CORTLAND, N.Y. – Four Red Dragons won events and three others posted runner-up finishes as Cortland opened its women's outdoor track and field season with a home dual meet versus Ithaca College. Ithaca won the meet by a 121-67 score.
 
Aubrianna Lantrip (Phelps/Midlakes) won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.20 seconds and Avery Hebert (Stillwater) was the 400-meter hurdles champ in 1:12.22. Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) posted a win in the high jump at 1.61 meters (5' 3.25") and Catie Lally (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) won the discus with a distance of 33.99 meters (111' 6").
 
Elizabeth Liriano (New York/Manhattan Center for Science and Math) finished second in the 400 meters (1:02.39). Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) took second in the high jump (1.58 meters/5' 2.25") and Abby McDowell (Tappan/Tappan Zee) was second in the triple jump (10.12 meters/33' 2.5"). McDowell also finished fourth in the long jump (4.90 meters/16' 1").
 
Alyssa LaBelle (Poughquag/Arlington) posted two top-four finishes, placing third in the 200-meter dash (27.12) and fourth in the 100-meter dash (13.16). Taylor Hunter (Buffalo/Tapestry Charter) was third in the 400 meters (1:03.79), Shannon Imbornoni (Bethpage/Our Lady of Mercy Academy) finished third in the 1,500 meters (5:11.95), and Kitty Tang (Staten Island/Coll. of Staten Island H.S. for Int'l Studies) was third in the long jump (4.91 meters/16' 1.5").
 
Other highlights for Cortland included fourth-place showings by Sam Becker (Narrowsburg/Sullivan West) in the 400 meters (1:04.54), Marlee Angus (Penfield) in the 1,500 meters (5:12.33), Katherine McDowell (Tappan/Tappan Zee) in the triple jump (9.62 meters/31' 6.75"), and Liz Spencer (Somers) in the discus (30.07 meters/98' 8").
 
The Red Dragons are scheduled to return to action this Friday, April 2, when they host the Cortland Cup at 3 p.m. The men's version of that meet will be the following day, April 3, at 1 p.m.

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

First and foremost, having the opportunity for the members of the team to compete is fantastic. It's been a long road to get here, and we have certainly had some bumps along the way, but that's OK – we've gotten to this point!
 
I'm incredibly proud of the effort and maturity the team showed over the course of the day, not just in regards to competing, but in how we worked with each other, how we handled competing with COVID protocols, and how we handled the first intercollegiate competition we have had in over a year!
 
For the most part, the results we had were pretty 'good' especially for the first meet of the year. While we have a lot to work on, that's expected for this time of year even under the best of circumstances. The first meet is very helpful to identify what we need to work on, and to help the team to stay focused and diligent after a long period of training hard and uncertainty about our athletic future.  The fact that we were able to have some strong performances after such a long period of time is a bonus!
 
For the women's team, a few individuals had strong performances that stood out a bit, which seem to have been brought to us by the 'letter L:'.  Alyssa LaBelle (in the 100 and 200), Catie Lally (in the discus throw), Aubrianna Lantrip (in the high hurdles), Elizabeth Liriano (in the 400), and Liz Spencer (who set personal records in three of the four throwing events).
 
The men's 'highlights' weren't brought to us by a particular letter, but may have been highlights by some sensational sophomores: Alhagie Sesay in the horizontal jumps, Aaron Jones and Brett Morse who both had a strong double in the high hurdles and the 200, Coltrane Goring in the 400/1600 relay, Sam Haaland in the pole vault, and Alex Brodmerkel in the 5000.
 
We're looking forward to the opportunity to compete next weekend at home as we host a few teams for a small invitational with the women on Friday and the men on Saturday.