Jeff Bray, right, Keuka College's head athletic trainer/assistant athletic director, has worked as an athletic trainer for dozens of auto races, including an open wheel race when he met Helio Castroneves, an IndyCar driver and three-time Indy 500 champion.

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director

Growing up on his parents’ gas station in Sterling, Kansas, Jeff Bray was surrounded by automobiles at an early age, so it should come as no surprise that the longtime Keuka College head athletic trainer/assistant athletic director considers himself an avid “Gear Head,” an affectionate term used to describe diehard motorsports fans.

Bray was bitten by the auto racing bug and has been going to the local and national speedways for as long as he can remember.

“I got into cars and into racing because I grew up on a gas station, and my wife [Kristen] says if you cut me I’ll probably bleed motor oil, and she believes that,” Bray recalled with a laugh and a smile.

“My parents had a friend who raced cars, and my dad provided tires for him, so I grew up thinking [that driver] was Zeus-like, he was awesome behind the wheel. Watching the Indy 500 was always the best day of the year, better than Christmas for me, and I lived for Memorial Day.”

For the last 18 years, Bray has carved time into his busy Keuka College schedule to work as an athletic trainer at dozens of races each year, including NASCAR, Indy Car and the American Le Mans Series. His efforts have taken him across the world assisting on race days.

“I’ve never had a bad day at the racetrack in 18 years,” said Bray, who is celebrating his 20th year at Keuka College and who resides in Penn Yan with wife, Kristen, son Tyler, 15, and daughter Kelly, 13.

“Even when things haven’t gone right, I’m still at the racetrack and that’s what keeps me going, I am fortunate to ply my trade into something I’m passionate about.”

As a teenager, Bray had some insight into his future professional career and knew how he wanted to spend his working days.  

Bray’s mother, Nettie, suffered a stroke when Bray was just 15 years old, leaving her without use of her right arm and right leg. Despite the stroke, Bray’s mom, “never complains about anything,” and after watching her dedicated efforts to rehab from her injuries, Bray decided to enroll at a pre-physical therapy program at Kansas State University, located roughly 140 miles away from Sterling.

“I went to my mother’s physical therapy sessions and I thought it was pretty neat how these people were so passionate about helping my mom recover from her injury,” Bray said.

“I’d never been around physical therapists before, so I thought how they helped people recover from their injuries was pretty cool.”

When Bray was still in high school, his government teacher approached him with an interesting question. As a sophomore at Sterling High School, this government teacher asked Bray: “Do you think you have a better chance to play football at Kansas State, or be a student-athletic trainer. I didn’t know what that field was, so I attended a Cramer Sports Medicine summer workshop.”

There, Bray met Bud Epps, the assistant trainer at Missouri who eventually became an assistant athletic trainer for the Kansas City Chiefs. Epps took Bray under his wing, and after enrolling at Kansas State, Bray worked as a student athletic trainer and worked the Wildcats’ home and away football games.

While on a road trip to Iowa State with the Wildcats’ football team, Bray was out to dinner with Jim Rudd and Hank Fijalkowski, Bray’s bosses at Kansas State, and the topic of landing a summer internship with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles popped up. While Bray was skeptical he could ever land a gig in the NFL, he applied for the position anyways and was selected as one of roughly 10-12 summer interns in the athletic training department.

In-between his sophomore and junior years at Kansas State, Bray began his first of three seasons as a summer intern, and he did such a commendable job he was asked back for one year as a paid trainer following his graduation from Kansas State.

While with the Eagles, Bray taped Reggie White, the Eagles’ fierce pass rusher and eventual Hall-of-Famer. During the 1987 NFL Players Strike, Bray recalls working the Eagles’ home opener at the old Veterans Stadium as Philadelphia hosted the Chicago Bears before 4,000 fans.

“The first person I met, as far as players go, was [quarterback] Ron Jaworski. He brought us [athletic trainers] a couple of large pizzas and some beverages, and he was as common Joe as they come,” said Bray, whose office inside the Weed Physical Arts Center has plenty of mementos from his stint with the Eagles.

