The Geneseo indoor track team geared up for its first meet of the season this past Saturday at the Cornell Relays: an open invitational that was attended by numerous schools from the region across all divisions that also included numerous unattached runners.
Despite the large number of participants, Geneseo athletes turned in several top-notch performances, including multiple school records.
In field events, two athletes had a record setting day. Junior Wenley Louis placed fourth in the long jump with a 6.81-meter leap. Louis' jump hurtled him to third place all-time in Geneseo's history. Junior Alex Curran, while placing 13th at the meet, also entered the school record books with a 4.20-meter finish in the pole vault.
The Knights also recorded some outstanding times on the track at Cornell. Sophomore Lee Berube, coming off an outstanding cross-country season, set the school record for the 5,000-meter race with a time of 14 minutes, 30 seconds, earning him a first-place finish.
Seniors Tim Chichester and Bobby Henchen were close behind, crossing the finish line in third and fourth overall in 15:02.44 and 15:24.32, respectively.
Senior Lee Gabler's 9:03.52 finish in the 3,000-meter race was good enough for seventh overall. Geneseo also did well in the distance medley race, as seniors Tim Kramer and Dan Pollock combined with junior Bill Juda and sophomore Henry Potter for a second-place finish in 10:43.05.
Freshman sprinter Ian Besso entered the Geneseo record books with a 7.27 finish in the 60-meter dash, good enough for fourth place in school history. "For my first college race ever as a freshman, I liked having upperclassmen to run against," Besso said. "It was a whole new experience - going to an Ivy League school to compete - and I can't wait to go back next year."
On Saturday, Geneseo track will compete at Rochester Institute of Technology. The season has just begun but the team is optimistic and hopeful. Besso summed it up, saying, "I can tell that this is going to be one of the best seasons in school history."