It wasn’t the showing they hoped for, but the Binghamton University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams can hold their heads high as they return from the America East Championship at the University of Maine’s Wallace Pool.

The men’s team finished the meet in third place with 707 points, behind Boston University (749) and champion University of Maryland, Baltimore County (929).

“A lot of people took notice of our performance this weekend,” said head coach Sean Clark.

The third-place finish snapped the Bearcats’ four-year second place finish streak.

“We knew that Boston University was vastly improved over last year, but we felt we could give them a good run,” Clark said. “We’re gonna try to keep pace with [the Terriers]. We are not happy with our place. We’re going to redouble our efforts for next year and see if we can hang with them again.”

Still, the Binghamton men did not exit without leaving their mark. Junior Brenno Varanda broke his own school and America East record with a time of 2:02.78 in the 200-yard breaststroke. That, along with winning his other two individual events was the reason Varanda was awarded America East Men’s Most Outstanding Swimmer. This now makes it four straight years and five in the last six that a Binghamton swimmer received the honor.

“Brenno’s been outstanding all year. Nobody works harder in the pool,” Clark said. “He really deserved it.”

Fellow junior Andrew Palumbo was another competitor to leave a lasting impression. Palumbo scored second and third place finishes in the 100 and 200 breaststroke respectively, while also contributing to the second place 400-yard medley relay team.

“He really opened some eyes,” Clark said.

Sophomore Philip Dzieniszewski represented his class with an impressive showing. Dzieniszewski successfully defended his title in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.02, while falling just three points short in the 100-yard butterfly to earn a second win.

Other noteworthy performances came from juniors Brian Koralewski, Sean Lorenz and freshman Jason Chen. While all individually made the finals in multiple events, their best work came in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Along with Brenno, the group finished with a time of 6:52.48, a feat only bested by UMBC.

Clark said there was nothing Binghamton could do to gain more points.

“We were on fire all weekend long,” he said.

Junior Ryan Graham and senior Matt Russo led Binghamton’s divers. Graham came in third place in the 1 and 3-meter dive, while Russo was able to make the finals in both of his individual events.

“We’re just so deep,” Clark said. “All of our guys really performed well as a team. That’s the strength of Binghamton swimming and diving.”

On the women’s side, UMBC was also victorious while the Bearcats placed sixth. Standings aside, the team was able to accomplish one of its other goals by topping rival Stony Brook.

“They had beaten us the past couple of years,” Clark said. “We felt it was our turn to have a shot.”

Youth was served by Binghamton, which was headed by freshmen Brittany Detlef, Danielle Gallo and Lyndsi Worthington. Detlef tied for third in the 100-yard butterfly, becoming the first female Bearcat to win a medal at the America East meet. Gallo set a school record when she made the finals in the 100 breaststroke. Her time of 1:07.13 was almost a full second better than previous record-holder Mary Tennyson. Worthington rounded out the freshmen phenoms by finaling in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke.

“They’re the new wave of Binghamton swimming,” Clark said. “We had six different women score points. That’s amazing for our program.”

Clark said he expects to see improvements next season, especially on the women’s side. “We have another great class coming in.”

— Cyril Cheriyan contributed reporting to this story.