“Mike Golic was there and he was a great guy, Reggie White was a lot of fun to be around, I’ll never forget his personality and the passion he brought, not only to football but later on to his ministry career. There were just a lot of great guys to be around: Cris Carter, Keith Byars, Seth Joyner, Clyde Simmons, Jerome Brown, Terry Hoage. We also had Jeff Fisher as the defensive backs coach, Wade Phillips was linebackers coach, Tom Coughlin was a defensive coach and of course, Buddy Ryan was the head coach for my second year. A majority of those coaches went onto become head coaches in the NFL, and it’s amazing they all came from that one team.”

While it might seem glamorous working with an NFL team, Bray said the job definitely had its challenges, including grueling work days with few days off, especially in-season. But there were plenty of benefits to the position, Bray said, including working with professional athletes at the highest level and having an apartment in Veterans Stadium that allowed him to wander into the stadium’s bullpen and dugouts on quiet nights.

One day, the Eagles and baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies were holding a charity bowling tournament, and the Eagles’ front office assembled a team that included Bray.

“This guy comes and sits down next to me, we’re putting our bowling shoes on, and he’s wearing slacks and a golf shirt and he asks if I worked for the Eagles, and I said yes,” Bray recalled. “I asked who he worked for and he said the Phillies, and we’re just talking while putting our bowling shoes on when this little kid comes in and says, ‘Mr. Schmidt, can I have your autograph?’ and I look over and see that I’ve been talking to Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt this whole time! I start undoing my shoes, went to the sporting goods store down the street, bought a National League baseball and asked Mike to sign it for me. He said, ‘You didn’t know who I was, did you?’ and we laughed about it. Charles Barkley was bowling a few lanes down from us, and what struck me was they were just guys out bowling, no one made a big deal about it.”

Following a stint at Illinois State, Bray was offered the head athletic trainer job at Keuka July 1, 1992. After his first year with the Storm Bray was working with Mobile Sports Medicine Director Don Andrews at the First Frontier Circuit Rodeo finals in Albany in 1993, when Bray casually asked Andrews about his recent trip to Phoenix, Ariz.

Andrews, who has been a driving force in increasing safety in the sports of bull riding, auto racing, skiing and equestrian, mentioned he had met with Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip about beginning a sports medicine program in the Winston Cup circuit. Bray expressed an interest in assisting at various races, and Andrews welcomed him to the team for 8 to 10 races a year.

After his team lost its sponsorship in 1998, Bray switched to open wheel racing and the CART Series, which has evolved into the Champ Car World Series, and worked races across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, England and Japan.

While working alongside legendary actor/race car driver Paul Newman and the drivers of his Newman/Haas Racing Team in the Champ Car Racing Series, Bray recalls the time he observed Newman hunched over a sink in the medical center.

“Paul was one of the most outstanding people I ever spent a minute talking to. He had the cream of the crop in open wheel racing, so if a driver was injured, Paul would accompany them to the medical center,” Bray said. “So I turn around one night and see Paul over the sink, and he’d cut the tip of his finger making a salad for some guests, so we took care of his finger and got a surgeon to suture Paul up. Paul hung around afterwards and entertained us with his stories, and I’ll never forget him coming over and introducing himself to me, saying, ‘I’m Paul Newman, what’s your name?’ And I’m thinking to myself ‘I know who you are!’ They’re looked upon as bigger than life, but they’re just good, hard-working people and that’s really the neatest thing.”

While working a race in Mexico City, Mexico in 2007, Bray had the opportunity to ride in the back seat of an F1 car driven by Champ Car World Series driver Zsolt Baumgartner. After donning the fire-proof gear, Bray experienced the sensation of flying through the road at speeds of 175 miles-per-hour.

“Outside of the birth of my kids and my wedding day, that is the single coolest day I’ve ever had,” said Bray, who one day hopes to drive a Sprint car on a dirt track.

“It’s fast riding in a car at those speeds, but the speed is not as cool as the car’s breaking power. Going from 175 MPH to literally zero in a very short distance and not squealing the tires, then turning right and do it again, there’s no way to describe the rush; it’s like the best roller coaster at Darien Lake on steroids. … My career in auto racing all started with me asking a question, and to this day I’m still doing something I’m passionate about, and that’s pretty cool.”

If Bray had his way and could work any sporting event in the world as athletic trainer, what would he chose?

“It would probably have to be something in auto racing, but if I was going as a team athletic trainer, it would probably be Game 7 of the World Series,” said Bray, who added he would never go to the Super Bowl as a fan, only if he was working the event down on the field.

