HOUGHTON, N.Y- Cortland senior Harley Buczkowski (Holland Patent) broke her own school record in the weight throw to become the conference champion in the event at the 2019 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships. The meet was held Friday and Saturday at Houghton College's Kerr-Pegula Field House.

Cortland finished fourth in the final team standings with 60.5 points. Geneseo won the team crown with 243.83 points followed by Brockport (130.66), Plattsburgh (102), Cortland (60.5) and Buffalo State (49) in the top five of the nine-school competition.

Buczkowski won the weight throw with a distance of 16.89 meters (55' 5"), which came on her sixth and final attempt. She previously held the school record at 16.65 meters (54' 7.5"), set last season, and now has the second highest rank in the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC).

Cortland picked up runner-up finishes in two individual events and two relays. Shannon Imbornoni (Bethpage/Our Lady of Mercy Academy) was second in the 800 meters (2:21.26) and Steffany Batista (Spring Valley/Ramapo) was second in the 200-meter dash (25.91). The Distance Medley Relay team of Gabby Moncada (Tully), Asia Cornwall (East Greenbush/Columbia), Taylor McClay (Eastport/Eastport South Manor) and Courtney Maurin (Pine Bush) placed second in 12:59.71, and the 4x400-meter relay unit of Jesse Correale (Staten Island/Notre Dame Academy), Batista, Imbornoni and Kaylee Uhl (Waverly) finished second in 3:57.94.

Cortland concluded the meet with five All-SUNYAC honors. The top three finishers in each event earn all-conference recognition. Winners are first team, runners-up are second team, and third-place finishers are third team.

Taylor Hunter (Buffalo/Tapestry Charter) finished fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.31 seconds. Molly Baker (Newark Valley) placed fifth in the pentathlon with 2,937 points.

Maya Campbell (Valley Stream/Valley Stream South), Kelly Gardner (Lake Ronkonkoma/Sachem North) and Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) each placed sixth in their respective events. Campbell finished the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.30 seconds and Gardner finished the long jump with a distance of 5.18 meters (17' 0"). Van Pelt ended in a four-way tie for sixth place in the high jump with a height of 1.52 meters (4' 11.75"). Uhl rounded out Cortland's scorers with a seventh-place time of 1:00.48 (59.96 prelims) in the 400 meters.

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:

Baker, Pentathlon and High Jump (1.58 meters/5' 2.25" during pentathlon)
Batista, 200-meter dash
Buczkowski, Weight Throw
Campbell, 60-meter hurdles
Gardner, Triple Jump (9th place, 10.77 meters/35' 4")
Hunter, 200-meter dash
Imbornoni, 800 meters
Uhl, 400-meter dash (prelims)
DMR (Moncada, Cornwall, McClay, Maurin)
4x400 Relay (Correale, Batista, Imbornoni, Uhl)

(NOTE: Heptathlon at the AARTFC Championships is limited to top 12 qualifiers. As of Saturday night, Baker is ranked 17th based on her performance at the SUNYAC Championships.)

Final Team Scores:
1) Geneseo – 243.83
2) Brockport – 130.66
3) Plattsburgh - 102
4) Cortland – 60.5
5) Buffalo St. - 49
6) Oswego - 33
7) Fredonia - 21
8) Oneonta - 20
9) Potsdam - 3

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!