After a solid showing at the Nazareth College Cup on Jan. 25, the Geneseo track and field team was able to maintain their level of success when they traveled to Ithaca College on Saturday Feb. 1 and Sunday Feb. 2 to participate in the Bomber Invitational. First-year Ezra Ruggles took first place in the mile and senior Justin Hoelzl placed first place in the 1,000-meter to lead the men’s squad which had six top-three finishes.
Hoelzl finished the 1,000-meter with a time of 2:34.05 and was followed by four of his teammates, displaying the dominance that the Knights are capable of. Ruggles placed first in the mile recording a blazing time of 4:18.54. Sophomore Riley Grossman took third in the same race, trailing second place by fractions of a second.
Senior Sam Napoli placed second in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:57.13, closely trailed by his teammate sophomore Nico Bellavia who finished with a time of 1:57.50. Other top finishers for the Knights this weekend include sophomore Kieran Sheridan who placed third in the 400-meter dash with a 50.97 time. First-year John Goldzser impressed with a time of 1:08.62 in the 500-meter dash, securing a third-place finish. First-year Logan Linares rounded out Geneseo’s distance runs with a time of 15:51.85 in the 5,000-meter run.
As for the field events, the Knights weren’t as successful. Senior Zachary Curran tied for third place with a leap of 4.40 meters in the pole vault, with junior Terry Taylor placing fourth behind his teammate by posting a 4.25-meter vault. In the long jump, sophomore Jackson Hays placed fifth with a 6.84-meter jump.
In terms of team events, the 4x400-meter relay of senior Ryan Dwyer, junior Lukas D’Alfonso, first-year Liam Higgins and sophomore Alec Andrews finished fourth with a time of 3:26.71. The Knights’ distance medley relay team was able to post a time good enough to qualify for this season’s Atlantic Regional. The four-man team was comprised of Hoelzl, first-year Peter Moller, junior Brendan Murphy and senior Sean McAneny, who all worked together to finish in 10:28.78.
The women’s group was able to secure eight top-three finishes and 11 top-five placements. Senior Annibell Coolican recorded an impressive time of 10:26.31 in the 3,000-meter race, securing her first place.
The Knights took first and second in the 400-meter dash with sophomore Anna Flaitz taking the top spot with a time of 59.26, followed by sophomore Madison Mulder who trailed by two tenths of a second. Adding to the tally of strong Geneseo performances was junior Emily Lavarnway, who placed first in both the 500-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles.
It's still early in the season, so the team is still putting in the work during training sessions and making sure they’re living healthy lifestyles. When championship season rolls around, the athletes aim to be in the best condition they possibly can be.
Junior sprinter Eli Avellino discussed in an e-mail statement the role of the coaches in their preparation for the later part of the season. “They have been pushing us to get better grades which is an important thing for coaches to be doing,” he said. “But from a performance standpoint, they have been emphasizing the importance of sleep and good nutrition, which are incredibly important to our performance.”
The Knights travel to SUNY Brockport on Friday Feb. 7 and Saturday Feb. 8 to compete at the Brockport Invitational.