Track and Field finishes strong at University of Rochester invite this past weekend

The men’s and women’s track and field teams dominated in their invite at the University of Rochester this past weekend, with the women’s team coming in first place all-around with 126 points, while the men’s team scored 59 points en route to a fifth-place finish on Saturday, Apr. 22.

Starting with the women’s team, sophomore Katie Grossman came in clutch with a win in the 1500-meter, finishing with a time of 4:50.56. Her performance qualified her for the Atlantic Regional meet that will happen later this year. In the same heat, senior Raechel Zielinski finished with a time of 4:51.79, good for second place. 

In the 800-meter run, freshman Sierra Doody and sophomore Janelle Eckl took home second and third places, with times of 2:14.02 and 2:15.45, respectively. Eckl (fourth) along with freshman Lanna Wandy (second), and senior Abrianna Kruger (third) ran the 100-meter hurdles later in the meet. Wandy recorded a time of 16.20, Kruger had a time of 16.32, and Eckl finished at the 16.50 mark. 

In the 4x400 meter relay, Geneseo placed in second with Eckl, freshman Nicole Gretzinger, and juniors Michelle Fitting and Julianna Klimow finishing with a time of 4:04.74. Also for the Knights, in the 200-meter dash freshman McKenna Johnson and junior Lena Kiehl competed and placed in the top ten with times of 27.15 and 27.31, respectively. 

Finally, in the last track event, sophomore Marie Naudus placed third in the 5000-meter run with a strong finish at 18:10.06. Junior Veronica Szygalowicz also competed in the event and placed sixth at the 18:52.90 mark.

In the field events, freshman Skyler Klimow threw an impressive distance of 33.15 meters to secure a win for the Knights in the javelin throw. Junior Zoe Connor competed in the shot-put event and came in fourth with a distance of 11.62 meters. Connor also came in first in the hammer throw with a finish of 48.36 in the event. 

It was also a big day for the men’s team as sophomore Brendan Style competed in both the 110-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 15.56 and third place, and the 400-meter hurdles where he finished with a time of 57.61 and second place.

There was another Atlantic regional mark hit this Saturday, with junior Dillon McClary finishing with a time of 15:17.93 in third place for the 5000-meter. Finally, in the track events, freshman Andrew Kent ran in the 200-meter with a time of 22.56, which placed him in fourth. 

In the men’s field events, sophomore Bryan Jacobs recorded his season-best mark in the long jump as he finished with a distance of 7.16 meters and came in second. Dylan Olson tallied a stellar 13.15-meter triple jump before fellow sophomore Roy Wyzykiewicz threw a distance of 39.70 in the javelin event and took eighth place.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back next weekend as they compete in the Cardinal Classic hosted by St. John Fisher.