On Oct. 2, the Knights hosted the 28th Annual Geneseo Cross-Country Invitational and both the men and women out-raced their competition for first place team finishes.
The women's team finished with 25 team points and the men's team with 36 team points.
Many area colleges were in attendance, including a previously undefeated University of Rochester squad. The women's team was led by senior Laura Iafrati, who won her first ever collegiate race at 22:16 over the six kilometer course. Following closely behind her was junior Danielle Hunt who crossed the finish line in 22:24. Freshman Alyssa Smith was fourth overall with a time of 22:37. Senior Mary McGrath came in seventh with a time of 23:29 and senior Larkin Kimmerer was 11th in 23:45 to finish the scoring five for Geneseo
"I was very pleased with the performance this weekend," said head coach Mike Woods. "We were missing several of our top runners so I was a little worried but the girls definitely came through for us."
"[McGrath] really has stepped it up from last year after dealing with being sick and injuries and it's good to see her racing like she did her sophomore year," Woods added.
The women's team is currently ranked eighth in the nation, according to the latest Division III poll.
The men's team finished just as well as their counterparts, running a tight race to defeat second place SUNY Plattsburgh. The Geneseo Alumni Team, featuring several top Geneseo runners from years past, placed third. The winners jumped several spots in the latest national poll to 13th in the nation following their performance last week.
Freshman Lee Berube was the first Geneseo runner to cross the finish line, placing fourth overall with a personal best of 25:42.
Woods called it, "Lee's best race so far." Berube beat out junior Tim Chichester, who was fifth in 25:44. Geneseo completed their scoring five with sophomores Jesse Berube finishing in 26:03, Bill Juda in 26:04 and Tom Reubens in 26:08 for eighth through 10th place respectively.
The close finish - only 26 seconds separated the top five runners - was the highlight, according to Woods. "They're starting to click. We're just getting into race shape."
Woods was particularly pleased with Juda, saying, "Bill had a breakthrough race, and he's finally starting to race like I know he can race."
Next up for Geneseo is the Yellowjacket Invitational at the University of Rochester on Oct. 18.