CORTLAND, N.Y. – Taylor Hunter (Buffalo/Tapestry Charter) registered two top-10 regionally ranked individual efforts and led off a relay unit that also hit a top-10 regional mark as the Cortland women's outdoor track and field team hosted the non-team scoring Cortland Cup at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.
 
Hunter won the 200-meter dash in 26.25 seconds and the 100-meter dash in 12.99 seconds. As of late Saturday night she ranks fourth and ninth, respectively, in the Atlantic region with those times. Hunter, Alyssa LaBelle (Poughquag/Arlington), Cat Zamroz (Levittown/Island Trees) and Shannon Imbornoni (Bethpage/Our Lady of Mercy Academy) won the 4x400-meter relay in 4:18.34, which ranks seventh regionally.
 
Imbornoni finished second in the 800 meters in 2:23.89, which is ninth regionally, and LaBelle is currently 12th in the region in the 200-meter dash with her runner-up time of 26.83 seconds. In addition. LaBelle finished second in the 100-meter dash in 13.22 seconds. Zamroz finished third in the 1,500 meters (5:08.07) and fifth in the 800 meters (2:32.47).
 
Elizabeth Liriano (New York/Manhattan Center for Science and Math) is presently ninth in the region in the 400-meter hurdles after winning the event in 1:09.64. She also placed second in the 400-meter dash in 1:05.61. Lauren Anderson (Saratoga Springs) won the long jump at 4.95 meters (16' 3"), which is 11th regionally, and was second in the 100-meter hurdles in 18.18 seconds.
 
Both of Cortland's pole vaulters at the meet posted top-16 regional efforts. Kimmy Arena (West Islip) won the event at 2.90 meters (9' 6.25"), ranked 11th regionally, and Becca Gresens (Webster/Webster Thomas) was second at 2.80 meters (9' 2.25"), ranked 16th. Vanessa Burkard (Newfane) also reached the top 20 on the regional charts in 19th place with her runner-up time of 5:06.46 in the 1,500 meters. Burkard also was fourth in the 800 meters in 2:29.61.
 
Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoy Falls-Lima) won the high jump with a height of 1.58 meters (5' 2.25"), followed by Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) in second at 1.50 meters (4' 11"). Catie Lally (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) won the discus throw with a toss of 31.68 meters (103' 11") and Courtney Schoepflin (Chaffee/Pioneer) won the 5,000 meters in 20:55.38, followed by Sophie Steger (Walden/Valley Central) in second (20:57.45).
 
Liz Spencer (Somers) claimed top-three finishes in three field events. She was second in the shot put (9.82 meters/32' 2.75"), second in the javelin (24.83 meters/81' 5"), and third in the hammer throw (31.22 meters/102' 5"). Kendall Kennedy (Fort Plain) was second in the hammer (32.18 meters/105' 7") and fourth in the javelin (23.13 meters/75' 10"), while Abby McDowell (Tappan/Tappan Zee) was second in the long jump (4.80 meters/15' 9") and fifth in the 100-meter dash (13.83).
 
Cortland will host the Cortland Challenge on Sunday, April 11, at 1 p.m., with the men's version of the meet the following day, April 12, at 3 p.m.

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

It wasn't the weather we were hoping for, but it was a pretty reasonable day!  It can be frustrating to have to compete under less-than-ideal conditions, but we generally made the best of it today. Thankfully the sun was out and the wind wasn't too strong; after the previous couple of days (which included what has become my least favorite four-letter-word: snow), having a clear track and a chance to compete was great!  This semester we never know when things might be limited, so any chance is one we want to go after!
 
Since we'd had a meet last weekend, this meet gave us a chance to work on some specific aspects of our competition, which is always a good thing. Having a baseline established in some of our events last week gave us a lot more information to use for this week's efforts, and allowed us to enter events with more specific goals in mind. We had a lot of positive progress, even if the final result didn't necessarily indicate it.
 
While we had a number of really strong performances to celebrate today (including but not limited to  Mitchell Makowski in the throws, Aaron Jones in the high hurdles and 200, both Kimmy Arena and Becca Gresens in the women's pole vault, Dane Sorenson in the men's pole vault, and Lauren Anderson in the women's long jump), the women's 5000 competitors might have been the most impressive efforts on the day, with strong performances by junior Courtney Schoepflin and freshmen Sophie Steger and Aliesha Howard. The reason we're so pleased with their performances is that the race began with those three and sophomore Rachel Castello to do some pacemaking work through 3000 meters.  Courtney, Sophie and Aliesha were right on Rachel's heels through the 3000-meter mark when Rachel pulled off the track, as planned, and those three ran a very tough last 2000 meters in a solo time trial. The 5000 can be a very mental event under any circumstances, so to be in a position of having to only work against your clock and with your teammates is very challenging.  To have three student-athletes be able to show up, fight through to strong performances – especially from two freshmen in their first 5000 on the track ever – is a fantastic demonstration of toughness and commitment.
 
We're looking forward to a week of good weather for good training, and then the chance to compete on Sunday April 11th (for the women) and Monday April 12th (for the men); when we host the Cortland Challenge.