Veteran athletic trainer Jeff Bray, left, works on Ava Wilburn during a Keuka College women's soccer home game in the fall of 2011.

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director

Jeff Bray is an avid motorsports fan, and when he arrived in scenic Keuka Park to accept a job as Keuka College’s head athletic trainer/assistant athletic director in the summer of 1992, he figured he was just making a pit stop.

Nearly 20 later, the man who came to campus on a two-year plan can’t imagine working anywhere else.

As he reflects on two decades of dedicated service to the Storm’s student-athletes, Bray can’t help but wonder how he ended up as the second-longest tenured member of the College’s athletics department.

To quote the Grateful Dead anthem, “Truckin’,” what a long, strange trip it has been for Bray.

Born in Sterling, Kansas, a small town that Bray said possesses a similar down-home feel to Keuka, Bray essentially grew up on his parent’s gas station before enrolling in Kansas State to study athletic training.

Bray has taped hundreds of professional athletes during a career that, among other stops, has seen him work the sidelines of NFL games, alongside pit crews for assorted auto racing events across the world, and behind the bucking chutes at top-flight bull riding competitions.

During a four-year stint in the NFL working as an athletic trainer with the Philadelphia Eagles — three as a summer intern and one as a paid professional — Bray taped Hall-of-Famer Reggie White, was part of a team that helped dynamic quarterback Randall Cunningham recover from various knee injuries, and worked alongside talented coaches such as Buddy Ryan, Jeff Fisher and Wade Phillips, to name a few.

Tom Coughlin, the Waterloo native who will lead the NFC champion New York Giants into battle against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI Feb. 5, was also a part of those Eagles’ coaching staffs during Bray’s time with the team.

Jeff Bray has worked as an athletic trainer for numerous auto races, including an open wheel race when he met Helio Castroneves, an IndyCar driver and three-time Indy 500 champion.

Bray worked alongside legendary actor/race car driver Paul Newman and the drivers of his Newman/Haas Racing Team when working in the Champ Car Racing Series. Division I schools, including Bray’s alma mater Boise State, have sought his expertise in the field of athletic training, making enticing job pitches in an attempt to land Bray’s services.

But through an athletic training career that has spanned more than three decades — the last two of them spent at Keuka — there is no place Bray would rather call home than picturesque Keuka College.

“One of the reasons it’s been easy to stay here is because Keuka’s just been a good place to be, with good people who provide a great college experience, be it coaches, parents, administrators, or the student-athletes. Coach Dave Sweet has been an outstanding mentor and has taught me all about the world that is Division III athletics,” said Bray, who became interested in physical training after watching his mother, Nettie, battle back from a debilitating stroke when Bray was 15.

“I really appreciate getting to know the families of the student-athletes here. At a Division I school you never really have any dealings with parents. Keuka is special from that standpoint, and as my kids get older that [relationship with the parents] means more to me, because not too far down the road it’ll be me handing my kids off to a college and I’ll want to feel as comfortable sending my kids off to college as the parents of our student-athletes feel when they send their children to Keuka.”

However, that opinion of Keuka took some time to formulate for Bray, who currently resides in nearby Penn Yan with wife, Kristen, and son Tyler, 15, and daughter Kelly, 13.

When Bray was offered the Keuka position, he had his reservations. Sweet, Keuka’s athletic director and head coach of the women’s basketball team, had been on campus for nine years and was working diligently to transform the Storm from a predominantly women’s sports-based program into a well-rounded, co-ed athletics department that produced championship-caliber teams on the playing fields, and accomplished students in the classroom.

Additionally, Bray had only worked with professional and Division I athletes at his previous jobs, and Keuka was a tiny Division III school smack-dab in the middle of rural Upstate New York.

The Storm didn’t even have a football team, a fact Bray felt was a prerequisite for any potential job. He previously had worked passionately with football teams at every stop along the way: from his student athletic trainer days at Kansas State, to his graduate work at Boise State, through his four-year stint with the Eagles, and his time spent as Illinois State’s head football trainer.

In the end, while the decision was Bray’s to make, his future wife Kristen held the ultimate card. She had grown up in the Buffalo area and was a successful basketball player at Canisius College. Even though the couple wasn’t yet married, Bray realized it was important for Kristen to be closer to her family.

