After shattering three program records last weekend at the Princeton Invitational and Bucknell Challenge, the Binghamton track and field teams continue to shine. On Tuesday, the America East announced that the Bearcat tandem of sophomore sprinter Jon Alkins and senior thrower Brandon Bordeau swept the male portion of the conference’s weekly awards.
“[The meet] was really low-pressure, so we just trusted that our training was working and we went out and did the best of our ability,” Bordeau said.
Bordeau, who was named the AE Field Athlete of the Week for the second time this season, shined at the Bucknell Invitational. The senior shot a personal best in both the shot put event, recording a distance of 55-1 ½ feet, and in the discus event, in which he registered a score of 164-2. Bordeau’s throw in the shot put surpassed the previous program record of 54-6 ½, which was set by current BU senior Pat Heikkila in 2014.
“I think it is just an indication that our training is going well, that it is doing what it should,” Bordeau said. “Leading up to conferences, I am where I should be. It is definitely a good indicator that I am where I want to be.”
Bordeau was victorious in two events at Bucknell, and his scores in both events qualified for the IC4A qualifying standard. He will look to carry momentum into upcoming events, including this weekend’s competition in the Penn Relays.
“You just have to use it as a motivator, that you can know you can throw that far,” Bordeau said. “You just have to push yourself as far as you can, going into the Penn Relays and conferences. That’s when you really want to peak and reach your highest potential. I’m using it as a litmus test to see where I should really be performing when I’m at 100 percent.”
Alkins was also victorious in two of his sprinting events at Bucknell. Alkins bested 11 other runners in the 100-meter event, finishing with a time of 10.83 seconds. In the 200-meter sprint, he finished ahead of 17 other runners with a time of 21.40 seconds. The sophomore, who also met the IC4A qualifying standard, earned the AE Track Athlete of the Week award for his performance.
“Being selected to represent not only my school but my team, putting in all of the hard work I have throughout the year, it’s great to be selected by the America East as their Athlete of the Week,” Alkins said. “You know, you are competing with not just other track athletes, but overall every athlete who competes in the spring season. So winning this is definitely an honor.”
The Binghamton track and field teams are set to participate in the Penn Relays this weekend. While events were scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, no results were available at the time of deadline. However, BU expects to see top competition at the event.
“I expect the competition to be incredibly high, the highest competition level any of us will probably see,” Bordeau said. “It’s an opportunity to put yourself out there with people who are just as competitive as you, and I will probably see some of the people I will be throwing against at conferences, so it is a good chance to see where they’re at and what the competition looks like.”