On Friday Feb. 1, the Geneseo track squads traveled to RIT to take part in the Black and Orange Invitational. This non-scoring meet featured several top teams from across New York State.
Junior Allison Lewis led the way for the women's squad by leading a 1-2-3 finish for Geneseo in the high jump with a height of 1.60 meters.
The Knights got a pair of 1.55 meter jumps from freshman Jen Pieper and sophomore Kristin Shumway in support of Lewis.
In the throwing events, junior Julie Thering placed second in both the shot put, with a distance of 11.72 meters, and the weight throw, hurling it 15.32 meters.
Other significant performances included a third place finish by senior Diana Snyder as she ran the 500 meter in 1:22.82.
In addition, junior Laura Iafrati and senior Emily Hurley placed third in their respective events; Iafrati ran a 5:21.72 mile and Hurley finished the 1,000 meter run in 3:08.97.
In the 4x800 relay, the women's team, consisting of Hurley, fellow senior Christy Finke, junior Meg Anderson and sophomore Erin Marks took first place with a time of 9:47.75.
For the men's squad, the star performance was turned in by senior Wes Hamilton, as he won the triple jump with a distance of 14.31 meters, which qualified him for the NCAA meet later this spring. Hamilton also achieved a second-place finish in the long jump at 6.78 meters.
Junior Kevin O'Connell also had a first-place finish, winning the pole vault with a height of 4.42 meters.
The Knights had athletes place in several other events. Freshman Dustin Rabideau was second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.05 and third in the triple jump, with a distance of 12.82 meters.
Fellow freshman Shaun Brummert was the runner-up in the 500, as he finished in 67.43.
Also placing for Geneseo were junior Will Haskell, who placed third in the 5,000 meter in 15:52.67, and sophomore Pat Gallagher, who finished third in the 200m with a personal best time of 23.43. The men also dominated in the mile, placing runners in third through sixth place.
Next up for the Knights is an away meet at the Valentine Invitational at Boston University. The women will compete on Friday, Feb. 8, and the men's meet is Saturday, Feb. 9.
This meet looks to be a challenge for Geneseo, as it will feature top teams from all over the East Coast. Many of these teams will be present at future meets, including the SUNYAC championship meet and the NCAA championship meet.