GENESEO, N.Y. - The Empire 8 announced its men's indoor track and field honors on Tuesday after, and SUNY Geneseo won two major awards after winning the conference for the second-straight year. Ryan Hagan was earned Track Athlete of the Year honors, and the coaching staff, led by head coach Chris Popovici, was named the Coaching Staff of the Year. The Knights also saw 17 student-athletes earn All-Conference recognition.

Hagan, a native of Liverpool, NY, was part of the distance medley relay team that won the national championship at the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship, crossing the finish line in an Empire 8 record time of 9:24.65. He also earned national runner-up honors in the 3,000-meters with a time of 8:06.04 to earn First Team All-American honors. Hagan was named the 2026 Empire 8 Indoor Track Championship Field Athlete of the Meet after winning both the 800-meters and mile run. Hagan set a bevy of Empire 8 individual records in 2025-26 in the E8, including the 1,000-meters (2:27.34), mile (4:02.39), 3,000-meters (8:04.87) and 5,000-meters (14:12.33). Hagan was also a USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region selection in both the 800-meters, mile, 3,000- and 5,000-meters in addition to the distance medley relay.

Head coach Chris Popovici and his staff of assistant coaches Dan Moore, Christian Johnson, Kieran Sheridan and Gwen Shepardson was named the 2025-26 Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year. The Knights won their second straight Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championship and placed seventh at the NCAA Championships. Overall, Geneseo had 17 different student-athletes earn All-Conference honors, while the relay team of Pierce Young, Arjun Ojha, Dawson Wadsworth and Ryan Hagan won the national title in the distance medley relay at nationals. Overall, nine different Knights earned 12 All-American honors. The Knights shattered four E8 Indoor Track and Field Championship records and eight overall league marks in 2025-26.

The Empire 8 first, second and third team all-conference selections were determined at the championship meet on Feb. 27-28 from the Golisano Training Center, hosted by Nazareth University.
 
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2025-26 Men's Indoor Track and Field Tomorrow's Leaders Team. This team honors a student-athlete who has emerged as a leader not only on the field of play, but in the classroom and in the community. In addition, they "compete with honor and integrity" and have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.

2025-26 SUNY Geneseo Men's Indoor Track and Field All-Conference Selections
200-Meter Dash
First Team: Jack Towns, SUNY Geneseo – :22.22
 
400-Meter Dash
First Team: Jacob Miller, SUNY Geneseo – :48.41
Second Team: Sam Belmont, SUNY Geneseo – :48.80
Third Team: Arjun Ojha, SUNY Geneseo  – :49.09
 
800-Meter Run
First Team: Ryan Hagan, SUNY Geneseo – 1:52.00 (Championship Record; All-Time E8 Record)
Third Team: Dawson Wadsworth, SUNY Geneseo – 1:52.93
 
Mile
First Team: Ryan Hagan, SUNY Geneseo – 4:08.04 (Championship Record)
Second Team: Pierce Young, SUNY Geneseo – 4:08.93
Third Team: Owen Murphy, SUNY Geneseo – 4:14.72
 
3,000-Meters
First Team: Pierce Young, SUNY Geneseo – 8:14.19 (Championship Record)
Second Team: Emerson Comer, SUNY Geneseo – 8:20.83
 
5,000-Meters
First Team: Emerson Comer, SUNY Geneseo – 15:06.17
Second Team: Collin Brown, SUNY Geneseo – 15:10.80
 
4 x 400-Meter Relay
First Team: Giancarlo Di Fava, Jacob Miller, Arjun Ojha, Sam Belmont, SUNY Geneseo – 3:15.26 (Championship Record)
 
Distance Medley Relay
Second Team: Logan Baker, Dawson Wadsworth., Jr., Owen Sweet, Mario Verruto, SUNY Geneseo – 10:31.29

 Triple Jump
Third Team: Chris Desiderio, SUNY Geneseo – 13.65 meters
 
Shot Put
First Team: Raymond Trottier, SUNY Geneseo – 15.60 meters

Heptathlon
Second Team: William Hawken, SUNY Geneseo – 4,574 points

Empire 8 Tomorrow's Leaders Team
Andrew Kent, Sr., SUNY Geneseo (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia)