SUNY - Geneseo Men's Cross Country

Woods retired following the 2014-15 academic year following a 23-year career with the men's and women's cross country teams at SUNY Geneseo. One of the nations most decorated distance coaches, Woods coached numerous national champions and All-Americans during his tenure with the Knights, while having been a part of 52 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships, and garnering a total of 28 SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors. Woods led the 2005 womens cross country team to the first team national championship in institution history, and was named the NCAA Division III Womens Coach of the Year for his efforts. Since taking over the program at his alma mater in 1992, he has also guided 21 runners (13 women, 8 men) to 29 All-America citations, including national runner-up Liz Montgomery in 2007 and three-time All-America Jeff Beck 05. In 2014, the Knights women clinched their 16th-consecutive and 20th overall appearance in the NCAA Championship race, while the men made their 12th-straight (12th overall) showing. Geneseo extended the nation's longest streak to 12 for having both its men's and women's teams qualify for the NCAA Championships. The women notched a fifth-place effort in 2007, while the men have run to top-10 finishes in four of the last six years, including a fourth-place showing in 2011. Woods has been voted the Atlantic Region Coach of the Year five times (three women, two men). A 22-time SUNYAC Cross Country Coach of the Year (12 women, 10 men), he has guided 26 SUNYAC Championship teams (14 women, 12 men), while 15 of his Knights (10 women, five men) have run to 20 SUNYAC individual Championships and 67 of his runners (36 women, 31 men) have been inducted into the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame. Under his tutelage, the women won an unprecedented 11-straight SUNYAC titles from 2000-09, and won their fourth-straight championship in 2014, while the men, who won a string of six from 2000-06, won their fifth title in the last six years in this season. Woods also served as the head coach for the Geneseo track & field programs for 12 years until 2004, when he started focusing solely on the distance runners as an assistant coach. As head coach, he the led the Knights to nine indoor titles (four men, five women), along with five outdoor championships (four women, one men).  Five Knights have been crowned individual national champions under Woods watch, most recently Alyssa Smith who won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2013. Seven-time All-American Beth Shope 99 won the institutions first ever national championship, bringing home the hammer throw title in 1999, before Kim DePrez 03 sweep the indoor and outdoor high jump titles, and Melissa White 03 take top-honors in the indoor 5,000-meter run in 2003. All told, 53 track & field/cross country competitors (33 women, 20 men) have combined for 126 All-America certificates (84 women, 42 men) since Woods has been a part of the team. He has also been a head coach for 40 SUNYAC Championships (23 women, 17 men), along with 12 more as an assistant coach. During the 2002-03 academic year, Woods led Geneseo to an unprecedented sweep of all six SUNYAC titles in cross country and track & field, before also helping the Knights repeat the feat three years later in 2005-06. Prior to coming aboard at Geneseo, Woods taught English at nearby York Central High School. He also coached boys and girls cross country teams for 21 years, compiling a dual meet record of 219-24, as well as the track and field teams for 20 years, running up a dual-meet mark of 208-36. Woods earned his bachelors degree in secondary English from Geneseo in 1969, as well as a masters degree in English in 1978. The Mike Woods File   Note: Above records listed women's/men's Bold - SUNYAC Coach Of The Year The Mike Woods File Sat, 10/01 | Women's Cross Country Mike Woods Invitational 1st/22 ()

Popovici 06 enters his third season as head mens and womens track & field coach and assistant men's and women's cross country coach at his alma mater for the 2016-17 season, having already coached the Knights to fifteen Track & Field All-American certificates. In 2015-2016, Popovici led the Knights to unprecedented success, including one National Championship, two second place finishes, and three third place finishes at the NCAA Championships. Jacqueline Huben became a National Champion in the 3,000m steeplechase, while Alexa Wandy finished second nationally in both the indoor and outdoor triple jump, and Isaac Garcia-Cassani finished third in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500m, and anchored a Distance Medley Relay that featured James Laguerre II, Lorenzo Mazzuca, and Ryan Moynihan to another third place at the Indoor National Championships. In 2014-15, Popovici guided the women's team to the program's first SUNYAC outdoor track & field title since 2010 and ninth overall. He also coached four athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, two of which became All-Americans, sophomore Wandy and junior Huben. Wandy captured third place in the