HOPKINTON, N.H. – The men's cross country teams earned a runner-up finish while the women's squad placed third, highlighting Binghamton's performance at the America East Cross Country Championships on Friday at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds. It marked the fourth straight season that both Bearcat squads have earned Top-3 team finishes at the conference meet.
The Bearcat men placed five runners among the top 12 finishers of Friday's race, earning a program-best five all-conference selections (Top 14) in the process. They finished with just 38 points - their lowest total since 2009 - and finished within striking distance of UMass Lowell, which recorded 24 points.
On the women's side, the Bearcats were third with 71 points, trailing Maine (49) and Bryant (51) in the team standings. In the process, Binghamton posted three all-conference selections for the third time in four years.
"Overall, we are really pleased with how we did today," head coach Annette Acuff said. "I'm super proud of how the men did. It's one of the top two performances that they've ever had at the conference meet. The women also ran solid today and had several good performances."
Sophomore Bobby Mayclim was the Bearcats' top men's finisher, covering the 8,000-meter course in a time of 24:29. He was followed in the team standings by fellow sophomore Nick Thomas in sixth place (24:34), junior Liam Cody in seventh place (24:36), senior Andrew Rosenblatt in ninth place (24:42) and freshman George Thomatos in 12th place (24:52).
Rosenblatt completes his cross country career as a two-time all-conference selection, having placed 11th last year. Mayclim moved up from 21st place last year while Thomas was 27th. The most dramatic improvement from 2024, however, was Cody - who was 59th.
Also turning in solid races for the Binghamton men's team on Friday were freshman Anthony Zazzaro in 19th place (25:06) and fellow rookie Noah Hilker in 23rd place (25:17).
"We had the best finish we could have had today and it was very exciting," Rosenblatt said. "We knew it was going to be tough to catch Lowell but everybody stepped up today and had a great performance."
The runner-up finish by Binghamton's men's team is its first since 2022. The Bearcats tied for third in 2023 and were third last year.
UMass Lowell swept the top three places in the men's race to lock up their sixth straight America East title. Jan Wouter Van Den Akker was the individual champion with a time of 23:47.
There were 79 finishers in the men's race.
Senior Sydney Leitner was the top women's finisher, placing fourth overall with a 5,000-meter time of 17:36. In the process, she completed her career as a four-time all-conference honoree. Leitner placed fifth in 2022 and 2024 as well as third in 2023.
Earning her second all-conference selection was sophomore Anna Gansrow, who was 10th with a time of 17:51. She was 14th last season.
Freshman Alice Rappazzo was the Bearcat women's other all-conference honoree. She was 12th with a time of 17:58.
Completing the scoring for Binghamton were junior Brynn Hogan in 15th place (18:11) and redshirt sophomore Vicky Mordvinova in 30th place (18:42).
"We have a really young team and I am so proud of how they did today," Leitner said. "They have a lot of years left in them and they put their best foot forward every day,"
Leitner now has the second-most all-conference honors in Binghamton program history. Aziza Chigatayeva, who is currently on the Bearcats' coaching staff, posted five straight selections from 2018-22. During Leitner's career, Binghamton has been the runner up at the conference meet in 2022, won in 2023 and has now placed third two straight years.
Jasmine Trott of Bryant was the women's individual champion on Friday with a time of 17:02.Â
There were 79 finishers in the women's race.
Binghamton returns to the Hopkinton State Fairground on Nov. 14 for the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet.
NOTES: The 2009 Bearcat men's team scored a program-low 30 points at the America East and won its first-ever championship … finishers 1-7 at the America East Cross Country Championships earn first-team all-conference honors while second-team status goes to finishers 8-14 ...Â
 this marks the fourth straight year that the Binghamton women's team has had a freshman earn all-conference honors. In addition to Leitner in 2022, Gansrow in 2023 and Rappazzo on Friday, Hogan was 13th in 2023.
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