So the couple came to an agreement. Kristen and Jeff would relocate and Bray would try out the Keuka position for two years, and if Bray was unsatisfied at the end of the two-year trial period, Kristen would relocate anywhere in the country as her husband searched for his dream job.

Twenty years later and, the rest is history. Bray said he “fell in love” with the job and the students, and while other colleges and universities have called for Bray’s services, the answer has always been the same: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“I had a unique opportunity at a very young age to reach the pinnacle of our profession,” said Bray, who still carves out time in his busy schedule to work between 5-10 auto races a year as an athletic trainer.

“There are thousands of young athletic trainers, student athletic trainers that aspire to work in pro sports, and only a few get there. I had the opportunity and while I enjoyed my time in the pros, long-term I didn’t know if it was for me. After a lot of thinking, when this job became available I took it and while I couldn’t believe I was at this small college with no football, I owed it to Keuka to give it my best. After all these years this is where I’m supposed to be.”

To achieve peace of mind with his decision about his future, Bray turned to an important part of his past, Otho Davis, his mentor in the athletic training field. Davis was the long-time trainer in the NFL who had worked with the then-Baltimore Colts and was Bray’s boss with the Eagles when Bray secured a summer internship to study under the legendary Davis, who at the time was considered among the best trainers in all of professional sports.

Davis, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2000, was instrumental in swaying Bray to take the job with the Storm. While he was the influence who got Bray into professional sports, Davis also warned Bray of the dangers of working in an industry where off days are few and far between and the average work week could range from 80 to 100 hours.

Davis, who had four sons, rarely got to see his family due to the rigors and demands of the job, a factor Bray considered heavily when debating the pros and cons of the Keuka position.

As Keuka's head athletic trainer, Jeff Bray is responsible for attending to all injured players, whether they play for the Storm or the opposition.

In the end, the chance to help deserving Division III athletes won out. Now, fast-forward 20 years and Bray’s presence has become part of the fiber of a student-athlete’s life. Bray and his staff of athletic trainers work all Keuka College sporting events, ready on the sidelines should an injury befall a member of the Storm or the opposition.

“When I’m asked why I’m still at Keuka, ‘I say why not?’ If our point guard, [Jessica Bandrowski], sprains her ankle and is going to potentially miss some big games coming up, she’s as valuable to her team as [Boise State star quarterback] Kellen Moore is to his team,” said Bray, who used his NFL connections to secure the New York Jets old athletic training equipment when the NFL franchise decided to purchase new equipment in 1998.

“Sure, it’s not going to be in the USA Today or make ESPN that Bandrowski sprained her ankle and might miss a game, but she deserves to be treated like a professional athlete, too. But also, if I go to coach Sweet and say Bandrowski can’t play tomorrow, I’m not going to get the screws put to me [to get her ready to play] to the point that my ethics are pushed and her best interests are questioned in order to get a win.”

Bray’s influence on Keuka’s student-body is not limited to the various playing fields for the Storm’s 16 varsity sports teams. Bray also serves as an adjunct instructor and teaches two sports management classes.

Each fall, as part of their senior class projects, Bray’s sports management students organize the annual Storm Madness pep rally, a raucous affair that provides a first look at the men’s and women’s basketball teams to the campus and neighboring communities.

“Jeff has been my right-hand man for all these years, and he is immensely talented and certainly has a lot to offer to any college,” said Sweet, who credits Bray’s communication skills, problem-solving ability, and self-starter mentality as some of his best personality traits.

“He’s tuned-in well with the needs of our student-athletes and understands what we’re trying to accomplish as a small Division III college athletics program. We’re not all about wins and losses; we try to educate the student-athletes on the overall collegiate experience and Jeff has been extremely helpful, not only to the college but to me in particular.”

Applauding Keuka’s unique Field Period as one of the most beneficial aspects of a Keuka education, Bray backs the college’s required annual 140-hour long internship program that offers real-world work experience to students each year they’re on campus.

“Professionally, if you’re trying to get somewhere, don’t always think you’re going to get somewhere on your own,” said Bray, who originally learned of the Eagles’ summer trainer position through Jim Rudd and Hank Fijalkowski, his bosses while Bray was a student athletic trainer at Kansas State.

