(Recap written by Brittani Sahm)

CORTLAND, N.Y. – Junior Ryan Pericozzi (Lancaster) jumped a provisional NCAA-qualifying jump of 5.00 meters (16' 4.75”) in the pole vault on Tuesday to win the event at the Ithaca College Invitational, which was held Tuesday on the SUNY Cortland campus.

Pericozzi's effort was the second-best pole vault in school history. Jake Zanetti cleared 5.06 meters (16' 7.25”) to win the 2009 NCAA Div. III title. Pericozzi missed on his three attempts at 5.08 meters.

Along with Pericozzi's performance, Cortland was the only team to place in the top half of 16 competitors in the vault. Two athletes hit the exact mark to qualify for the ECAC Div. III Championships. Junior Ken Bucaro (Tully) finished second and sophomore Robert Brower (Massapequa) finished third, both jumping 4.40 meters (14' 5.25”). Sophomore Daniel Fugazot (Highland Mills/Monroe-Woodbury) finished fourth with a jump of 4.25 meters (13' 11.25”) beating out teammates senior Schuyler Field (Queensbury) and freshman Tom Calandra (Williamsville/Williamsville North), who both missed one more attempt than Fugazot at a lower height to tie for fifth place.

There were multiple first place finishes in the meet, including two individual wins by sophomore Justin Torres (Rome/Rome Free Academy) in the throwing events. In the shot put, Torres beat nine other competitors with a throw of 14.07 meters (46' 2”) and in the discus he threw 42.92 meters (140' 10”). Torres also placed second in the hammer throw behind an Ithaca athlete with a mark of 45.64 meters (149' 9”).

Freshman Michael Belluzzi (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) won the javelin throw with a mark of 51.82 meters (170' 0”). Junior Nick Wilson (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) finished second in the event throwing 48.28 meters (158' 5”).

Cortland also finished strong in the sprinting events. The 4x100-meter relay consisting of freshman Tim Scheftic (Dryden), freshman Andre Venner (Spring Valley/Hawthorne Christian), junior Dan McManus (Warwick/Warwick Valley), and sophomore Zac Karpinski (Syracuse/West Genesee) finished first with an ECAC-qualifying time of 43.16 seconds. Wilson placed first out of eight competitors in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.88 seconds.

Cortland claimed the top two spots in the 200-meter dash with sophomore Andrew Greenberg (Suffern) finishing first with a time of 23.63 seconds. Scheftic placed second in the event timing in at 23.89 seconds.

In the jumping events, sophomore Erik LeRoy (Kings Park) took first place in the long jump at 6.46 meters (21' 2.5”) and freshman Kenny Sinclair (Rochester/James Monroe) placed first in the triple jump at 13.61 meters (44' 8”). Sophomore Mike Ofosu (Latham/Shaker) was right behind Sinclair in second place with a jump of 13.26 meters (43' 6”).

Other top running performances for the Red Dragons include a first place in the 800-meter run by junior Kyle Fitzpatrick (Washingtonville) in 1:58.06 and a second place finish by McManus in the 400-meter dash (52.61 seconds). For the throws, freshman Tyler Prendergast (Waterford/Shenendehowa) finished second in the discus (41.20 meters – 135' 2”) and third in the hammer throw (44.97 meters – 147' 6”).

Complete Results