On Sunday Feb. 26, the Geneseo men's indoor track and field team clinched the SUNYAC championship title, while the women's team took third behind SUNY Cortland and Buffalo State College.
Seniors Lee Berube and Wenley Louis led the Knights with a pair of wins each. Berube finished the 3,000- and 5,000-meter in ECAC-qualifying times of 8 minutes, 27.76 seconds and 15:14.04, respectively.
In the field events, Louis grabbed wins in the long jump and triple jump. Louis' 7.24-meter long jump earned not only a win but a meet record and ECAC-qualifying distance as well. In the triple jump, Louis managed 14.32 meters to seal the win.
"[Berube and Louis] are exceptional," head coach Dave Prevosti said. "They just step up and they care about the team … In order to beat them you're going to not just have to deal with their athleticism but their strength of will, and that was demonstrated there."
Other key performances by the men's team included seniors Eddie Novara and Chris Carter with wins and ECAC-qualifying times in the mile and 800-meter run, respectively.
Prevosti noted, "Carter was superb. He put a great move in and separated himself from the field."
Alongside Louis in the long jump was senior Nwana Okafor, who finished second with a leap of 6.94 meters.
"[Okafor] was seeded to finish second and he was down as low as fourth until his last jump," Prevosti stated. "He pulled it out in his last jump and finished second there. That was really exciting."
Prevosti said that the men's team demonstrated overall control in the SUNYAC meet since "there were a couple of events that [they] didn't score in." He added, "I can say without even looking that we're the only team that can boast that."
Eight members of the men's team earned All-SUNYAC team recognition, while head coach Prevosti won SUNYAC Men's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year for the second time.
On the women's side, junior Marissa Liberati posted the lone win. Liberati, who ran 10.04.95 in the 3,000-meter, finished nearly nine seconds ahead of the second place competitor – fast enough to qualify for ECACs. Liberati also earned the only All-SUNYAC first-team recognition for the women's side.
"I think what [Liberati] did is considerable … That's what she does. She always performs and she's exceptional," Prevosti said.
Coach Prevosti stated he was also impressed by the 800-meter group.
"We didn't win, but the top three places broke the SUNYAC record. Unfortunately we didn't get first, but we got second and third, and all of the top eight competitors hit the ECAC standard and we had the majority of them too. That was an exceptional race and a highlight for our women and what they can do," Prevosti said.
Appearing in the 800-meter run were freshman Keira Wood, junior Cailin Kowalewski, sophomore Allison Hoh and senior Kelly Brunscheen, who finished second through fifth, respectively. Wood also earned second-team All-SUNYAC.
Although the women's team did not earn the win, coach Prevosti said he considers their performance an accomplishment.
"We were actually seeded to finish fourth based on our regular season, so in that we finished third was an accomplishment, and that we had a shot at second was pretty nice too." Prevosti continued, "We knew that we were really young this year. We know that Cortland was [really] strong and that [Buffalo State] had some key people that were seniors and that it was going to be a real good year for them potentially. It made it hard."
The Knights will continue their indoor season at the New York City Armory on Friday March 2 for the ECAC Championships.