“There are people that can and will help you if they know where you want to go. I am a firm believer in our Field Period because I lived the internship route, that’s how I got into the NFL. Jim and Hank, my mentors, told me I needed to do an internship in the NFL, and at the time I was probably too stupid to ask questions. But if Otho, Jim or Hank told me to do something, I knew that was what I needed to do. Our students need to get out and have those workplace experiences, but students can’t have a broken want-to. You can’t be the one pushing them; they need the drive and motivation to succeed.”

Throughout the years, Bray’s dedication toward Keuka College and the Storm’s student-athletes has never wavered, and he is just as passionate about his job and this campus as he was July 1, 1992, the day he first reported for duty at Keuka.

“I think you’re missing the boat of life if you’re not passionate about something,” Bray said. “To this day, I’m still doing something I’m passionate about and that’s pretty cool.”

Keuka's men's cross country team emerged with a fifth-place finish during the 2011 NEAC championships, held at SUNY Cobleskill.

RESULTS

The Keuka College men’s cross country team placed all five runners in the top 40 among scoring runners as the Storm earned a fifth-place team finish during the 2011 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championships, held Saturday at SUNY Cobleskill.

Freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) finished a stellar first year with a 15th place finish, crossing the finish line of the 8K course in a time of 31 minutes, 5.82 seconds as the Storm finished with 147 points. Host SUNY Cobleskill (24 points) came in first place, followed by SUNYIT (44), Morrisville State (81), Penn State-Berks (145), Keuka, Wells (165), Penn State-Abington (168), Lancaster Bible College (209), Penn State-Harrisburg (244) and Gallaudet (255).

It was the seventh time in eight meets that Bottoni has paced Keuka’s runners, and sixth straight meet with the fastest Keuka finish. For his efforts, Bottoni netted third-team All-NEAC honors.

Four Keuka freshmen followed in Bottoni’s path at the NEAC championships. Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport) finished 29th among scoring runners with a time of 32:55.26, Bobby Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) was 30th with a time of 32:58.50, Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket) was 36th with a time of 33:43.68 while Sam Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour) rounded out the top five with a 37th-place finish after crossing the finish line in 33:44.61.

More than 85 runners from 10 NEAC schools competed in the annual league championships.

Bobby Fogle, left, and Lee Bottoni, right, paced Keuka's men's cross country team during Saturday's CCOC Championships.

MEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College men’s cross country team traveled to Seneca Lake State Park in nearby Geneva, NY to compete in the annual Cross Country Only Conference (CCOC) championships, and on a blustery Saturday afternoon, the Storm earned a 10th place finish out of 13 teams.

For the sixth time in seven meets, freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) was Keuka’s top finisher. Bottoni completed the 8K course in 30 minutes, 42.9 seconds to place 43rd overall, and 36th among scoring runners. After Bottoni, Keuka’s next three finishers were freshmen, led by Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport), who finished in 32:32.23, good for 54th place among scoring runners. Bobby Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) crossed the finish line in 32:36.01 for a 55th place finish, while Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket) earned a 63rd-place finish with a time of 33:36.69.

Sophomore Kyle Morgan (Alfred, NY/Alfred-Almond) rounded out Keuka’s top five finishers, earning a 65th-place finish among scoring runners with a time of 33:46.46.

Clarkson University won the team title with 32 points, followed by Hartwick College (64), SUNYIT (110), Morrisville State (115), SUNY Canton (119), Paul Smiths College (125), Hobart College (163), Penn State-Abington (258), Penn State-Altoona (267), Keuka (273), Medaille College (286), Hilbert College (373) and D’Youville College (374).

The Storm will return to action on Oct. 29 with the annual North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championships, which will occur at SUNY Cobleskill.

During Saturday's SUNY Geneseo Invitational, for the fifth time in six races freshman Lee Bottoni was Keuka's top finisher.

MEN’S RESULTS

For the fifth time in six meets during the 2011 cross country season, freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) was Keuka College’s top finisher during Saturday afternoon’s 31st annual SUNY Geneseo Invitational, held at Letchworth State Park in Mount Morris, NY.

Bottoni, fresh off his first-ever dual meet victory during Keuka’s 23-33 win over Wells College Wednesday afternoon, finished the 8K course with a time of 30 minutes, 3.7 seconds, good for 58th place among scoring runners as the Storm placed 12th out of 13 teams. One hundred and sixty runners finished the course.

