BRONX, N.Y.—The Binghamton men’s cross country team took five of the first 11 places en route to capturing its first-ever IC4A University championship on Saturday afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park. In the women’s ECAC University race, the Bearcats were 11th overall.

In a field of 16 teams and 139 runners, Binghamton recorded just 35 points, outdistancing runner-up Fordham, which finished with 60 points. Freshman Colin Frost was the Bearcats’ top finisher, placing fourth and covering the 8,000-meter course in a time of 26:07. He is the highest Binghamton finisher at the IC4A meet in the program’s 11-year NCAA Division I history. Junior Anthony Gaetani was fifth (26:08), freshman Cal Michaels was seventh (26:15), junior Vasili Papastrat was eighth (26:15) and junior Jason Santos was 11th (26:21). The separation between the Bearcats’ top five runners was just 14 seconds.

Julian Saad of Fordham won the individual title with a time of 25:28.

On the women’s side, graduate student Ashley Horton was Binghamton’s top finisher, placing 14th out of 217 runners in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:42. Junior Rachel Miura was 20th (18:56) and junior Lindsay Raulli was 26th.

“I was proud of how well we focused and competed today,” head coach Annette Acuff said. “The team has grown a lot this year and we will reap the benefits next year.”

Kathryn Fannig of Albany won the ECAC race with a time of 18:06. The Great Danes also won the team title with 109 points.

NOTES: Prior to this year, Binghamton’s top IC4A Division I finisher was Adam Hill, who was fifth in 2007. Binghamton was the runner-up as a team that year. On the women’s side, however, Katie Radzik won the individual title in 2006.