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Penelope Greene running at Nazareth College earlier this season. BILL ANDREWS
This past fall was a somewhat tough one for Penelope Greene. The 2021 Pierson graduate came into her sophomore track and field season at SUNY Geneseo injured, which led to a slow start. But she finished up strong, competing at the SUNYACs, and continued that strong run into the winter indoor season.
Greene, and the rest of her Geneseo teammates, competed at the NCAA Division III National Championships at the Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama, this past weekend. Competing in her first-ever National Championships, Greene finished the 5,000-meter race in 17:14.01, a new personal best by two seconds. Teammates Rachel Hirschkind and Kathleen McCarey also ran the 5K, placing 16th and 17th, respectively.
Greene had qualified for Nationals by finishing the 5K at the All-Atlantic Regional Track and Field Conference at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York City the previous weekend in a qualifying time of 17:16. Greene said she wasn’t sure that time was going to make the cut, but her coach called her up and said she was going to Nationals.
“The race was definitely a challenging one,” Greene said of Nationals, “but I had a great time and the experience was something I will never forget. Just getting to be there with my teammates was so awesome and inspirational and I’m going to work hard to get the opportunity to go again.”
Greene was a part of what was a pretty successful day for Geneseo as it finished the weekend with a few All-Americans. The team’s distance medley relay team of Erin Eivers (1,200 meters), Gwen Shepardson (400m), Sierra Doody (800m) and Windsor Ardner (Mile) placed third overall in 11:35.95. Katelyn Jacques placed seventh overall in the triple jump with a leap of 11.81 meters. And Marcie Hogan placed sixth overall in the mile in a new school record of 4:53.67.
Outside of her athletics, Greene said her sophomore year at Geneseo is going well. She’s doing a lot of reading and writing as an English major, “but it’s nothing I can’t handle!” she said.
“It was definitely a struggle dealing with being injured, especially during cross, but I think my comeback through recovery and training was a strong one,” she said. “I’m running the fastest I’ve ever run in track.”
Greene said that while the transition from high school to college was smooth for her, she is now starting to take more challenging classes and having to find a balance between school, running and everyday life has been key.
“I know my teammates so much better, and lots of them are my closest friends,” she said. “I feel a lot more confident with training and practices, since during freshman year everything was new and my training and coaching was a lot different than what I was used to at Pierson. It has gotten a lot easier. Knowing what to expect helps a lot.
“My coach always tells us to find a balance between being an athlete, being a student and having a social life, and finding that balance has helped me a ton with all that I have piled on my plate,” she continued. “I’m home for spring break now, which is a much needed break after this past weekend. I’m happy with how my indoor season went, and I’m excited to see what I can do in this coming outdoor season. On the up and up!”
