SUNY Geneseo

SUNY Geneseo is known both for its stellar academic programs and its prestigious athletic programs as well. The Knights joined the Empire 8 Conference in the 2024-25 season, and earned 12 conference championships en route to winning the Commissioner's Cup. Prior to joining the Empire 8, Geneseo had won eight State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Commissioner's Cups, seven straight through the 2022-23 season, finished within the top-25 in the Learfield Sports/NACDA Director's Cup standings each of the last six completed years of competition, including an all-time best 11th-place finish in 2018, and have won a total of 69 SUNYAC Championships since the Fall of 2016. 

The 2022-23 year marked one of the Knights most successful years, bringing home 12 SUNYAC Championships and their seventh-straight Commissioner's Cup. Geneseo saw history repeat itself with swimming and diving, women's soccer, softball, cross country and track and field continuing to defend their respective SUNYAC title streaks, while also bringing new hardware home with the women's lacrosse team earning the program's first SUNYAC championship. Men's Lacrosse also joined in on the championship celebrations, hoisting the SUNYAC trophy for the first time since 2007 and the fourth time overall.

Individually, track and field brought home three National Championship trophies. In outdoor track and field, Lance Jensen took the top spot in the 400m hurdles, while two relay teams earned the honor at indoor track and field championships. The team of Ezra Ruggles, Jason Rappazzo, Stephen Hoare, Nick Andrews won the DMR, while the team of Lance Jensen, Jason Rappazzo, Kieran Sheridan, Jacob Miller won the 4x400. The Knights went on to finish third at the NCAA Championships, the programs best ever finish.

In the Knights' first full academic year of athletic competition since 2018-19, Geneseo student-athletes combined for a total of 46 All-America awards in the 2021-22 season, including an individual national championship. At the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, Kieran Sheridan '22 earned a first-place finish in the 400, becoming the Knights' first men's sprinter to win a national championship in program history. Sheridan led 15 men's and women's student-athletes to combine for 18 All-America awards at the indoor national championships while 11 men's and women's track & field student-athletes combined for 13 All-America honors at the outdoor national championships. 

Geneseo Men's Ice Hockey was one of 12 athletic programs to reach its respective NCAA Championship. The Knights finished the season with a 24-4-1 mark, won their fourth-consecutive SUNYAC Championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship game for the first time in program history. Led by head coach Chris Schultz and national Assistant Coach of the Year Kris Heeres, the Knights finished as the national runner-up while Peter Morgan '25, Dan Bosio '22 and Chris Perna '22 each earned All-America honors. 

Of the Knights' 11 SUNYAC Championships in 2021-22, 10 of them were repeat championships. The Women's Swimming & Diving team own the longest SUNYAC reign of any Knights' squad, bringing home the trophy each of the last 14 years while Women's Cross Country has won 10-straight conference championships. Men's and Women's Cross Country Head Coach Dan Moore and Men's and Women's Track & Field Head Coach Chris Popovici have led the Knights' running programs to four-straight sweeps of all six cross country and track & field conference championships, winning every SUNYAC crown contested since Fall 2017, the longest combined streak of its kind in SUNYAC history. 

INTRAMURAL ATHLETICS
For the recreational athlete, the college provides 27 intramural sport offerings including 16 leagues and 11 single-day tournaments, along with recreational hours in the gymnasiums, swimming pool, ice arena, a jogging track and numerous intramural fields. For more information about intramural opportunities and facilities, visit www.geneseo.edu/intramurals.

BY THE NUMBERS
(as of 2/16/24)

1
Team National Championships (2005 Women's Cross Country)

4
NADIIIAA/Josten's Community Service Awards

6
NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients

8
Men's Intercollegiate Athletic Sports

13
Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Sports

28
Individual National Championships
1999 - Beth Shope – Outdoor Track & Field (Hammer Throw)
2003 - Kim DePrez (2) – Indoor Track & Field (High Jump), Outdoor Track & Field (High Jump)
2003 - Melissa White – Outdoor Track & Field (5,000m)
2013 – Alyssa Smith – Outdoor Track & Field (Steeplechase)
2016 - Sam Randall - Swimming & Diving (3m Dive)
2016 - Jacqueline Huben - Outdoor Track & Field (Steeplechase)
2017 - Isaac Garcia-Cassani (2) - Indoor Track & Field (Mile), Outdoor Track & Field (1,500)
2017 - Alexa Wandy (3) - Indoor Track & Field (Long Jump, Triple Jump), Outdoor Track & Field (Triple Jump)
2018 - Gillan Faulkner, Zack Hannahoe, Luke Holtzman and Isaac Garcia- Cassani - Indoor Track & Field (DMR)
2018 Isaac Garcia-Cassani - Outdoor Track & Field (1,500)
2018 - Samuel Randall - Swimming & Diving (1m Dive)
2021 - Emily Lavarnway - Outdoor Track & Field (Heptathlon)
2021 - Emily Pomainville - Outdoor Track & Field (1,500)
2021 - Emily Lavarnway, Madison Mulder, Anna Flaitz, Jenna Strickland - Outdoor Track & Field (4x400 Relay)
2022 - Kieran Sheridan - Indoor Track & Field (400)
2023 - Ezra Ruggles, Jason Rappazzo, Stephen Hoare, Nick Andrews - Indoor Track & Field (DMR)
2023 - Lance Jensen, Jason Rappazzo, Kieran Sheridan, Jacob Miller - Indoor Track & Field (4x400 Relay)
2023 - Lance Jensen - Outdoor Track & Field (400 Hurdles)
2024 - Lance Jensen - Indoor Track & Field (400m) 
2025 - Brynn Mooney - Indoor Track and Field (400m)
2025 - Trent Makowiec (2) - Swimming & Diving (1m and 3m)
2025 - Penelope Greene (2) - Outdoor Track and Field (5,000m and 10,000m)

11
Best finish in the Learfield Sports/NACDA Director's Cup (2017-18)

6
Consecutive Top-25 Finishes in the Learfield Sports Director's Cup

23
Club Sport Offerings

39
Student-Athletes Awarded the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence

27
Intramural Sport Offerings

87
 Percentage of Geneseo Student-Athletes who graduate within four years

158
SUNYAC Coach of the Year Awards

199
SUNYAC Championship Teams

307
Geneseo Student-Athletes Named All-America

637
All-America Certificates Earned by Geneseo Student-Athletes