HOUGHTON, N.Y- Five Cortland athletes won league titles to help the Red Dragons finish third out of nine schools at the 2019 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships. The meet was held Friday and Saturday at Houghton College's Kerr-Pegula Field House.

Geneseo won the team crown with 166.5 points, followed by Brockport (146.5), Cortland (143.5), Oneonta (86.5), Fredonia and Buffalo St. (tied at 38) in the top five.

Wendell Brand (Sleepy Hollow) was named the Co-Men's Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet. He won the long jump at 7.06 meters (23' 2") and finished fifth in the triple jump at 13.81 meters (45' 3.75"). He hit the winning mark in the long jump on his final attempt.

Storm Malone (Highland) won the league's 60-meter hurdles title for the third consecutive season with his winning time of 8.16 seconds. His time of 8.14 seconds in prelims is a facility record. C.J. White (Middletown) also established a field house record with his winning distance of 14.14 meters (47' 3.5") in the triple jump. Dane Sorensen (Warwick/Warwick Valley) was the league champ in the pole vault with a height of 4.80 meters (15' 9"). Isaiah Brooks (Minoa/East Syracuse Minoa) won the heptathlon with a score of 4,804 points.

Micah Assibey-Bonsu (Central Islip) placed second behind White in the triple jump with a distance of 14.27 meters (46' 10") and Zach Kashmer (Chili/Churchville-Chili) was second behind Brooks in the heptathlon with 4,767 points. David Bernstein (Norwich) finished second in the weight throw (16.76 meters/55' 0"), and the 4x400-meter relay unit of Connor Lewis (Glen Ridge), Ricky Castello (New Rochelle), Richard Samuels (Wallkill) and Austen Johnson (Jamestown) recorded a second-place finish at 3:22.04.

Cortland also earned three third-place finishes. Liam Joyce (Dryden) was third in the 60-meter dash (7.18, 7.15 prelims), Samuels placed third in the 800 meters (1:55.97), and the Distance Medley Relay of Hunter Braun (Victor), Luke Updegraff (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley), Clayton Santiago (Bethpage) and Jose Cruz (Ellenville) finished third in 10:34.52.

Cortland earned a total of 12 All-SUNYAC honors, which go to the top three places in each event. Winners are first team, runners-up are second team, and third-place finishers are third team.

Ryan Konotopskyj (East Amherst/Williamsville North), Kai Bryant (Brooklyn/H.S. of Enterprise and Business Tech.) and Kellen Martin (Salamanca/Cattaraugus-Little Valley) all recorded fourth place finishes in their respective events. Konotopskyj finished the mile at 4:22.35, Bryant finished the 60-meter dash in 7.23 seconds (7.15 prelims), and Martin scored 4,291 points in the heptathlon. Joyce finished fifth in the 200-meter dash (22.91), and Johnson was fifth in the 400 meters (50.91).

The Red Dragons picked up three sixth-place showings and two seventh-place efforts. Tyler Hochadel (Hamburg/Frontier) was sixth in the weight throw (14.85 meters/48' 8.75") and seventh in the shot put (13.89 meters/45' 7"). Chris Moore (Neponsit/Avon Old Farms) was sixth in the 800 meters (1:58.97, 1:58.63 prelims), Ryan Lawless (Commack) finished in a tie for sixth in the pole vault (4.25 meters/13' 11.25"), and Ryan Miller (Little Falls) was seventh in the long jump (6.59 meters/21' 7.5").

Rounding out Cortland's scorers were four eighth-place finishers: Malik Hinds (Bay Shore) in the 60-meter hurdles (8.82, 8.66 prelims); Nolan Vest (Coram/Longwood) in the mile (4:24.34), Jesse Haynes (Hampton Bays) in the heptathlon (3,735 points), and Lewis in the 400 meters (51.19, 50.96 prelims).

Peyton Lalone (Ogdensburg/Ogdensburg Free Academy) was third in the 60-meter dash prelims at 7.14 seconds, but did not compete in the finals due to an injury.

Cortland will compete at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday, March 1-2 at Ithaca College. Cortland's AARTFC qualifiers during the SUNYAC Championships were:

Assibey-Bonsu, Triple Jump
Bernstein, Weight Throw
Brand, Long Jump and Triple Jump
Brooks, Heptathlon and High Jump (1.98 meters/6' 6" during heptathlon)
Bryant, 60-meter dash (prelims)
Joynce, 60-meter dash (prelims)
Kashmer, Heptathlon
Konotopskyj, Mile
Lalone, 60-meter dash (prelims)
Malone, 60-meter hurdles
Martin, Heptathlon
Samuels, 800 meters
Sorensen, Pole Vault
White, Triple Jump
DMR (Braun, Updegraff, Santiago, Cruz)
4x400m Relay (Lewis, Castello, Samuels, Johnson)

(NOTE: Heptathlon at the AARTFC Championships is limited to top 12 qualifiers. As of Saturday night, Brooks is ranked third, Kashmer is ranked fourth and Martin is ranked 12th based on their performances at the SUNYAC Championships.)

Final Team Scores:
1) Geneseo – 166.5
2) Brockport – 146.5
3) Cortland – 143.5
4) Oneonta – 86.5
tie 5) Fredonia – 38
tie 5) Buffalo St. – 38
7) Plattsburgh – 24
8) Oswego – 13
9) Potsdam - 4

Complete Results

(Sports information intern John Nocco contributed to this recap)

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

There's so many obvious things to celebrate from the weekend (individual championships, all-conference honors, season-best performances, etc.) that are highly deserving of recognition, but there are some stories from the weekend that aren't as obvious from just looking at the results.

Both teams exceeded our 'projected' point totals for the meet. This is a pretty big deal, as it shows that our teams were performing better than expected which of course is something we are incredibly proud of.

While not everything worked out the way we hoped, what's especially encouraging to me is the attitude and expectations held by this team.  When reviewing performances and mistakes with folks that didn't have their best day, the individuals I was speaking with were great at acknowledging where they made mistakes and being accountable to improve.  We talk a lot about learning from mistakes so that was especially great to see today.

Over the weekend two of our field event athletes won their event on their last attempt, which is incredibly gratifying to see happen.  On Friday Harley Buczkowski came from behind with a huge PR and school record to win the women's weight throw while earlier today Wendell Brand hit a huge PR on his last long jump attempt to move into first.  These are simply incredible moments that add to the long legacy of track and field at SUNY Cortland!