SHIPPENSBURG, PA. and ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team tuned up for next weekend's SUNYAC Championships by competing at two meets - the 15th Annual Paul Kaiser Classic, hosted by Shippensburg University, on Saturday, and the Cornell Big Red Invitational on Sunday.
 
Sophomore David Bernstein (Norwich) highlighted the Red Dragons' weekend by placing first in the hammer throw at both meets. Bernstein bested a total of 47 opponents over the weekend, hitting final distances of 56.22 meters (184' 5") at Shippensburg for a new personal best and 55.93 meters (183' 6") at Cornell. Both of these distances were All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifying marks.
 
Also at the Paul Kaiser Classic, Dane Sorensen (Warwick/Warwick Valley) won the pole vault with a career-best and AARTFC qualifying height of 4.90 meters (16' 0.75"). Wendell Brand (Sleepy Hollow) also hit an AARTFC qualifying mark in the triple jump, finishing second out of the field of 22 with a personal-best distance of 14.26 meters (46' 9.5"). Storm Malone (Highland) placed fourth out of eight runners in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.90 seconds to round out Cortland's AARTFC qualifying performances at Shippensburg.
 
Richard Samuels (Wallkill) and Nolan Vest (Coram/Longwood) finished second and third, respectively, in a field of 74 in the 800-meter dash. Samuels clocked in at 1:57.21 followed by Vest at 1:57.48. James Forte (Merrick/Sanford H. Calhoun) finished eighth with a time of 1:58.17 while Chris Moore (Neponsit/Avon Old Farms) finished 12th at 1:59.01.
 
Zach Kashmer (Chili/Churchville-Chili) placed sixth of 40 in the 400-meter run in 51.51 seconds. Luke Updegraff (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) also finished in the top 10 in the event with a ninth-place finish in 51.96 seconds. Ricky Castello (New Rochelle) placed 12th in 52.05 seconds and Michael Eubanks (Islip) was 17th in 52.72 seconds.
 
In the 200-meter dash, Liam Joyce (Dryden) was Cortland's top finisher, placing 10th out of the field of 93 with a time 22.71 seconds. Brent DiVittorio (Brewster) finished 17th at 22.98 seconds.
 
Aidan Farrell (Bloomingburg/Pine Bush) finished 10th out of 38 in the 400-meter hurdles at 57.84 seconds. Brandon Nugent (Middletown) placed 19th of 42 in the javelin throw (42.47 meters/139' 4") and Malik Hinds (Bay Shore) was the Red Dragons' top performer in the long jump with a distance of 6.20 meters (20' 4.25").
 
At Cornell, Micah Assibey-Bonsu (Central Islip) and Grant Boyd (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) each placed first in their respective events. Assibey-Bonsu hit an AARTFC qualifying distance of 14.31 meters (46' 11.5") in the triple jump while Boyd bested the field of five in the 3,000-meter run in 9:14.07. Mike Verde (Hopewell Junction/Arlington) was runner-up in the 3,000 in 9:34.10.
 
Cole Clemons (Ithaca) finished second out of five competitors in the discus throw with a final distance of 39.24 meters (128' 9"). Tyler Hochadel (Hamburg/Frontier) also recorded a second- place finish for Cortland in the hammer throw, reaching a distance of 46.61 meters (152' 11"). Hunter Braun (Victor) placed fourth out of the field of 19 in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:00.65.
 
In the 5,000-meter run, Cabel McCandless (Lindenhurst), Chad Dunham (Central Square/Paul V. Moore), Dan Gross (East Moriches/Center Moriches) and Pat Carew (Levittown/Division Avenue) all placed top-eight out of the 14 runners in the event. McCandless finished fifth at 15:44.80, Dunham was sixth at 16:04.53, Gross was seventh at 16:28.15, and Carew was eighth at 16:39.56.
 
John Nethercott (Fayetteville/Fayetteville-Manlius) and Sean Sorohan (Pearl River) both represented the Red Dragons in the 400-meter and 200-meter dash. Nethercott finished sixth of 11 in the 400 (54.77) and eighth of 14 in the 200 (24.08). Sorohan was ninth in the 400 (55.22) and 10th in the 200 (24.21).
 
Bryan Finn (Fonda/Fonda-Fultonville) was Cortland's top performer in the shot put over the weekend, placing fourth and hitting a distance of 12.87 meters (42' 2.75"). Finn also placed fourth in the discus throw with a distance of 37.61 meters (123' 5").
 
The SUNYAC Outdoor Championships will be held at Brockport Friday and Saturday, May 3-4.

(recap by Cortland sports information intern John Nocco)

Complete Results:
Shippensburg Men/Women (PDF)
Cornell Men
Cornell Women

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

Heading down to Shippensburg was a great opportunity for the program, and it was wonderful to see some great performances from it. We're mostly in the mode of trying to tune up for the conference meet so any big PRs are obviously extremely exciting during this time of year while our focus is on other things.

Dane Sorensen breaking the 16' barrier in the pole vault is obviously a huge achievement, and quite exciting for us!  David Bernstein having a lifetime PR in the hammer throw was also tremendous, as was the huge lifetime best in triple jump by Wendell Brand.  Our women's 4x100 relay, running for the first time together this year, ran a great time despite windy conditions the take over the conference lead, and Kelly Gardner leapt to just a centimeter under her personal best in long jump; freshman Molly Baker had a really nice effort in high jump to clear her highest of the year.  The wind at Shippensburg definitely hindered a lot of performances, but for the most part we did a good job of fighting through it as a team.

We were also fortunate to have the opportunity to send folks over to Cornell for a small meet on Sunday.  Despite the cold our distance squad put together some really nice efforts, especially from Eliza Nichols, Maddie Ciuffetelli, and Grant Boyd in the 3000 as part of our preparations for the conference championships next week.  I'd also like to point out that while a few folks may have ended their season today, they did so with some pretty big personal bests, so congratulations to Dan Gross and Pat Carew who both went out and ran fast in the 5000 and Morgan Sharer who threw a college PR in the javelin!