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A native of Marathon, N.Y., Erik van Ingen competed in cross country and track at Binghamton from 2008-12. He graduated with a degree in cinema in 2012.
The most accomplished distance runner in school history, van Ingen finished his Binghamton career as a four-time first team All-American, seven-time NCAA qualifier and nine-time America East champion. He ran a sub-four minute mile three times, was a conference cross country champion and later competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
After transferring to Binghamton in 2008, van Ingen won the first of his nine conference titles with a victory in the indoor track 1,500 meters.
One year later, he captured the America East individual cross country title and led the Bearcats a landslide team championship — the program's first. Two weeks later, he placed seventh in a field of 244 runners at the NCAA Northeast Regional to become the first Binghamton runner to advance to the NCAA Championship. Indoors, van Ingen became the first BU athlete to run a sub-4 minute mile when he won the Penn State National Open in 3:59.58. After another America East title in the mile, van Ingen placed 11th at the NCAA Championship.
In 2010-11, van Ingen advanced to the NCAA Cross Country Championship for the second straight year, narrowly missing All-America honors by three spots. He then captured his first two All-America track honors when he placed fifth in the indoor mile and sixth in the outdoor 1,500. That indoor season, van Ingen held the third-fastest time in the country and 14th-best in the world in the 1,000 (2:21.28). He was selected as the America East Indoor Track Most Outstanding Athlete, the Northeast Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and was named BU's Athlete of the Year for the second straight year.
In 2011-12, van Ingen tacked on two more first team All-America honors with top-8 performances at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He placed seventh in the mile at indoor nationals and followed with an eighth-place showing in the outdoor 1,500. Along the way, van Ingen also ran a school-record 3:56.37 at the prestigious Wanamaker Mile — the 14th-fastest time in the world that year.
van Ingen was honored with the John Bilos Award in 2012 for career achievement.
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