GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart and William Smith cross country teams will host the inaugural Warner-Fleury Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Seneca Lake State Park. The women's 6-kilometer race will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men's 8-kilometer race at noon.
 
Hobart and William Smith will compete against Clarkson, Keuka, SUNY Canton, SUNY ESF and SUNY Morrisville.
 
William Smith has been led this season by first-years Evie Morris and Vienna Ritter-Yelle. The Liberty League Women's Cross Country Rookie of the Week, Morris ran the Houghton Invitational 6K course in 23:33.0, the fifth-fastest 6K in program history. She has been the first Heron finisher in each of the three races she's run this year. Ritter-Yelle was the next William Smith finisher in each of those three races and won the race Morris missed, the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational.
 
Junior Duncan Kipkoech has been the first Hobart finisher in 17 consecutive races dating back to 2024, including an overall victory at the 2025 SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational. He's coming off his fastest 8K of the season, clocking in at 26:16.2 at Houghton. Sophomore Malachi Quinn has been the second Statesman across the finish line in each of the team's four races this season. He ran a career-best 26:48.3 at Houghton.
 
The Warner-Fleury Invitational, formerly the Cross Country Only Conference Championships, will honor former HWS cross country head coaches Jack Warner and Ron Fleury. Warner led the Herons for 18 seasons, while Fleury directed the Statesmen for 39 years.
 
Warner, a member of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame, had a coaching career that spanned seven decades, including stops at Colgate, Cornell, Kansas and Syracuse. He founded the CCOC Championships in 2005. His William Smith teams won four CCOC titles. Warner retired following the 2012 season and passed away in 2023.
 
A member of the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame, Fleury ran for SUNY Cortland. In addition to his work with the Statesmen, he coached the cross country team at Eisenhower College as well as the track and field teams at Mynderse Academy. The Coach Ron Fleury Cross Country Award is presented annually to a Hobart cross country runner for outstanding academics, athletics and community service. The Mynderse outdoor track facility was named in his honor in 2022, the same year he retired from Hobart.