GENESEO, NY – The Alfred University women's track & field team completed day one of the SUNY Geneseo Early Season Invitational on Sunday.
 
"Today we had many standout performances. We are at the point in our season where the athletes really get to see their hard work and dedication pay off," Interim Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "For the track events, we are working on implementing race strategies and approaching different event distances with different mindsets. For the field events, we are focusing on specific aspects such as release angles, body positions and arm movements. It's an exciting time!"
 
McKenzie Hall (Hornell, NY/Hornell) competed in the final event of the day and had one of the biggest PR's of the meet. She bested her 5,000-meter run mark of 19:46.60 by over 34 seconds, clocking in a new time of 19:12.33 as she finished 20^th overall and fourth in her heat. She began the heat in 13^th place and climbed up as much as three positions in a single lap to get to the fourth spot.
 
Both Mari Jablonski (Monticello, GA/Jasper County) and Ivy Vallely (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) opened the meet up in the 10,000-meter run. Jablonski took 13^th with a time of 41:38.81 and Vallely took 16^th with a time of 45:56.48. Sarah Lutkins (Union Springs, NY/Union Springs) also hit a personal best in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:31.66, setting a new collegiate high by 0.30 seconds.
 
In the field, Natalya Ryckman (New Eagle, PA/Ringgold) threw a personal best distance of 16.02m (52'-7") to lead Kaitlyn Greenberg (Middletown, NY/Valley Central) to a collegiate career-high mark of 15.67m (51'-5") in the javelin throw.
 
The Saxons returned to campus on Sunday evening and will return to Geneseo on Monday evening with the rest of the team to round out the Early Season Invite.