triple jump with a final jump of 12.47 meters while Huben finished the 3,000-meter steeple in a time of 10:41.89 to take fifth. Sophomore Sara Rosenzweig came in 12th in the steeple and junior Ashton Hughes took 17th in the 10,000-meter run. At the SUNYAC Championships, the Knights were led by first-place finishes from junior Kylie Ryan (400m hurdles) and Rosenzweig (steeple). Popovici coached first-year Garcia-Cassani to an All-America third-place showing in the mile at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, as well as Wood, who competed in the 800-meter run. The Geneseo women finished runner-up at the SUNYAC Indoor Championships, led by first-place performances by Keira Wood (mile) and Joanna Castrogivanni (5,000). Popovici helped the 2014 Knights' cross country teams extend Division III's longest streak of qualifying both its men's and women's squads for the NCAA Championships, with the women making their 16th-straight showing and the men running to their 12th in a row. Senior Cassie Goodman was named an All-American after crossing the finish line in 20th place to lead Geneseo to fifth place in the women's race, while the Knights' men landed 27th. Both squads also were crowned State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Champions, with the women winning their 14th title in 15 years and the men clinching their fifth in the last six.  Prior to taking over at Geneseo, the former Knights middle-distance standout spent three years at SUNY Oneonta as an assistant coach for the Red Dragon cross country and track & field programs as well as a lecturer in the Department of Health and Fitness.  During his time in Oneonta, Popovici was part of a coaching staff that led the mens track & field program to its first-ever SUNYAC Outdoor Championship, winning the 2014 title last month before also running to the first Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship two weeks later.  Popovici was also part of the mens teams first-ever SUNYAC Indoor Championship in 2013, and has coached a total of 28 SUNYAC and 11 ECAC individual qualifiers while with the program. In 2013, the Red Dragon womens cross country team qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history and saw Danielle Kennedy finish 19th to be named the first All-American in team history.  As a full-time lecturer in both the Health and Fitness and Sports Management programs at Oneonta, Popovici was responsible for the departmental curricular development while also working as the internship coordinator and associate department chair. He taught courses including Kinesiology, Sport Psychology, Current Health Issues, Exercise Psychology, Principles and Components of Fitness, Advanced Weight Lifting for Performance and Sport & Media. He also served as the strength and conditioning coach for the mens soccer team for the last two years.  Prior to Oneonta, Chris spent two years as an assistant coach for the cross country and track & field teams at Cortland.  During the 2010-11 season, he coached 10 ECAC qualifying performances and four SUNYAC place-winners, including Cody Amengual who set a SUNYAC Outdoor meet record during the 800 (1:53.25) competition. Also serving as a graduate assistant in the Kinesiology Department, he went on to earn a masters degree in kinesiology in 2011, specializing in exercise physiology.  In 2010, Popovici was named director of the Syracuse Chargers Track Clubs Elite Development Group. He has overseen a USA Track & Field (USATF) mens team 5,000-meter champion and a regional 5,000-meter mens team champion, as well as eight club records in the sprints, throws and distance events. Twelve athletes from the club have qualified for the USATF National Track and Field Championships since 2011, including Nick Guarino who finished ninth in the 800 meters at the 2014 USATF Indoor Championships and also clocked the 12th-fastest time 1,000-meter time in the world (2:20.32) during the 2013 indoor season.  Under Popovicis watch, Guarino and his brother, Josh, have registered personal-bests of 1:47.13 and 1:47.35, respectively, in the 800 meters. Club member Sean Bernstein also won a pair of gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters at the 2013 Maccibiah International Games in Israel. Popovici is a National Strength and Conditioning Association certified specialist and holds a USATF Level II certification in the sprints, hurdles and relays. He also recently completed the USATF Level III/IAAF Level V Endurance Elite Coaching Academy curriculum. A native of nearby Pittsford, N.Y., Popovici started his coaching career at his high school alma mater, Pittsford-Sutherland, from 2006-2009. Popovici graduated from Geneseo in 2006 with a bachelors degree in communications. A middle distance standout during his four years in the program, Popovici was crowned SUNYAC Champion in the 500 meters during the 2004 Indoor Championships, and also finished third in the 800 meters on two occasions at the SUNYAC Outdoor Championships. Popovici continues to compete with the Syracuse Chargers Track Club, owning lifetime-bests of 1:52.51 in the 800, 2:29.47 in the 1,000 and 3:57.98 in the 1,500.