Over the weekend, individual members of the Binghamton University men’s and women’s track and field teams shone in a pair of events in which no team scoring was kept.
At the Penn Relays held Thursday through Saturday at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, the men’s performance was highlighted by a first place finish in the pole vault by junior Robb Quiller and record-breaking performances by sophomore Jeff Martinez in the men’s 10,000-meter run and seniors Cazal Arnett, Erik van Ingen and Casey Quaglia and junior Jesse McCormick in the distance medley relay.
At the Cornell Big Red Invitational on Sunday, Quiller took first place in the men’s pole vault once again, while sophomore Jessica Hennig broke a personal and school record en route to a first-place finish in the women’s 400.
At the Penn Relays, Martinez snapped the school record he previously held, completing the 10,000 with a time of 29:48 to become the first-ever Bearcat to record a time of under 30 minutes in the event. The performance landed Martinez a fourth-place finish and just beat his previous record of 30:05.46 set last year.
Arnett, van Ingen, Quaglia and McCormick shattered a second school record with a 9:45.17 finish in the distance medley relay. The seventh-place performance broke the previous record time of 10:43.43 that had been in place since 2003.
Quiller took one of his two first-place finishes at the Penn Relays, posting a height of 15-7 in the pole vault. He won again at the Cornell Big Red Invitational on Sunday with a height of 15-9. The winner of the past two America East Outdoor pole vault titles, Quiller will head into this weekend’s America East 2011 Outdoor Championships seeking a third.
Hennig captured a first-place finish at Sunday’s Invitational while breaking her own school record in the women’s 400. Her 55.43 finish just beat her previous record of 56.09 set in 2010. Hennig is the two-time defending America East indoor champion in the 400 and will look to grab her first outdoor title at the America East Outdoor Championships this weekend.
Also standing out at Cornell, juniors Eric VanAernam and Colin Anderson each took first place in the pole vault and hammer, respectively, while senior Andrew Ugolino finished third in the steeple chase.
For the women, Jenna Marrione and Camille Ginyard tied for second place in the pole vault. Four third-place finishes were recorded by Kaitlin Sullivan, Kathleen Klein, Jessica Conter and Abigail Oakes in their respective events.
The America East Outdoor Championships are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. this Saturday at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The second half of the two-day event is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday.