Photo by Jonathan Cohen
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The Binghamton University men’s and women’s cross country teams defended their home course with a dominant performance on Saturday against Siena. The men’s team won 16-43 and placed the first four spots, while the women’s team won 15-49 and displayed the potential the team has when it is healthy.

‘Everybody looked great,’ head coach Annette Acuff said. ‘We had two solid weeks of training, and we were in great shape for the meet.’

For the men’s team, sophomore Vasili Papastrat finished first in the men’s 8,000-meter race with a time of 26:33, the fifth-fastest time set by a Binghamton runner on the course in the Division I era. Papastrat’s impressive performance highlighted a strong showing by the BU men’s team, which was without its top seven runners. Those runners are on a strict training schedule and are resting for future meets.

At the halfway point of the race, a group of Binghamton runners were ahead of the field, displaying a pack-running method that seemed to be effective in pushing the runners. Papastrat said mile three was where he and sophomore teammate Brendan Connell made their move, pulling ahead of the pack.

‘We made our move, and I just stayed strong,’ he said. ‘I felt really relaxed going in. I tried not to stress myself out.’

Connell finished in second with a time of 26:51. Junior Tyler Stachecki came in third, running the course in 26:58. Rounding out BU’s top five were sophomore Jason Santos and graduate student Chris Raulli, who finished the race with times of 27:07 and 28:00, respectively.

Papastrat was able to run his record time in front of his hometown fans.

‘That’s the greatest part,’ he said. ‘It took me back to high school days.’

Freshman Ryan Egan led Siena with a time of 27:37, finishing in fifth overall.

For the women’s team, sophomore Lindsay Raulli finished first in the women’s 5,000-meter race, finishing the course in 18:53. It was the 10th-fastest time recorded on the course in the Division I era and the fourth-fastest time for a Binghamton runner during that span.

‘It was a good first meet,’ Raulli said. ‘It gives us the confidence we’ll need at the end of the season.’

Raulli said she expects that by the end of the season, her teammates will be running with and ahead of herself. Raulli was the first BU runner to break the 19:00 barrier on the course since 2005, when Katie Radzik and Stacey Kramer both accomplished the feat.

‘She looked great,’ Acuff said. ‘It was a low-key meet, a chance to get the rust out a little.’

Sophomore Rachel Miura finished second with a time of 19:17, beating her freshman time by 26 seconds. After stellar freshman campaigns, Raulli and Miura will look to lead a healthy women’s squad during the season.

Raulli said she felt good throughout the race and that once she passed the steepest hill, she finished strongly.

‘I felt good at the top of the hill,’ she said. ‘That’s the hardest part of the course.’

Senior Sarah Veith finished in third with a time of 19:27. Senior Ashley Horton came in fourth, finishing the course in 20:00, and freshman Kelly Abbate rounded out the top five, running the race in 20:14.

The Binghamton cross country team’s next meet is the Lehigh Paul Short Run, scheduled for Oct.1.