On a day where several Knights took home first place for a grand total of 12 first-place finishes, no player stood out more than senior Emily Pomainville.
Pomainville set a facility record with her time of 4:35.57 in the 1500-meter run at the first Geneseo women’s track and field meet of the semester on April 3. Not only that, but she led the charge in the 4x400 relay team with her time of 59.20 seconds in the final stretch of the relay.
Pomainville was hardly alone in terms of her performance as senior Jenna Strickland placed first in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Adding to the Knight’s dominance of the short distance competitions was junior Anna Flaitz as she rocketed her way to a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash as well.
The hurdles competition featured more of the same for the Knights as they secured first place finishes in each of the distances with senior co-captain Emily Lavarnway taking first in the 100-meter hurdles, while junior Gwen Shepardson won first place in the 400-meter hurdles, senior Roison O’Neill grabbed first in the 800-meter hurdles and sophomore Rachel Hirschkind capped off the Knight’s day with a first place finish in the 5000-meter hurdles.
Lavarnway wasn’t satisfied with just one first-place finish as she continued her success in the long-jump with her second first place spot of the day. Lavarnway is a clear example of the team’s strong track record of developing hard-working and skilled athletes as she hopes to take first place in one of the most important competitions this year. Lavarnway has her sights set on winning the heptathlon this year.
Heptathlons are an event that feature seven competitions ranging from the long jump to shotput and everywhere in between and are meant to show true mastery of the sport. This is Lavarnway’s second shot at the heptathlon in the SUNYAC, and she feels more than confident that she will take home first-place.
“My coaches and I have put myself in a position to win. I don’t want to jump the gun … but I think I’m in a good position to win this year,” Lavarnway said.
Lavarnway feels that her success and that of the team’s is due in large part to the strong culture that demands hard work and a commitment to success that has been created by the team’s coaches and by the players who have given their all to keeping Geneseo atop the SUNYAC.
“We have a really good system of investing in the process and believing that our coach will lead us in the right direction,” Lavarnway said. “I think a lot of people here buy into the process and are willing to work very hard to be successful.”
The Knights trust the process this year and it certainly shows in their strong start this year. Beyond that, it has showed in the last few years under head coach Chris Popovici as the team has experienced unprecedented success under his tutelage evidenced in his three straight women’s indoor and outdoor track and field coach of the year titles from 2017 to 2019.
With Popovici at the helm and the team’s trust in his process and in themselves, it seems more than likely that the Knights will once again lead their division in 2021.