The Knights were not expecting to send athletes to compete at the Brockport Mid-Season Classic on Saturday Feb. 7, but they were pleasantly surprised. Made up of senior David Layman, junior Michael Segelin and sophomores Connor Christian and Austin Donroe, the Geneseo men’s 4x200 meter relay team broke the school record with a time of 1:31.12––good enough for second place in the event.
With such a fast time, the relay team put themselves firmly in the national conversation. “They’re the second fastest time in the northeast right now,” head coach Chris Popovici said. “We’re very happy and excited for what they can do for this upcoming meet.”
The meets on Friday Feb. 13, Saturday Feb. 14 and Sunday Feb. 15 will prove to be very important for the Knights, both for the men and the women. Both the Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Friday and Saturday and the Sunday Invitational held at Cornell University will feature athletes from every level of NCAA track and field.
Runners will be primarily sent to the Valentine Invitational and the jumpers will go to the Sunday Invitational, mainly because of the large size of the Valentine Invitational. With over 3,000 athletes expected to attend, having jumpers who need space to warm up and get into a groove would be difficult. There simply would not be enough space for them to be comfortable there. The Knights will send the majority of the jumpers and throwers over to Cornell University to compete in their invitational.
Now that the teams are getting into the home stretch of their seasons and with two weekends until SUNYACs, the Geneseo athletes are looking to put up better and better numbers to hopefully earn a spot at the national meets. Senior Keira Wood––who will be running in the 800 meter at Boston University––is just one of the runners trying to enter the national conversation. Wood has been putting up consistently improving numbers as the season has gone on. This weekend will be a prime time for her to try and put up the best time of her season.
With so much competition this weekend, however, the Knights have to go in with a bit of a level head. “In reality, we’re very hopeful that everyone can come out with season bests, if not personal bests,” Popovici said. “Will that happen; probably no, but we always go in with high expectations.”
Now that the Knights can see the proverbial finish line, it is time for them to really put the pedal to the metal and try and get the best times that they can. With such big meets coming up in the next few weeks, it is entirely within their grasp for the Knights to finish strong.