Cross country preview: Holt, Davis lead teams
Bearcats open season at pre-conference meet in Vermont
The Binghamton men’s and women’s cross country teams launch their 2017 campaigns on Saturday, Sept. 2, at the America East Pre-Conference Meet. Hosted by Vermont, the meet will serve as a preview for the Oct. 28 championship races, which will be held on the same course.
Redshirt senior Eric Holt and redshirt freshman Dan Schaffer have emerged as the top runners on Bearcat men’s squad.
Holt redshirted in 2016 but has finished in the top 20 at the conference meet twice during his career. In 2014, when Binghamton won the team championship, he was 11th overall.
At last year’s America East indoor track championships, Holt won the mile. The previous outdoor season, he captured the conference title in the 1,500.
Holt also has one year of eligibility remaining in both indoor and outdoor track.
Schaffer, meanwhile, redshirted the entire 2016-17 academic year but showed his potential in June with a third-place finish in the 5,000 at the USATF Junior National Outdoor Track & Field Meet.
A 2016 graduate of nearby Maine Endwell High School, Schaffer was named first-team all-state in cross country as a junior and senior. He capped his career by winning the New York State (NYS) outdoor track title in the 1,600.
On the women’s side, senior Allison Davis was the top runner on the squad last season. She was a team-best 27th overall at the 2016 America East Championships after placing 31st and 32nd the previous two years respectively.
Davis has been a top-8 finisher in the 5,000 at the America East Track Championships twice during her career. She was eighth in the indoor meet last year and fifth in the outdoor championships in 2016.
In addition to the pair of meets at Vermont, Binghamton hosts Colgate in a dual meet on Sept. 16, heads to the Lehigh/Paul Short Run on Sept. 29, travels to the Princeton Invitational on Oct. 14 and takes part in the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships in Buffalo on Nov. 10.