In what has been an injury- and emotion-filled season, the Binghamton University cross country teams continued to overcome their challenges this weekend at the America East Championships in Stony Brook.

The women placed fifth out of the nine teams while the men ended up sixth out of nine.

‘We were hoping for fourth for both teams,’ said Binghamton coach Annette Acuff. ‘We had some individuals who ran well, but as a team we didn’t perform our best.’

Freshman Ashley Horton led the way for Binghamton with a 16th place finish in a time of 18:43. She was the third overall freshman in the championship race, which had 77 runners. Five spaces and 30 seconds separated Horton from all-conference honors in her freshman year.

Acuff said she has been pleased with Horton’s consistency all season and continued to be impressed with Horton this weekend.

‘I expected at least top-20 for Ashley,’ Acuff said. ‘I was more than pleased with her effort and I know she was very happy. I didn’t expect her to perform this season like she did when you consider her high school performances. But she has been competing at a high level.’

Acuff made it clear that a realistic goal for Horton next season is a top-10 finish.

Junior Katie Radzik made further progress on getting back to top-notch form. Radzik finished last year’s America East Championships in fourth place and was considered one of the best runners in the ECAC.

‘She’s doing better and getting a little stronger each race,’ Acuff said. ‘Hopefully next year she’ll be back and we’ll have a crack at the top-3 in the women’s race.’

Following an injury that left her off the course at the beginning of the season, she has taken the difficult road to returning to form. She finished in 29th place with a time of 19:28.

Freshman Sarah Veith, junior Jennifer Hastings and freshman Alicia Finger finished behind Radzik in 31st, 32nd and 33rd place, respectively.

As a team, Acuff feels that with a year of development Binghamton can make a run at the top of the conference.

‘With a year of experience behind us and a season of development, we will be able to perform to our potential,’ Acuff said. ‘Kelly Billingiere has been unable to compete as well because of health issues, so it will be great to have her back.’

With Radzik returning to full strength, Billingiere coming back to competition and a full year of experience for a predominantly freshman team, the women will have a shot at the top of the conference next year.

Andrew Ugolino, a freshman, led the Bearcats in the men’s championship race with a 22nd place finish out of 73 runners. He crossed the line in 27:00. This was Ugolino’s first race as Binghamton’s top finisher.

Casey Quaglia finished 25th and Craig Coon was 26th for the Bearcats. Freshman Gerald McDonald, who has led Binghamton in three races this season, was the fourth Bearcat to cross the line.

‘We had four freshmen in the top five, and it really pays to have experience in a conference championship,’ Acuff said. ‘We could have done better than sixth; our team had an average performance, but still we have improved a ton. We are far and beyond what we were at last year.’

‘Next year we will be able to add Chris Gaube and Adam Hill, and our team will have that valued experience,’ Acuff said. ‘It will be certainly nice to have them back.’

Stony Brook captured the women’s title this weekend while New Hampshire grabbed the men’s race. Stony Brook sophomore Alex Felce won the men’s individual title with a time of 25:32 on the 8,124-meter course. Boston University’s senior Andrea Walkonen landed the individual women’s title running the 5,008-meter course in 17:27.

The Bearcats will be back on the racecourse at the NCAA Northeast Regional at the Franklin Park in Boston on Sunday, Nov. 11.