On Nov. 1, the Geneseo women's cross-country team won the SUNYAC championship for the ninth consecutive year by a score of 26-47 and the men finished in second place overall.
Geneseo hosted the championship at Letchworth State Park.
Senior Laura Iafrati came in second individually to lead Geneseo in the 6k race with a time of 22:07. Freshman Alyssa Smith placed third with a time of 22:09, deemed by head coach Mike Woods to be, "one of her best performances of the year."
Junior Danni Hunt placed fifth, finishing in 22:26, and was closely followed by junior Erin Marks, who crossed in seventh place with a time of 22:54. Senior Lisa Halloran was ninth overall with a time of 23:02, finishing just behind former teammate Lauren Mesi of Brockport.
"We placed five women in the top nine, which was our goal coming in to the race," said Woods. "If our top five run their best races, we're better than anyone around here."
Cortland's Andi Palen was the individual winner with a time of 21:58.
The men's team came second only to Cortland with a score 22-61. First place Cortland is ranked number one in the country and captured their third consecutive SUNYAC crown.
"They were a very deep team, deeper than I expected and that depth helped them a lot," said Woods. Cortland's Seth DuBois won the individual title with a time of 25:00 over the 8k course and teammate Shamus Nally placed second in 25:01.
Junior Tim Chichester was the first Geneseo runner to cross the finish line, with a time of 25:22, putting him in seventh place overall. Woods called Chichester, "The absolute mark of consistency this year."
Sophomore Tom Reubens placed 13th in 25:52 and senior Brett Dolan crossed the line in 25:55 to place 14th. Freshman Lee Berube took 16th with a time of 26:00 and Junior Jesse Berube rounded out the scoring five for the Knights, finishing in 26:07, good enough for 19th overall.
"A couple of our guys had off races but I'm not concerned about it anymore," said Woods. "We have to keep looking forward to our next meet."
Up next for Geneseo is the Atlantic Regional Qualifier on Nov. 15 at St. Lawrence University, a race that will determine which two teams from the Atlantic Region will receive bids to the NCAA Championship race on Nov. 22.
Geneseo's women's team is widely expected to win the regional while the men are expected to battle it out with New York University and St. Lawrence University for second place behind Cortland.