The Binghamton men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in their final meet of the season on Friday at the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Both squads showed improvement compared to the 2024 NCAA Northeast Regional meet, where the men finished 16th and the women 24th. This time around, the men’s squad finished 13th in a 38-team field, while the Bearcat women placed 19th out of 37 teams, bringing Binghamton head coach Annette Acuff’s 25th year leading the program to a close.
“I think overall, we had a great season,” Acuff said. “We were really pleased with how we competed at the America East championships and also at the NCAA Regional meet. We showed a lot of improvement this season, especially at the NCAA regional and the conference meet, too. So overall, we were very pleased.”
Senior Andrew Rosenblatt closed his Binghamton cross country career with a personal best, finishing 57th in the men’s 10k championship race. He completed the course in 30:40.5 among 263 competitors. Leading the way for the Bearcat men was sophomore Bobby Mayclim, who placed 38th with a time of 30:23.7. Mayclim’s finish is tied for the sixth highest in program history among men at the NCAA Northeast Region meet.
Other Bearcats finishing in the top 100 included junior Liam Cody in 75th place with a time of 30:54.2, and sophomore Nick Thomas in 97th with a time of 31:09.2. Just seconds behind Thomas was freshman Anthony Zazzaro, who finished 107th at 31:15.8. Freshmen Noah Hilker and George Thomatos took 147th and 148th places, respectively, with times of 31:46.1 and 31:46.2.
The final team tally saw Binghamton’s men finish 13th with 373 points.
On the women’s side, sophomore Anna Gansrow led the team with a 59th-place finish out of 251 runners in the women’s 6k championship race, crossing the line in 21:02.1. Close behind was senior Sydney Leitner, who placed 62nd in 21:05.0 as she wrapped up her BU cross country career. No other Bearcat woman placed in the top 100, but several returners posted notable finishes. Freshman Alice Rappazzo finished 126th in 21:50.5, junior Vicky Mordvinova came in 147th with a time of 22:05.1, and junior Brynn Hogan placed 164th at 22:23.3.
Ultimately, the Binghamton women finished 19th in team scoring with 552 points.
Looking ahead to the offseason, Acuff shared, “We take a little bit of time off. We do have our first indoor meet the first weekend in December. A few of our distance runners will compete at that first indoor meet, but most of the team will compete later in January, when we open up after the holiday break.”
Despite the conclusion of Binghamton’s cross country season, the Bearcats earned an impressive number of America East (AE) honors. The men posted historic performances in the AE championship, while the women continued a three-year streak of underclassmen earning AE all-conference selections.
Overall, the Bearcat men and women combined for eight AE all-conference nods, with five from the men’s side and three from the women’s. Among the all-conference selections were both Mayclim and Gansrow, the team’s top finishers at Friday’s meet. Both athletes are set to return next year as Acuff looks forward to further developing her roster.
“I think the future of the program looks fantastic,” Acuff said. “We’re super excited about the talent we have on both teams, and really looking forward to the future.”
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