Despite bitter wind gusts up to 32 mph and unseasonal snow flurries, the Geneseo track and field teams endured, winning four first-place finishes in the SUNY Cortland Classic Invitational on Saturday April 20.
The men’s team left Cortland with multiple top-five finishes, including first place for sophomore Chaz Abad in the 10,000-meter and first for sophomore Phil Longo in the high jump. Second-place finishers on the day were freshman Adrian Bergere in the high jump and senior Chris Carter in the 1,500-meter. Freshman Brendan Wortner finished third in the steeplechase and senior Brendan Murphy placed fifth and sixth in the shot put and hammer throw, respectively.
The invitational, initially scheduled for Friday April 19, was postponed due to sudden weather change.
“It was very windy and at times was even snowing on Saturday and Friday evening. We had inclement weather despite it being nice earlier that Friday,” freshman hurdler Alex Hahn said. “The weather was tough. In the cold, you really have to stress injury prevention. Overall, the team hit close to the best times possible given the tough conditions: rainy, snowing, cold and windy.”
The women’s team came home with two first-place wins from senior Cailin Kowalewski in the 1,500-meter and junior Allison Hoh in the 400 meter. Hoh ran a personal best of 58.63 seconds. Kowaleski also came in fifth for the 800 meter and graduate student Alyssa Smith came in second in the same race. Freshman Shannon Murphy finished sixth in the 1,500-meter.
The success of the team, despite the weather conditions, did not come as a surprise to freshman teammate Krista Roncone.
“The team is used to training in Geneseo and is used to training in the tough hilly Geneseo conditions,” Roncone said.
The Knights have two more meets, Thursday April 25 and Saturday April 27, before heading to the SUNYAC championship on May 3.