ITHACA, N.Y. – Sophomore Ryan Pericozzi (Lancaster) and junior Gino Bisceglia (Norwood/Norwood-Norfolk) each put his name in the school record book during the season-opening Cornell Relays.
Pericozzi provisionally qualified for the NCAA Div. III Championships in the pole vault. He finished third overall – second among collegiate entries - by clearing 4.90 meters (16’ 0.75”), which matches the top school mark set by Jake Zanetti last year.
Bisceglia finished second out of 92 competitors in the 300-meter dash in 35.19 seconds. The previous school record in the event, which is not conducted at the ECAC or NCAA Div. III Championships, was 35.39 seconds by Matt Bieringer in 2007. Bisceglia now holds Cortland’s indoor school records in the 300, 400 and 500-meter dashes.
Freshman Dash Ellis (Tomkins Cove/North Rockland) qualified for ECACs with a fifth-place distance of 13.78 meters (45’ 2.5”) in the triple jump. Three Red Dragons were among the 16 sprinters out of 65 who advanced to the finals in the 60-meter dash. Senior Darnell Owens (Fallsburg) finished sixth in 7.08 seconds, qualifying for the ECACs in the 55-meter dash in the process. Junior Sa-id Shakir (Syracuse/Bishop Grimes) placed 13th (7.14), while junior Matt McDougle (Buffalo/Kenmore West) advanced to the finals with a time of 7.21 seconds in the prelims.
Senior Joe Keleher (Newfane) and senior Durrell Reed (Syracuse/Corcoran) each qualified for the finals out of 30 entrants in the 60-meter hurdles. Keleher finished third in 8.53 seconds and Reed placed eighth in 8.84 seconds (8.66 in prelims).
The 4x800-meter relay team of freshman Joe Blazey (Newark Valley), sophomore Kyle Fitzpatrick (Washingtonville), freshman Joe Panetta (Merrick/Calhoun) and sophomore Sean Twomey (Cornwall) finished sixth in 8:11.22. Fitzpatrick also placed 14th in the 500-meter dash (1:09.34).
Four other Red Dragons finished in the top 10. Senior Drew Hilker (Ithaca) was eighth in the long jump at 6.54 meters (21’ 5.5”), sophomore Steve Manos (Elmira/Southside) was ninth in the high jump at 1.89 meters (6’ 2.25”), freshman Justin Torres (Rome/Rome Free Academy) placed ninth in shot put at 12.85 meters (42’ 2”) and freshman P.J. Flynn (Valhalla) was 10th in the triple jump at 13.06 meters (42’ 10.25”).
Freshman Matt Knott (Smithtown) finished 11th in the 5,000 meters (15:58.67), while freshman Eric Banks (Westbury) and freshman Nate Francisco (Geneva/Marcus Whitman) placed 12th and 13th, respectively, in the 300-meter dash (36.22 and 36.24 seconds).
Complete Results (PDF)