After Bottoni, freshman Bobby Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) came in 61st place with a time of 30:20.9, freshman Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport) was 74th with a time of 31:56.7, freshman Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket) crossed the finish line in 34:48.8, good for 81st place and sophomore Kyle Morgan (Alfred, NY/Alfred-Almond) finished 82nd with a time of 34:57.4.

Host Geneseo claimed the title with 23 points, followed by The College at Brockport (68), Hamilton College (93), the University of Rochester (103), Daemen College (189), Houghton College (191), LeMoyne (191), Mansfield University (192), Morrisville State (253), SUNY Canton (274), Hobart (280), Keuka (356) and Medaille (372).

The Storm takes a week off before returning to action Oct. 15 with the annual COCC Championships, held at Seneca Lake State Park.

Freshman Lee Bottoni picked up his first career collegiate cross country title during Wednesday's dual meet against Wells College.

MEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College men’s cross country team placed three runners in the top four finishers during Wednesday night’s road meet at Wells College as the Storm picked up a dual meet win, edging Wells 23-33.

For the fourth time in five races, freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) was Keuka’s top finisher, and this time, Bottoni picked up his first career victory. Bottoni ran the 4.1 mile course in a time of 23 minutes, 1.06 seconds, more than five seconds faster than the runner-up.

Wells’ Brayden Shumski finished second with a time of 23:07.2, with fellow freshman Bobby Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) running third with a time of 24:35.6. Freshman Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport) finished fourth with an effort of 24:49.9, freshman Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour) finished seventh in a time of 25:50.3 while freshman Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket) placed eighth in a time of 25:57.7.

The Storm will travel to Letchworth State Park at noon on Saturday afternoon to participate in the annual SUNY Geneseo Invitational.

For the third time in four meets, freshman Lee Bottoni was Keuka's top finisher during the annual Harry F. Anderson Invitational Saturday afternoon.

MEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College men’s cross country team traveled to Roberts Wesleyan College for the annual Harry F. Anderson Invitational, and facing some of the top competition in the region, the Storm placed 9th out of 12 teams Saturday afternoon.

For the third time in four meets, freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) was the top Keuka finisher. Bottoni, who led for most of the race last weekend during the Hobart Invitational before earning a second-place finish, ran the 8K course in 30 minutes, three seconds, good enough for 45th place among scoring runners.

As has been the case for all four Keuka meets, Bottoni was followed by four freshman in the top five for the Storm. Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour) raced in 30:46, narrowly edging out teammate Bobby Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) by one full second for 52nd place. Fogle came in 53rd place while Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport) finished 54th in a time of 31:10 and Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket) was 63rd with an effort of 32:41.

There were 117 finishers from 12 different colleges from all across the eastern region of the country.

The University of Rochester Yellowjackets won the team title with 40 points, followed by Mercyhurst (66), Penn State-Behrend (101), SUNY Fredonia (103), Gannon (115), host Roberts Wesleyan (117), Nazareth (190) and Gordon (250). Keuka’s men scored 267 points to edge out Wells (268), D’Youville (330) and Hilbert (363).

The Storm returns to action with a 6 p.m. dual meet Wednesday night at Wells College.

Lee Bottoni (far left) placed second for the Keuka College men's cross country team during its meet at Hobart.

MEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College men’s cross country team competed in the annual Hobart Invitational Saturday on the beautiful Hobart campus in Geneva, with the Storm men posting a fourth-place finish. More than 65 male racers from six colleges finished the course.

Freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) was the highest Keuka finisher, crossing the finish line of the 8K course in 28 minutes, eight seconds, just seven seconds behind the winner, Austin Townsley from Morrisville State.

As has been the case in the prior two Keuka meets, the Storm’s top five male finishers were all freshman. Following Bottoni, Robert Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) placed 11th among scoring runners with a time of 29:37; Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport) was 16th with a time of 30:14; Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour) finished 24th in 31:16; and Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket) placed 35th with a time of 32:51.

Morrisville won the men’s race with 44 points, followed  by Hobart (45), SUNY ESF (106), Wells College (108), Keuka (113) and Penn State-Abington (121).

The Storm return to action on Saturday, Sept. 24 with a trip to the annual Harry S. Anderson Invitational, hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College.

