BRONX, N.Y. - Several America East cross country squads turned in impressive performances to wrap up the 2011 campaign over the weekend. The men’s and women’s teams from Albany and Binghamton headed to the Bronx for the ECAC and IC4A championship races.
The Albany men, the 2011 America East champions, notched a second-place finish in the IC4A Championship Division race. Senior Chris Burke finished the 8K race fourth overall in 24:57 to pace the Great Danes. Ethan Clary placed tenth in 25:22 to earn valuable points for Albany. Paul Lagno, Alex Leuchanka and Chris Buchanan finished 29th, 38th and 40th, respectively for the Danes.
The Binghamton men, meanwhile, dashed to a team victory in the IC4A University Division, the program’s first in that race. The Bearcats placed five runners in the top eleven places to capture the win. Freshman Colin Frost was the Bearcats’ top finisher, placing fourth and covering the 8,000-meter course in a time of 26:07. Junior Anthony Gaetani crossed right behind Frost in fifth (26:08), while freshman Cal Michaels 7th; 26:15), junior Vasili Papastrat (8th; 26:15) and junior Jason Santos (11th; 26:21) rounded out the scoring five for Binghamton.
Albany’s women’s squad successfully defended its ECAC University Division championship scoring ten points lower than Marist (109-119) to get the win. Sophomore Kathryn Fanning picked up the individual crown completing the 5K course in 18:06, while juniors Emily Finnegan and Melissa Del Rosario finished 13th and 15th in 18:41 and 18:43 to help pace the Danes. Miranda McConnell (28th) and Ada Lauterbach (52) completed the scoring five.
The Binghamton women competed in that same race finishing 11th overall out of 22 teams. Leading the way for the Bearcats was senior Ashley Horton who finished the race 14th in 18:42.