ITHACA, N.Y. – Freshman Katie Darling (Delhi/Delaware Academy) turned in two top-10 finishes, including an ECAC-qualifying performance in the 60-meter hurdles, and both sophomore Alyson Dalton (Sherrill/V-V-S) and junior Kristin Vespa (Ossining) placed in the top five of the 5,000-meter run as Cortland opened its season at the Cornell Relays.

Darling finished sixth out of 30 entries in the 60-meter hurdles. She qualified for the ECAC Div. III Championships with a time of 9.55 seconds – a time she also posted in prelims. Darling also finished 10th of 39 athletes in the long jump at 5.00 meters (16' 5”).

Dalton placed third in a 20-runner field with her time of 18:54.96 in the 5,000 meters. Vespa crossed the finish line fifth in 19:22.37.

Freshman Nikki Schafer (Troy/Columbia) was the Red Dragons' top performer in the pentathlon. She finished in fifth place with 2,838 points, including an ECAC-qualifying time of 9.52 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and the best high jump among the pentathletes at 1.55 meters (5' 1”).

The 4x800-meter relay team of freshman Alexis Fairbanks (Apalachin/Owego Free Academy), sophomore Valerie Basciano (New City/Albertus Magnus), junior Barbara Green (Levittown/Division Avenue) and freshman Jordyn Naylon (Fairport) qualified for ECAC's with its fifth-place time of 10:01.30, while the 4x400-meter relay unit of senior Mallory Baker (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa), freshman Keri Marks (Massapequa Park/Massapequa), junior Stephanie McGrath (Camillus/West Genesee) and sophomore Veronica Montrose (Clintondale/Highland) finished seventh in 4:15.14.

Freshman Amber Stephens (Stony Point/North Rockland) finished eighth of 26 in the triple jump at 10.57 meters (34' 8.25”) and tied for 12th in the high jump at 1.45 meters (4' 9”). Freshman Alana Hotchkiss (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) finished 12th of 26 in the triple jump at 10.12 meters (33' 2.5”) and 13th of 39 in the long jump at 4.95 meters (16' 3”).

Sophomore Jenna Evarts (West Islip) was 10th in a field of 51 sprinters in the 60-meter dash (8.18). Freshman Christi Nassauer (Mount Sinai) finished 15th in the pole vault at 3.15 meters (10' 4”) and sophomore Ashley Gansle (Loudonville/Shaker) was 15th in the shot put with a distance of 9.27 meters (30' 5”).

Complete Results (PDF)

Pentathlon Results (PDF)