Men’s & Women’s track and field team dominate the regional championship meet
Photo courtesy of Geneseoknights.com
This past weekend, Mar. 7 and 8, the Geneseo Knights men’s and women's track and field team dominated their competition in their regional championship meet. The meet took place over the course of two days, competing at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) indoor championship. The women’s track and field team came out on top in a field of 68 teams, scoring 82 points, defeating Ithaca in second with 70. While the men’s track and field team finished in second, posting 69 points.
On day one of the meet, the women's team was in third place with 20 points. To start off the meet, sophomore Mackenzie Kubat finished second place in the long jump. Kubat’s stellar performance reached a new personal best and 16th overall in the National Collegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA) Division III with a jump of 5.75. Junior Jillian Ambler competed in the 60-meter hurdle prelims and took second place with a time of 8.59. Following Ambler’s performance, Heading into the 4x400 relay, Ambler, senior Brynn Mooney, senior Nicole Gretzinger, and freshman Stella Riley took first place. This win was a season best and set a new meet record time of 3:47.58. Following in their teammates’ stride, senior Annika Hurley finished in seventh in the 5000-meter with a time of 17:52.89. Following this performance, senior throwers Lauren Jaklitsch and Payton Mehalick finished 10th and 11th at 12.23 and 12.05 meters, respectively.
Entering the second day, Ambler competed in the 60-meter hurdle final. Ambler took third place overall for six points at 8.56 seconds. Striding into the mile, the Knights took fourth through seventh place on the podium. Senior Sierra Doody led the impeccable performance at a time of 4:58.45. Entering the 4x200 relay, the group of Ambler, Mooney, sophomore Lindsay Tellez, and senior Kayla Anastasia won with a time of 1:42.54. Continuing on, Gertzinger and sophomore Dakota Limbert’s scores together added up to 13 points in the 800-meter. Gertzinger led the way in second place at 2:11.71. To complete her teammate’s performance, Mooney brought in an additional four points with fifth-place finish in the 400-meter.The stellar performance of the women’s track and field team on day two was certainly one to remember.
A huge highlight of the Knight’s women's track and field on day two was Jaklitsch’s superb effort in the weight throw. Jaklitsch’s amazing throw at the meet set a new program record, breaking her own previous record of 18.71 meters. In addition, Jaklitsch set a new meet record and achieved the fourth-best throw in Division III with a distance of 18.80 meters. Jaklitsch’s and her teammates' stellar performances led to a first-place finish.
On day one for the Knights’ men's track and field team, they occupied first place with 29 total points. Junior Collin Brown set the pace in the 5000-meter, finishing with a time of 14:52.90. Heading into the 4x400 relay, the team of seniors Andrew Kent, sophomore Arjun Ojha, and juniors Sam Belmont and Giancarlo Di Fava certainly kept up with their teammates’ outstanding performances. The talented team finished in third place with their time of 3:15.36. Following the team’s performance, freshman Kole Ownes and sophomore Thomas Blake added points for the Knights with fourth and fifth place finishes.
Continuing into day two for the men's track and field team, senior Jacob Miller provided the Knights with another notable moment. Miller won the 400-meter with a new meet record of 47.50. Miler’s finish also marks the ninth fastest in Division III. In addition, sophomore Owen Murphy added eight points for the Knights in the mile. Murphy finished second overall at 4:14.32. Brown put up another amazing performance alongside sophomore James Tette, adding a triumphant win in the 3000-meter. Brown and Tette did this by finishing first and second at 8:29.92 and 8:28.29, respectively. The Knights’ successful outcome led them to a second-place victory of 69 points, following a 118-point first-place win by Rowan University.
Both the women's and men's track and field teams put up stellar performances this past weekend at the AARTFC indoor regional championship meet.The wins are most certainly marked by Kubat, Jaklitsch, and Miller setting new Division III records and representing their team to the fullest extent. On both days, the men's and women's performances dominated the show. If the Knight’s women's and men's track and field can continue to put stellar performances up on the board as they did in the regional championship, there is no doubt they will emerge victorious again at their next meet on Mar. 28 at the University of Rochester.