The Geneseo indoor track teams attended the Robert J. Kane Invitational at Cornell last weekend and ended their regular season on a positive note.
The team squared off against athletes from several schools, including Cornell, Alfred State, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oswego, RIT, Nazareth College, Ithaca College, the University of Toronto, and Queen's University in Ontario. Both the men's team and the women's team had their share of standouts on Saturday.
For the men, senior Joe Goodspeed turned in two great performances, placing first in the high jump with a height of 6' 7" and second in the long jump with a distance of 22' 5.25". Senior Erik Weiber placed third in the high jump at 6' 3" and junior Wes Hamilton finished fourth in the long jump at 20' 9.25". Juniors Scott Baron and Paul Mesi placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 400 meter, and sophomore Will Haskell finished third in the 1000 meter with a time of 2:39.49.
Senior Jim Tillapaugh earned fifth place in the 800 meter at 1:57.46, and freshman Ryan Joyce captured fourth place in the triple jump at 42' 8".
For the women, the foursome of junior Meghan Nolan, freshmen Erin Marks and Carly Kramer, and sophomore Liz Montgomery finished first in the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 9:41.33. Montgomery also snagged first place in the women's 1000 meter, finishing in just over three minutes. Kramer finished fifth in the 500 meter, followed closely by sophomore Meg Anderson in eighth place, and junior Taryn Hand finished fifth in the mile at 5:22.68.
This meet was the team's last one before the SUNYAC championships. The coaching staff has spent the week busily preparing for the championship meet, which will be held at Hobart and William Smith College this Saturday. The men's team will look to earn their sixth SUNYAC title in seven years, and head coach Dave Prevosti may again be in contention for SUNYAC Coach of the Year, an honor he received at the end of the 2006 indoor season. Last year, the men's team also sent two athletes to the NCAA Division III national meet, and undoubtedly several of this season's athletes have their sights set on earning a bid to nationals.
The women's team has the opportunity to win its fifth consecutive SUNYAC title and its third straight New York State Collegiate Track Championships team title. They had an impressive seven athletes go to nationals last year, and if they perform well this weekend, it seems possible that a few of the women could earn national bids this year as well.