Geneseo captured five NCAA Division III National Championships this spring, bringing the college’s lifetime total to 27.
By Robyn Rime
SUNY Geneseo captured five NCAA Division III National Championships this spring, bringing the college’s lifetime total to 27.
Penelope Greene ’25, from Sag Harbor, NY, an English major with a communication minor, is the women’s outdoor track national champion in both the 5,000m and 10,000m races. Her final time of 33:46.70 in the 10,000m broke a 43-year-old meet record, and she completed the 5,000m race with a personal best time of 16:01.55 (the sixth-fastest 5,000m time in NCAA history).
Penelope Greene ’25 /Photo provided
“It was so special running for Geneseo, and to cap my career off this way is all I could ask for,” says Greene. “My coach [Head Coach Chris Popovici] always tells us that we should run for something bigger than ourselves, so I was out there on the track running for all my teammates, as well as the people who put the uniform on before me and who will put it on after me.”
Greene was also named Empire 8 Track Athlete of the Year and set all-time Empire 8 records in the 1,500m, 5,000m, and 10,000m.
Trent Makowiec ’25, an Addison, NY, native with a communication major and a minor in human resources management, is the men’s diving national champion in both the one-meter and three-meter dive events.
“Winning a national championship means the world to me,” says Makowiec. “Since I was a freshman, all I have talked about with my coach [Diving Coach Shawn Austin] is winning nationals every single year, so to finally achieve that goal was very fulfilling.”
Makowiec set Empire 8 records in both events and was named Diver of the Year by Empire 8 and the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America.
Brynn Mooney ’26, a biology major from Honeoye Falls, NY, is the women’s 400m national indoor track and field champion. Her run helped contribute to Geneseo’s fifth-place finish in the NCAA competition, the highest women’s team finish ever for a National Championship meet.
Brynn Mooney ’25, center, at the championships. /Photo by Anthony Caimano
“In the fall, my coach and I talked about my goals, and he said he was going to help me finish in the top five in the 400m at nationals,” says Mooney. “I didn’t believe him, but the work I put in started to show that I could. My teammates and coaches helped me believe when I couldn’t.”
Mooney also set Empire 8 records in the 200m, 400m, and 4x400m relay and was named Niagara Region Track Athlete of the Year by the US Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association.
Their NCAA Division III national championships bring the college’s lifetime total to 27.
Learn more about the Knights at Geneseo Athletics.
