GENEVA, OHIO – Senior Mitch Couch (Oneonta) finished as national runner-up in the hammer throw, breaking his own school record in the process, as SUNY Cortland completed the final day of competition at the NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Red Dragons tied for fifth place in the final team standings out of 141 schools that sent competitors to the three-day meet, which was hosted by Mount Union and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission at the SPIRE Center.
 
Wisconsin-La Crosse won the team title with 47 points, followed by Wisconsin-Whitewater (45), Mount Union (29) and Benedictine (Ill.) (28). Cortland and Wisconsin-Eau Claire tied for fifth with 24 points apiece, followed by Rowan and George Fox in a tie for seventh with 23 points each. Cortland earned 10 points for senior Jack Flood's (Blue Point/Bayport-Blue Point) win in the decathlon Friday, eight points for Couch's second-place finish in the hammer, and six for senior Connor Christopherson's (Morrisonville/Saranac) third-place decathlon showing.
 
Cortland finished in the top 10 nationally for the second straight year. The tie for fifth is the Red Dragons' best outdoor national finish since back-to-back second-place efforts in 2007 and 2008.
 

Couch placed second in the hammer with a throw of 58.06 meters (190' 6"), eclipsing his previous school record of 57.98 meters (190' 3") set at the Cortland Classic in April. Marckus Simmons of Augustana (Ill.) won the title with a throw of 61.59 meters (202' 1").
 
Couch got off to a strong start with an opening throw of 56.77 meters, and through three attempts was in third place out of 20 entrants. The top nine advanced to the finals, which gave those athletes three more throws in an attempt to improve their standing. Couch dropped briefly into fifth place during the fifth round, but in his turn that round he unleashed his school-record throw to pass three people and move into second place. No one was able to match Couch's distance during the sixth and final round.
 
Also for Cortland Saturday, junior Dawan Jones (Buffalo/Tapestry Charter) finished 10th in the triple jump at 14.39 meters (47' 2.5") and senior Mitch Ryan (Plattsburgh/Seton Catholic) placed 14th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:45.72.
 
Jones just missed being one of the nine athletes to advance to triple jump finals. He opened with his best jump of the day in his first attempt, and was in eighth place entering the third rotation. Two competitors, however, passed Jones on their third attempts, leaving him only 0.02 meters (less than an inch) from earning three more tries. Luther Newburn of Benedictine won the title at 15.98 meters (52' 5.25").
 
Ryan was near the front pack for about half of his race before dropping back late. Ian Ewers of Wisconsin-La Crosse won the title in 9:05.58.

Results Page (has tabs for each day's results/schedules, and link to final PDF results)
Championship Page