Men's Indoor Track and Field | 3/1/2025 8:53:06 PM
Nationally-ranked SUNY Geneseo emerged victorious at the 2024-25 Empire 8 Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championship, held the Todd and Jen Hutton Sports and Recreation Center on the campus of Utica University on Feb. 28-March 1.
The Knights, who earned their first league title in their first season as a league member, recorded 234 team points, 68 ahead of SUNY Brockport, who finished with 166 points. St. John Fisher University finished with 86.5 points, while host Utica was right behind in fourth with 83. Two-time E8 defending champion Nazareth University finished fifth overall with 59.5 points.
SUNY Geneseo won seven events over the two-day championship and used tremendous depth to earn team title.
Runner-up SUNY Brockport claimed both the 2025 Empire 8 Indoor Track and Indoor Field Athlete of the Championship meet.
Senior Jonathan Zavala set Empire 8 Championship records in both the mile and 800-meter run to earn 2025 Empire 8 Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet honors. On Friday night, Zavala posted the fastest ever time in Empire 8 history in the mile, winning in a time of 4:10.28, which is also the 15th best time in Division III to date this season. Zavala also won the 800-meter run on Saturday in an E8 Championship record time of 1:53.85. Zavala was also part of Brockport’s 4 x 400-meter relay team that placed second overall in a time of 3:21.51.
Brockport junior Gabriel Giannini was named the 2025 Empire 8 Indoor Field Athlete of the Meet. He won the indoor heptathlon, setting an Empire 8 Championship record with a score of 4,753 points. In addition, he was second in the pole vault, clearing 4.60 meters, while finishing third in the long jump with a jump of 6.80 meters. Giannini won the 60-meters, long jump and pole vault in the heptathlon over the two days. Giannini’s score in the heptathlon is 23rd in all of Division III.
The Knights continued to excel on Saturday in the track events, as Brendan Style took the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 6.30 seconds, while Jack Towns took the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line first in 22.04 seconds.
Pierce Young of Geneseo set an Empire 8 Championship meet record in winning the 3,000-meter run by 18 one-hundredths of a second over teammate Charlie Wilson in a time of 8:26.44.
Geneseo's 4 x 400-meter relay team of Logan Baker, Arjun Ojha, Matthew Sheehan, Brian Kenny rolled to a nearly four second win in the final event of the meet, setting an E8 Championship record with a time of 3:17.73.
St. John Fisher's Manuel Sepulveda set an Empire 8 Championship record and broke the all-time league record by winning the triple jump with an incredible leap of 14.97 meters. It is the fifth best performance in all of Division III this season. He broke the previous E8 record of 14.88 meters, held by former Cardinals standout Kyle Rollins in 2022.
Teammate Brandon Kaplan won the E8 Championship in the weight throw, recording a winning toss of 17.78 meters. Sean Cochrane of St. John Fisher won the high jump title for the second straight season, clearing 1.92 meters.
Derek Grimshaw of Brockport won the 60-meter dash in a time of 6.95 seconds, as the entire championship field was separated by just 21 one-hundredths of a second.
Below are all of the team scores in addition to individual and relay winners during the weekend’s events.
2024-25 Empire 8 Indoor Track and Field Championship Team Scores
SUNY Geneseo – 234
SUNY Brockport – 166
St. John Fisher – 86.5
Utica – 83
Nazareth – 59.5
Houghton – 21
Alfred – 10
Hartwick – 2
Russell Sage – 1
2024-25 Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championship Individual Award Winners
Track Athlete of the Meet: Jonathan Zavala, Sr., Middle Distance, SUNY Brockport
Field Athlete of the Meet: Gabriel Giannini, Jr., Multi-Events, SUNY Brockport
2024-25 Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championship Individual Relay/Award Winners (Friday)
Mile run: Jonathan Zavala, SUNY Brockport – 4:10.28 (Championship Meet Record, Empire 8 Overall Record)
400-meter dash: Jacob Miller, SUNY Geneseo – :48.27 (Championship Meet Record)
5,000-meter run: Charlie Wilson, SUNY Geneseo – 14:49.94
Distance medley relay: Logan Baker, Arjun Ojha, Matthew Sheehan, Brian Kenny, SUNY Geneseo – 10:24.55
Pole Vault: Hayden Penna, St. John Fisher – 4.60 meters (15’ 1”)
Shot Put: Hunter Logan, Utica – 15.66 meters (51’ 4.5”)
Long Jump: Manuel Sepulveda, St. John Fisher – 7.19 meters (23’ 7.25”)
2024-25 Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championship Individual Relay/Award Winners (Saturday)
60-meter dash: Derek Grimshaw, SUNY Brockport – :6.95
60-meter hurdles: Brendan Style, SUNY Geneseo – :8.30
200-meter dash: Jack Towns, SUNY Geneseo – :22.04
800-meter run: Jonathan Zavala, SUNY Brockport – 1:53.85 (Empire 8 Championship Meet Record)
3,000-meter run: Pierce Young, SUNY Geneseo – 8:26.44 (Empire 8 Championship Meet Record)
4 x 400-meter relay: Sam Belmont, Matthew Sheehan, Andrew Kent, Jacob Miller, SUNY Geneseo – 3:17.73 (Empire 8 Championship Meet Record)
High jump: Sean Cochrane, St. John Fisher – 1.92 meters (6’ 3.5”)
Triple jump: Manuel Sepulveda, St. John Fisher – 14.97 meters (49’ 1.5”) (Empire 8 Championship Meet and Empire 8 Overall Record)
Weight throw: – Brandon Kaplan, St. John Fisher – 17.78 meters (58’ 4”)
Heptathlon: Gabriel Giannini, SUNY Brockport – 4,656 points (Empire 8 Championship Meet Record)
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.