The Binghamton men’s and women’s track and field teams split up this weekend to compete at the Cornell/Robert Kane Invitational, hosted by Cornell, and the Penn State National Open, hosted by Penn State.
At Cornell, it was senior Nina Sarmiento who had the only first-place finish of the day for the Bearcats, taking the win in the 500-meter with a time of 1:17.01.
Sophomore Juliana Klein and junior Aziza Hawthorne each took third in their races, the 400-meter (1:02.63) and 200-meter (25.90), respectively.
Off the track, sophomore Brooke Bonney took third in the weight throw, throwing for 55-10½ and hitting the ECAC standard qualifying time. This mark also improved her own personal best and set school record, which was previously at 52-10¾.
Jackie Crunden, a junior, took third in the high jump, hitting a mark of 5-5.
For the men, it was sophomore Tom Moshier who had the highest finish of the day, taking third in the 800-meter with a time of 2:00.63.
Freshman Martin O’Connell took fourth in the 1,000-meter (2:33.22), while graduate student Pat Heikklia placed fourth in the weight throw (50-9½).
At Penn State, it was the pole vault duo of junior Peter Fagan and senior Joe Miceli who had the highest finish of the day for the Bearcats, finishing first and second, respectively, and both hitting a mark of 16-9½, meeting the IC4A standard qualifying time. This mark also puts the two at second and third place all-time in that event in Binghamton history.
Also recording a high finish on the men’s side was senior Adam Mcle, who finished fifth in the 500-meter (1:05.51), and junior Jon Alkins, who finished sixth in the 200-meter (21.92).
Junior Keishorea Armstrong was the top finisher on the women’s side, placing second in the long jump with a mark of 19-8.
Senior Alexis Hatcher finished fifth in the 1,000-meter (2:53.76), while sophomore Allison Davis finished seventh in the 3,000-meter (10:01.37).
The indoor track season will culminate at the America East Championships in less than three weeks, and BU head coach Mike Thompson expects his team to utilize the remaining time to get to the level at which they must be at to face that competition.
“The last two weekends will go a long way in preparation,” Thompson said. “I think right now they’re still not quite where we want them to be, but the last two meets were pretty decent.”
Thompson is looking to see his athletes step up in the meets that are left before the conference championships, in which the men’s and women’s teams finished second and third, respectively, at last year’s meet.
“What we want to see is determination and focus,” Thompson said. “I think as a whole, we want everybody to start stepping up and start producing some good performances. The goal is for them to show up, stay in the present and compete to the best of their abilities.”
The Bearcats are set to return to action this weekend at the Sykes and Sabock challenge in State College, Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday.