb ran the 5,000m, and his time of 14:50.41 was good for a fifth-place finish. Rounding out the top-10 placements for BU was junior Matthew Oluwole, who finished eighth in the high jump with a distance of 6-4.

“That was great,” Thompson said. “ I mean [Cardascia] ran really well, he’s right on track for where he needs to be.”

Junior Alyssa Armitage, who finished fourth overall in the pole vault, continued the Bearcats’ streak of setting records this weekend. She captured a distance of 13-3.5, tying the current school record, which she set last year at the AE Indoor Championships.

“[Armitage] jumped really well, tying her school record,” Thompson said. “She almost made the next height, which I think was 13 feet 7 1/2 inches, so again, for the middle of the indoor season she’s exactly where we would like to see her. She’s doing really well.”

The women also saw success in several events, such as the 60 hurdles, where graduate student Jenna Chan took home fourth with a distance of 8.47. In the 5,000m, senior Jennifer Mui finished fifth with a time of 17:19.75. Senior Lucciana Robertson also took home a fifth-place finish in the high jump with a distance of 5-7.25. Rounding out Binghamton’s top-10 finishes was junior Sydney Leitner in the 3,000m, whose time of 9:51.36 earned her an eighth-place finish.

“I’m comfortable with where our upperclassmen are,” Thompson said. “I feel that our younger athletes, especially the freshmen, it would be nice to see some people step up and do better to try to make a difference … But I think there are a lot of people who are capable of more and hopefully in the next couple of weeks, they’ll step up and be ready to help us at the conference meet.”

The Bearcats will head back to Penn State to compete at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 8. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Multi-Sport Facility and Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in University Park, Pennsylvania.