Geneseo cross country continued their successful season on Saturday Oct. 5 traveling to run at the Lehigh Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Penn., as well as the Houghton Highlander Invitational in Houghton, N.Y. The women’s squad placed a runner in first place in both races, as senior Genny Corcoran and senior Molly Byrne left everyone in the dust behind them. The men’s group performed well but didn’t have a runner place first in either race.
The meet at Lehigh was comprised mostly of Division I schools, with some Division III competition mixed in. Senior Sean McAneny placed 51st out of 380 athletes to lead the Knights to 17th place in the tough field of runners.
Senior Luke Holtzman, who finished in 120th place, explained why the team enjoys competing with supposedly superior runners, as the competition prepares them for national meets.
“Running at Paul Short was a great experience for our team because it was a great simulation for what the nationals race feels like,” he said. “In most D-III-only meets, our team is generally towards the front and controlled, but then Nationals is extremely crowded as most runners are stuck in the pack of 100 people.”
Although the men’s team didn’t finish in the top five or ten, they placed first among the Division-III teams that were in attendance.
The women’s group of runners, led by Corcoran placing first out of 328 runners, ended up in an impressive fifth place. Her time of 20:42.6 was more than 19 seconds faster than the runner who placed second, proving that her last season as a Knight may be her most dominant. Her first-place finish at Lehigh came a week after she finished first among 266 runners at the Mike Woods Invite, keeping her impressive performance rolling.
In their second meet of the day in Houghton at the Highlander Invitational, Geneseo swept the competition and placed first in both the men’s and women’s races. Senior Kevin Seitz finished second out of 114 runners to lead the Knights, followed by six of his teammates in the top ten. Byrne led the women by placing first out of 107 runners and was also followed by six of her teammates in the top ten, just like the men’s squad.
That the two cross country teams perform similarly doesn’t come as a surprise if you understand the family-like culture that surrounds them. Whether it’s on the course or off, Holtzman explained that the men and women spend a lot of time together. “The men’s and women’s teams are very close. We generally eat together at the dining halls post-practice, travel on the same buses and consider ourselves a single team and family,” he said.
Geneseo’s cross country team thrives from the energy and positivity that comes from the time spent together, and when one team is doing well, the other is sure to follow suit.
At this point in their season, the Knights have transitioned into more focused workouts while maintaining a consistent practice structure. According to Holtzman, this won’t change until the season draws closer to Regionals and Nationals as they’ll prepare for exactly what they anticipate.
Already looking forward to the next generation of Geneseo cross country, Holtzman discussed the excitement surrounding the younger runners on the men’s roster. “This year has some of the most talented underclassmen that the team has had in since Dan Moore began coaching five years ago. Three underclassmen were in our top eight runners at Paul Short while several more had great performances at Houghton this weekend,” he said. “The future of the team is looking bright.”
Geneseo will next travel to compete at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle in Glassboro, N.J. and the Canisius Alumni Classic in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday Oct. 19.