Hello Red Dragons!
Our semester has ended, and summer is nearly officially upon us! Despite having been in 'distance learning mode' over the past few weeks (months?), we have a lot of progress to report!
The
Red Dragon Run was a tremendous success! We had nearly 350 registrants, and over 250 individuals reported results. Together we were able to raise over $5000 to support the SUNY Cortland Student Emergency Fund. 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. My hope is that next year things are 'normalized' to the point where this event can 'come home' to be a fundraiser for and celebration of SUNY Cortland Cross Country/Track & Field!
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Recent events across the country have led us to self-examine our practices as a program. While we have endeavored to be not-racist, it is painfully clear that we need to do more. We need to be actively anti-racist. To this end, we are working on team educational programming and activities, along with the creation of a stronger Leadership Council within the program to make sure that the voices of under-represented and disadvantaged groups are being respected, heard, and valued. I welcome suggestions and feedback from you, our alumni, as to how we can continue to improve and be a leader on equality and opportunity!
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The US Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) reversed their initial stance and declared All-Americans for the 2020 Indoor Track and Field Season. We're thrilled to have
six All-Americans for this past year:
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Micah Assibey-Bonsu, men's Triple Jump
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Brent DiVittorio, men's 60m High Hurdles
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Taylor Hunter, women's 200m
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Zach Kashmer, Heptathlon
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Peyton Lalone, men's 200m
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Rich Samuels, men's 800m
Congratulations to this incredible group!
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The team Instagram page (
SUNY Cortland XC/TF Instagram) has finished the 'Senior Send-Off' that was also being shared on Twitter (
SUNY Cortland XC/TF Twitter) and Facebook (
SUNY Cortland XC/TF Facebook Page). We have also started to featuring our incoming freshman class as well as some great 'Throwback Thursday' photos! If you have photos or videos that we can share, please send them our way!
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If you have visited the
Cortland Web Page recently, you will see that the college is regularly updating our plans for re-opening this fall. For more than a month, the conversation about the fall semester has been 'how do we safely have students on campus', as opposed to the dire 'can we even have students on campus.' I'm happy to say that the conversation has moved far enough that athletics is now a more serious part of the conversation, and the department is working on answering the questions of 'how do we have athletics in a safe manner' instead of 'can we have athletics at all.' We are expecting to see some changes, but that's OK – Red Dragons are strong and resilient, and we will get through this!
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The Cortland Challenge (formerly the 3-2-1 Challenge, or the Day of Giving) has been a huge source of support over the past years: your generosity has allowed us to purchase SUNYAC Championship Banners for display in Lusk Field House, provide clothing for our current student-athletes, purchase senior gifts, plan for unique competitive opportunities (such as the Penn Relays), and provide equipment in the rare cases where our needs have exceeded our annual budget. We've been fortunate that previously we didn't need your support for our day-to-day operations, but we were incredibly thankful for the extra opportunities your support provided!
This year, with the new challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are in the situation where we may have less funding available along with higher costs. Your ability to support will be incredibly crucial to provide opportunities for the current and future members of our extended XC/TF Family. Donations are able to be designated directly to the XC/TF Program. More information will be coming out over the next few days I hope that you will join us for the Cortland Challenge on Wednesday, June 17th, 2020!
As always, we thank you for your support and interest! Stay Safe and Sane!
Steve
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Steve Patrick '97
Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach
SUNY Cortland
Previous Updates:
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020 (PDF)
January 2020 (PDF)
December 2019 (PDF)
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