Both Keuka College's men's and women's cross country teams earned ninth-place finishes during Saturday's SUNY Oswego Invitational.

2011 WXC Oswego Results

2011 MXC Oswego Results

Inclement weather and flooding forced the Keuka College men’s and women’s cross country teams to call an audible for the second meet of the 2011 season.

Both cross country teams were originally supposed to compete in the SUNY Cobleskill Invitational, but torrential downpours and flooding forced the Storm to seek different options for competitions this weekend.

Keuka ended up competing in the SUNY Oswego Invitational, and both the men and women earned ninth-place finishes. The men scored 248 points while the women had 268 points.

Freshman Robert Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) was the top Keuka finisher, completing the 8K course in 29 minutes, 34.80 seconds, good for 38th place among scoring runners.

Fogle was followed by freshmen Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh), who was 43rd in a time of 30:12.48; Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport), who was 48th in a time of 30:52.75; Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour), who was 56th with a time of 31:27.93; and Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket), who placed 63rd with a time of 32:41.25.

On the women’s side, Keuka was paced by freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal), who for the second straight meet was the fastest Keuka finisher. Woolever placed 49th, running the 5K course in 24:11.05. The Storm runners were packed tightly together, as Keuka’s top five runners were separated by 11 places and just two minutes and 22 seconds.

Junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) was 50th, racing in 24:23.19; senior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Lakes) was 51st, finishing the race in 24:31.91; freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was 58th with a time of 26:09.39 while fellow freshman Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo) rounded out the top five with a 60th place finish in 26:33.93.

There were 148 male competitors and 113 female competitors at Oswego. Ithaca swept both the men’s and women’s team championships. In the men’s race, the Bombers scored 34 points, followed by Utica (47), SUNY Oswego (78), SUNY Cobleskill (89), SUNY ESF (151), Morrisville State (195), Hobart (206), SUNYIT (245), Keuka, Bryant and Stratton (305), Wells College (307) and SUNY Potsdam (332).

In the women’s race, Ithaca scored 22 points, followed by William Smith (78), Utica (83), SUNY Oswego (93), SUNY Cobleskill (140), SUNY ESF (167), Wells (209), SUNY Potsdam (239), Keuka, Morrisville State (277) and SUNYIT (314).

The Storm return to action Saturday in the annual Hobart College Invitational, held on the Hobart campus in nearby Geneva, NY.

Senior Stephanie Pontes was Keuka's second-fastest finisher during the season-opening Wildcat Cross Country Invitational.

Women’s Results     Men’s Results

The Keuka College men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Utica Saturday afternoon for the fifth annual SUNYIT Wildcat Invitational, and the women placed seventh as a team while the men finished ninth.

Keuka’s women scored 206 points while the Storm men finished with 180 points as 13 women’s teams and 14 men’s squads opened the 2011 season.

In the women’s race, William Smith placed first (24 points), followed by Paul Smith’s (100), Wells (123), Hudson Valley Community College (132), Cazenovia (135) and SUNY Canton (193). Following Keuka was Penn State-Abington (217), Morrisville State (218) and Potsdam 232).

In the men’s race, SUNY Canton won the title with 50 points, followed by Morrisville State (103), SUNYIT (139), Paul Smith’s (139), Broome (143), Hudson Valley CC (152), Hobart (161) and Onondaga Community College (177). Sage (269), Penn State-Abington (297), Wells (309) and Potsdam (333) finished behind Keuka.

Among individual female finishers, freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal) was Keuka’s highest finisher, placing 30th among scoring runners in a time of 25 minutes, 35.2 seconds for the 5K course. Senior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Lakes) was 36th, finishing in 26:03, junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) was 37th in 26:08, freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was 51st with a time of 28:35 while senior Maddie Reynolds (Clinton, NY/Clinton) placed 52nd in a time of 28:45.

Freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh), competing for the first time with the Green and Gold, placed 21st in 21:59.7. Bottoni was followed by fellow freshmen Robert Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport), who was 23rd in 22:04; Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport), who was 36th in 23 minutes; Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour), who was 38th in 23:14; and Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket), who finished 62nd in a time of 24:52 for the 6K race.

Keuka’s cross country teams return to action Saturday at SUNY Cobleskill.