Men’s and women’s track and field teams stride into the season

Photo courtesy of Geneseo Knights

Geneseo’s track and field team opened its outdoor season with dominant performances at Rochester, highlighted by strong showings in the women’s 1500-meter and a sweep of the men’s 5000-meter.

This past Sunday, Mar. 29, the Geneseo Knights' men’s and women’s track and field team strode into their season opener at Rochester. While in Rochester, teammates including junior Ryan Hagan and senior Sierra Doody ventured to North Carolina to represent Geneseo at the Raleigh Relays, a show that features various athletic competitions and is part of the outdoor season schedule for collegiate track and field teams. 

At Rochester, freshmen Alexa Kosier and Greylynn Guyer, and junior Hannah Wierer began the meet with a startling track performance in the women’s 1500 meters. They scored respective times in heat one of 4:44.30, 4:45.20, and 4:50.70, taking the top three spots in the event; honorable mentions were freshmen Annabelle Czekanski and sophomore Ella Grinnell for scoring fifth and eighth place with times of 4:53.16 and 4:57.86. 

Moving into the women’s 5000-meter, sophomore Ari Reback and senior Ann Brennan had times of 17:25.33 and 17:26.60, respectively. Reback and Brennan’s scores allowed them to sweep second and third place in the event. Freshman Kaitlyn Hotaling also placed sixth in the 5000-meter with a score of 18:06.62. In the women’s 800-meter final, freshmen Kate Miller, Czekanski, and Dia Sweet—with respective times of 2:25.44, 2:25.68, and 2:25.87—took sixth, seventh, and eighth place in the event. 

Leading into the women’s field events, senior Lauren Jaklitsch competed spectacularly, which led to her placing second place overall in hammer throw, with a throw of 44.99 meters. Following in their teammate’s lead, seniors Payton Mehalick and Lauren Jaklitsch placed fourth and fifth in the women’s shot put final with distances of 11.66 meters and 11.61, respectively. In the women's discus throw, junior Ashley Tubbs and freshmen Mckenzie Zafuto placed fourth and sixth with scores of 35.32 meters and 30.98 meters. 

In regard to the men's performance, it was certainly one to watch. Sophomore Thomas Blake had a striking performance in the 1500-meter final, which led to him being placed first overall in the first heat with a time of 3:59.55. Sophomore Sean Verbosky and freshman Cameron Garofalo also placed third and fifth in this event with times of 4:02.15 and 4:04.59, respectively. In the men’s 800-meter final, freshman Ian Zehnder placed fourth in heat one with an impressive time of 2:00.92.

Leading into the men’s 5000-meter final, the Knights had an impeccable performance, sweeping the top ten spots with senior Anson Butler and sophomores Johnny Mudge and Ethan Becker taking the top three with times of 15:12.57, 15:24.24, and 15:25.44, respectively. 

Entering into the men’s field events, in the shot put final, juniors Chris Miller and Jayden Caroll, sophomore Adam Deputy, and freshman Ryan Friel took fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh place with distances of 12.54 meters, 12.35 meters, 12.29 meters, and 12.15 meters. In the discus throw, junior Paul Hayes and Miller placed seventh and eighth with distances of 39.03 meters and 38.40 meters. To finish  off the meet, an impressive performance was given by Caroll who took fifth place overall with a distance of 46.31 meters. 

In North Carolina, Doody put up an amazing performance while competing in the 800-meter. She finished 30th overall with a time of 2:09.34. Doody following in her teammates' lead, Hagan competed in the 800-meter as well and finished 12th out of 193 runners who were mainly Division 1 athletes. Hagan also competed in the 15000-meter and finished 28th with a time of 3:43.50; this score marks the second fastest in Knights history. 

The dominating performances put up by the men & women’s track and field teams at Rochester, as well as Hagan and Doody’s performance at the Raleigh Relays, foreshadow a great season if they are able to maintain their performances. The meet at Rochester was highlighted by the impeccable performances of the women’s team in the 1500-meter and the men’s team in the 5000-meter. There is no doubt that the Knights team will continue to do great in their next meet on Apr. 4 at Geneseo.