Over the weekend, the Binghamton track and field teams competed at the Valentine’s Invitational at Boston University and the Kane Invitational at Cornell, the last two meets before the America East Conference Championships. This weekend saw notable performances from familiar faces despite no team scoring for either at either meet.

“I feel we’re in a good spot,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “I’m curious to see how we perform next weekend, but overall, I think we are in a pretty good spot going into the conference.”

The weekend started at Boston University, where Binghamton competed at the Valentine’s Invitational from Friday to Saturday. The most notable performance at the meet came from senior Joe Cardascia, who competed in the 400m, where he placed fourth with a time of 47.93. On Saturday, the Bearcats headed to Cornell University, where they competed in the Kane Invitational. This meet saw several outstanding performances for Binghamton.

On the women’s side, graduate student Jenna Chan once again tied her school record that she set last weekend in the 60 hurdles. Chan came in first with a time of 8.35, marking her fifth win in this event this season. Graduate student Penelope Paldino took home silver in the same event with a time of 8.56, marking the third-fastest time in program history. Fellow graduate student Gianna Hoose took home gold in the weight throw with a distance of 58-7.25. Senior Lucciana Robertson also took home a first-place finish in the high jump with a distance of 5-6.5.

“[Chan] performed very well, like she generally does,” Thompson said. “I thought on the women’s side, the two standout performances to me were [Paldino] in the hurdles, which was a huge performance for her but also [sophomore Carlea Davis] in the triple jump, who I think placed fourth and maybe wouldn’t stand out right away, but it was a personal best for her by almost two feet.”

The Bearcats did not stop there, as three women took home bronze: junior Alyssa Armitage in the pole vault with a distance of 12-9.5, senior Zoe Rose in the 800m with a time of 2:23.47 and sophomore Abigail Litwiller in the 3,000m with a time of 10:56.64. Davis competed in the triple jump, where she took home a fourth-place finish with a distance of 36-6.25.

“I was happy with [freshman Justin Hargraves] and [sophomore Marcus Nahim] in the 60,” Thompson said. “I know they both probably wanted to run faster, but they ran well, they’ve been consistent. [Hargraves has] had a couple tough meets in a row, so it was nice to see him back, but I think that they’re really going to do well at the conference meet. I think they’re both set up to take it to another level and contribute next weekend.”

On the men’s side, freshman John Garrison took home gold in the 3,000m with a time of 9:06.98. In the 60m, Hargraves took home silver with a time of 6.91, followed by Nahim in third with a time of 6.92. Two Bearcats took home fourth-place finishes in their respective events, sophomore Brennan Delany in the long jump with a distance of 22-4.25 and freshman Jacob Park in the pole vault with a distance of 14-7.25. With this final weekend coming to a close, Binghamton will head into the next week preparing for the conference meet.

“This week will be about just staying sharp, not a lot of volume of work so that they can recover and feel really fresh and ready to go this weekend,” Thompson said. “All the work has been done, so this week will be pretty light and we’ll just give them a chance to feel recovered and at their best.”

The Bearcats will head back to Boston University to compete at the America East Conference Championships from Saturday, Feb. 22. to Sunday, Feb 23. The first event is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Boston University Track & Tennis in Boston, Massachusetts.