UTICA, N.Y. and ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cortland women's indoor track and field team registered an eighth-place finish out of 17 schools at the Utica College Pioneer Invitational. In addition, the Red Dragons also sent competitors to the Cornell Kane Invitational, a non-team scoring event.
 
Cortland finished with 27 points at Utica behind five top-eight placewinners. RPI won the team title with 127 points, followed by Geneseo (115) and Hamilton (71).
 
Taylor Hunter (Buffalo/Tapestry Charter) finished first out of 44 sprinters in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.06 seconds. She missed AARTFC standards by just a hundredth of a second, but has already put herself on the AARTFC list with a time of 8.03 seconds earlier this season.
 
Harley Buczkowski (Holland Patent) placed second out of 56 in the weight throw with a distance of 15.78 meters (51' 9.25") that presently ranks her fifth in the AARTFC and 24th nationally in Division III. Ace Bruce (Ellenville) was fourth of 25 in the triple jump (10.71 meters/35' 1.75"), Sam Himes (Amherst/Sweet Home) finished seventh of 30 in the 3,000 meters (11:24.50), and Molly Baker (Newark Valley) finished seventh of 29 in the high jump (1.46 meters/4' 9.5").
 
Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) also cleared 1.46 meters (4' 9.5") in the high jump, but officially tied for 11th place. She cleared the height on her third try, while Baker was successful on her first attempt.
 
Bruce just missed a scoring spot in the long jump with her ninth-place effort out of 32 entrants. She covered 4.80 meters (15' 9"). Malley Bowen (Owego/Tioga) finished 10th of 42 in the 60-meter hurdles (9.78), Riley Wood (Wallkill) was 13th in the triple jump (9.98 meters/32' 9"), Rachel Whitcomb (Tioga) tied for 13th in the high jump (1.41 meters/4' 7.5"), and Courtney Maurin (Pine Bush) finished 14th in the 3,000 meters (11:45.03).
 
At Cornell, the 4x400-meter relay team of Jesse Correale (Staten Island/Notre Dame Academy), Kaylee Uhl (Waverly), Shannon Imbornoni (Bethpage/Our Lady of Mercy Academy) and Steffany Batista (Spring Valley/Ramapo) took top honors with its time of 4:12.62.
 
Imbornoni finished sixth of 22 in the 800 meters (2:23.15). Uhl and Batista finished seventh (1:01.56) and ninth (1:01.64), respectively, in the 400-meter dash, and Sydney Smith (Niskayuna) ended ninth of 29 in the mile (5:28.48).
 
Cortland will compete at the Ithaca College Bomber Invitational and Multi next Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 2-3.

Results:
Cornell (Women and Men)
Utica (Women)
Utica (Men)

Coach's Corner - Comments from Head Coach Steve Patrick:

We're really fortunate to have the ability to split the team up to try and pursue the best opportunities we can for the team.  It's a great luxury to have, and we are grateful for the support of the department that allows us to do it!
 
I think the best summary of both meets is that overall we had efforts that were good, and ultimately that is what you as an athlete can control.  We're also starting to see some really nice things come together for both teams.
 
While obviously the vault by freshman Dane Sorensen was fantastic, freshman Liz Spencer had a double personal best day in both the weight throw and the shot put, so that's obviously exciting!  Continuing on our theme of fantastic freshmen, Sydney Smith ran a very competitive mile at Cornell, while Ryan Miller had a season's best in long jump (breaking the 21-foot barrier, which is always fun) to go along with his second-best triple jump effort of the year.  Freshman Luke Updegraff had a really solid day at Utica in the long sprints (including a season's best in the 200), while classmate Taylor Hunter bested all comers to win the women's 60m dash at the Utica Pioneer open.
 
We're looking forward to the short trip to Ithaca College next weekend when they host the Bomber Invitational and Multi!