ROCHESTER, N.Y. and ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cortland men's indoor track and field team competed in a pair of meets in preparation for next week's SUNYAC Championships, sending competitors to the Nazareth Conference Tune-up Invitational on Friday and the Cornell Marc Deneault Invitational on Saturday.
 
At Nazareth, David Bernstein (Norwich) won the weight throw in a field of 45 competitors with a toss of 16.94 meters (55' 7"), which currently ranks 10th in the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) and 39th nationally in Division III.
 
Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs) was third of 34 in the long jump at 6.83 meters (22' 5"), which is ranked 16th in the AARTFC, and Malik Hinds (Bay Shore) was sixth of 34 in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.74 seconds. His prelim time of 8.70 seconds is an AARTFC qualifier.
 
Liam Joyce (Dryden) registered two regional-qualifying performances at Nazareth. He finished second of 59 in the 200-meter dash (22.59) and third of 46 in the 60-meter dash (7.11).
 
Morse finished sixth in the 200-meter dash (23.17) and Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) was ninth in the weight throw (14.57 meters/47' 9.75"). Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) was seventh in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles in 8.79 seconds, but did not finish in the finals.
 
Luke Updegraff (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) turned in a 12th-place time of 52.58 seconds in the 400-meter dash in a field of 50 runners. Bryan Finn (Fonda/Fonda-Fultonville) placed 13th of 48 in the shot put at 13.09 meters (42' 11.5"). Ryan Serp (Commack/Fayetteville-Manlius) and Sean Allen (Seaford) placed seventh and eighth, respectively, out of 22 in the high jump. Both cleared 1.74 meters (5' 8.5"), with Serp earning the higher placement due to fewer total misses.
 
At Cornell, Micah Assibey-Bonsu (Central Islip) finished second in the triple jump with a distance of 14.69 meters (48' 2.5") that currently ranks seventh nationally in Division III and first in the AARTFC. Wendell Brand (Sleepy Hollow) also hit an AARTFC mark in the event with his fifth-place effort of 13.45 meters (44' 1.5"), and he was fourth of 19 in the long jump (6.51 meters/21' 4.25").
 
Rich Samuels (Wallkill) won the 800 meters, beating out 23 other runners in the process, with a time of 1:54.79 that ranks 24th nationally and fourth in the AARTFC. Peyton Lalone (Ogdensburg/Ogdensburg Free Academy), Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame), Connor Lewis (Glen Ridge) and Samuels were second in the 4x400-meter relay in an AARTFC time of 3:21.20. Lalone also turned in one of the top times in school history in the 300 meters, placing second in 35.42 seconds.
 
Zach Kashmer (Chili/Churchville-Chili) placed second in the pole vault by clearing 4.66 meters (15' 3.5"), which is 10th regionally and 25th nationally. He was tied for the best height, but cleared it on his third attempt while the winner was successful on his first try. Dane Sorensen (Warwick/Warwick Valley) also met AARTFC standards with his third-place pole vault of 4.51 meters (14' 9.5").
 
Other Red Dragon highlights included Michael Eubanks (Islip) and Phil Louis-Juste (Spring Valley/North Rockland) finishing third (52.29) and fifth (53.27), respectively, in the 400-meter dash, Nolan Vest (Coram/Longwood) placing fifth in the 800 meters (1:59.11), Clayton Santiago (Bethpage) finishing sixth of 24 in the 3,000 meters (8:58.96), and Hunter Braun (Rochester/Victor) finishing sixth of 23 in the mile (4:29.42).
 
Brockport will host the SUNYAC Championships on Friday and Saturday.

Complete Results
Nazareth (men and women combined)
Cornell (men and women combined)

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

We had a lot of really strong performances between the meet on Friday at Nazareth College, and the meet on Saturday at Cornell University.  First, I'd like to recognize how great it is to have the opportunity to split the team up so that people can get to the best competitive opportunity.
 
At Nazareth, our women's throws really shined as a group, with about half of the squad throwing season bests, and the rest being right up there with improved efforts.  Not to be outdone, David Bernstein had a really strong throw in the weight to continue pushing his season's best out there!
 
Our women's pole vault had a great day as well – overcoming not only a really late start, but just competing really well so that both Becca Gresens and Kimmy Arena left Nazareth with new collegiate bests!
 
Junior Cat Zamroz recorded a massive PR to lead our milers, taking 20 seconds off of her previous best to move into the top five of the conference.  It was a stellar breakout performance for her!
 
For the men, senior Liam Joyce had two strong rounds of the 60, but really capped off the day with a tremendous run in the 200, making him a force to be reckoned with at the conference championships next weekend.  Freshman Brett Morse had a strong 200 as well – earning a spot in the event for the conference meet – but shined in the long jump, where he went nearly 60 centimeters (nearly two feet) further than his previous collegiate best, putting him into scoring position for the conference meet.
 
At Cornell, there were some very strong performances to celebrate on the day!  The 300 from Peyton Lalone appears to make him the fourth fastest ever at Cortland in that event, moving double NCAA Champion Amaan Siddeeq out of the top five.  That's a pretty big accomplishment!  Also on the track, sophomore Clayton Santiago ran a great 3000 to earn a spot at the conference meet, while junior Rich Samuels ran a stellar 800: in a race where he was focusing on his finish, he had a huge negative split (he went out in nearly 59 seconds, and then focused on finishing fast, running under 56 seconds for the second half of the race).  This is incredibly hard to do, and shows where his fitness and closing speed are as we head into championships season.  Sophomore Bridget Bennett had a tremendous 200 – breaking the 27-second barrier on a flat track – which moves her into to automatic qualifiers for this weekend's conference championships.  In the women's 3000, a great team effort from Eliza Nichols and Courtney Maurin kept the pace moving and helped sophomore Madison Ciuffetelli run 11:05 in the event, which is a huge indoor PR for her; finally freshman McKenzie Dombroski ran an indoor PR – and nearly a lifetime best – in the 800 as a strong tune-up for next weekend's conference meet.
 
In the jumps, Kelly Gardner and Micah Assibey-Bonsu both had strong triple jump performances – Kelly tying her season's best, with Micah exceeding his by nearly a foot.  Heptathlete Zach Kashmer, focusing on the pole vault, broke the 15 foot barrier with a lifetime best.  That jump will translate into a lot of points during his main event, the heptathlon!
 
Friday afternoon, we open competition at the 2020 SUNYAC Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted at Brockport.  The team is looking forward to having a great meet, and measuring ourselves against the rest of the conference.