Despite standout individual performances from the Binghamton men’s and women’s track and field teams, both squads finished fifth of nine at the America East (AE) Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Durham, New Hampshire. The men’s team recorded a total of 99 points, while the women ended with 90 over the span of 22 different scored events.
“We had a lot of individuals who performed well,” said BU head coach Mike Thompson. “We just didn’t have enough depth to do well as a team.”
Competition started on Saturday at 10 a.m. with six scored events taking place throughout the day in addition to multiple preliminary events.
The Bearcats had many strong performances on Saturday, including senior Keishorea Armstrong’s first-place finish in the women’s long jump with a distance of 5.63 meters. Binghamton also succeeded in both the men’s and women’s hammer throws, taking second place in both events. Junior Brooke Bonney recorded a throw of 52.41 meters on the women’s side and freshman David Bernstein secured second for the men with a throw of 55.62 meters.
The Bearcats finished near the top of the conference in pole vault as well: senior Sarah Haley and freshman Samantha Beyar took second and third place, with heights of 3.80 meters and 3.55 meters, respectively. Senior Peter Fagan and graduate student Joe Miceli took third and fourth, logging vaults of 4.85 meters and 4.70 meters.
Strong individual performances powered the teams into good positions to place well after the end of Saturday’s events, with the women’s team in second place and the men’s team in fourth.
Several Bearcats continued to shine individually in day two of competition: senior Jon Alkins placed first in the men’s 200-meter dash with a time of 21.49 seconds and second in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.52 seconds. These results propelled him to win the Men’s Most Outstanding Track Performer and the Coaches’ Award.
Additionally, freshman Jack Fitzgerald and junior Ted Okon took first and second in the men’s high jump, both posting heights of 2.07 meters. Fitzgerald was awarded first as he made the jump on his second attempt, while Okon made it on his third. On the women’s side, senior Sarah Osaheni and junior Rasheedah Shardow took second and third in the 400-meter hurdles with times of 59.50 seconds and 1:02.31 seconds, respectively.
Binghamton excelled in the decathlon; Miceli won the competition for the second year in a row with a final score of 6,760 and freshman Troy Zanger took home fourth place with a score of 6,242. Miceli won three individual events, placed second in two events and third in another. His first place finishes in the shot put (13.55m), discus throw (37.36m) and pole vault (4.60m) earned him a tie for Most Outstanding Field Performer.
“It’s a great feeling just putting in a lot of work throughout the year for this moment,” Miceli said. “To have it all come together at the conference meet is definitely a great feeling.”
Although the Bearcats as a whole struggled, outstanding performances by Miceli and Alkins highlighted the meet.
“They did what they always do, which is compete hard, place high and score a lot of points,” Thompson said. “They’re both very reliable competitors and very talented competitors, and what they did was kind of expected but still impressive nonetheless.”
The Bearcats will compete at ECAC/IC4A Outdoor Championships in Princeton, New Jersey next weekend. The meet will be hosted by Princeton and begins at 10 a.m. on Friday.