Hello Red Dragons!

To say that we have all been impacted by COVID-19 – not only here in Cortland, but everywhere our alumni are across the world – would be a major understatement! We've seen many events canceled and our daily lives changed in the past two months. But most of us still can do two important things:

1) Get outside to stay active.
2) Support our Cortland students in need.

That's why I hope you'll consider running or walking the Red Dragon Run, a virtual 5K to benefit current students. This event was dreamed up by two dedicated young alumnae of the program, Ameena Dye '15 and Kerri Culhane '16, who brought the idea to me about trying to do a 'virtual 5k' as a fundraiser to support the SUNY Cortland Community in need. One thing led to another, and we saw a huge group of folks on campus get involved to help with this event – Alumni Affairs, Athletics, The Cortland College Foundation, and Recreational Sports, to name a few!

Some basic details about participating:

* Registration is free, but you're encouraged to make a $20 donation to the Student Emergency Fund in honor of the Class of 2020

* Anyone can enter — students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents or friends of SUNY Cortland

* The "race" can be run or walked from any location you choose from Sunday, May 17, to Saturday, May 30

* All participants will receive a car/refrigerator magnet

* Prizes will be awarded for top photo submissions as well as fastest times across several categories

* You can submit your results online

* You're encouraged to use #RedDragonRun and #CortlandPride to tag photos on social media

Ameena states that "as former athletes, we understand how important it is to come together as a team, to work for the common good. We received so much from our experience at Cortland in the classroom and as a part of our time in athletics. We both work in the events industry – I'm in music and Kerri is in intercollegiate athletics – that are definitely impacted by COVID-19, so we wanted to plan an event that used running as a way to help people in need.

Kerri continues that "we wanted to give back, and we saw an opportunity to use the network that Cortland has to do so. Knowing how dedicated we all were to Cortland Athletics, we figured that the alumni of athletics teams would be ready to step up to the plate!"

You can read more about how Ameena and Kerri got this event started online.

Registering for this event is free, as simply your voice of support for the hardships that the current students are having to endure is extremely valuable! There is also an option to donate – 100% of all donations will go directly to the SUNY Cortland Student Emergency Fund.

I hope you'll learn more and register using the link below.

REGISTER

And I hope you'll remember that Red Dragons always run together.

Upcoming Events/News and Notes:

* The team Instagram page (SUNY Cortland XC/TF Instagram) is finishing 'Senior Send-Off' that is also being shared on Twitter (SUNY Cortland XC/TF Twitter) and Facebook (SUNY Cortland XC/TF Facebook Page). We will be starting to move forward with featuring our incoming freshman class as the 'Senior Send-Off' wraps up.

* The Sports Information office has started a 'Title Recall' feature (excuse the pun regarding 'Total Recall'), and the first edition reviews 2009 NCAA Champion Jake Zanetti '09!

* The Annual Day of Giving (formerly the 3-2-1 Challenge) has been a huge source of support the past few years – we hope you are able to support us again this year! Donations are able to be designated directly to the XC/TF Program. We have recently been notified that this year we will be running the 'Challenge Day' on Wednesday, June 17th, 2020. I hope that you are able to join us this year!

As always, we thank you for your support and interest! Stay Safe and Sane!

Steve
 
Steve Patrick '97
Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach
SUNY Cortland

Previous Updates:
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020 (PDF)
January 2020 (PDF)
December 2019 (PDF)