CORTLAND, N.Y. – Dane Sorensen (Warwick/Warwick Valley) and Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) each turned in national top-15 performances during the men's outdoor track and field Cortland Cup at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. There was no team scoring at the meet.
 
Sorensen ranks sixth nationally in Division III and second in the Atlantic region, as of late Saturday night, with his winning pole vault of 4.75 meters (15' 7"). Jones is 13th nationally and first in the region in the 110-meter hurdles after winning the event in 15.00 seconds. Jones also won the 200-meter dash in 22.37 seconds; he ranks fifth regionally in the event from his performance (22.32) last week.
 
Wendell Brand (Sleepy Hollow) won the triple jump with a distance of 13.65 meters (44' 9.5") that ranks 32nd nationally and third regionally. Amarian Hughes (Marlboro) was the runner-up in the event at 13.26 meters (43' 6"0 and is currently sixth regionally. The 4x100-meter relay unit of Alhagie Sesay (Buffalo/Hutch Tech), Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs), Craig Denton (Albertson/Herricks) and Jones finished first in 43.03 seconds and is currently second-best in the region and 35th nationally.
 
Isaiah Brooks (Minoa/East Syracuse Minoa) was second behind Jones in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.44 seconds and Zach Kashmer (Chili/Churchville-Chili) placed third in 15.77 seconds. Brooks ranks fifth regionally in the event based on a previous performance, while Kashmer is now 12th with his most recent effort.
 
Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) finished first out of 15 in the 400-meter dash in 50.39 seconds, followed by Kashmer in second in 51.57 seconds. Kashmer won the long jump with a distance of 6.38 meters (20' 11.25"). Goring presently ranks sixth regionally in the 400, while Kashmer is 12th in the 400 and 19th in the long jump. Also, Goring finished second in the 200-meter dash in 23.08 seconds, which ranks 15th regionally, and Sesay was third in the 200 in 23.12 seconds and is now ranked 16th regionally. Sesay also was second in the 100-meter dash in 11.59 seconds.
 
Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) moved into the top 10 of the regional rankings in the hammer throw with his winning distance of 46.81 meters (153' 7"). That mark is ninth regionally. Makowski also finished second in the discus at 36.15 meters (118' 7").
 
David Soto (Warwick/Warwick Valley) posted two victories at the meet. He won the 800 meters in 2:01.88 and the 1,500 meters in 4:11.86. Cabel McCandless (Lindenhurst) was third in both the 1,500 meters (4:15.44) and the 800 meters (1:00.99), and Cameron Szabo (Owego/Owego Free Academy) was the runner-up in the 1,500 meters (4:14.08). Mike Verde (Hopewell Junction/Arlington) registered fourth-place showings in the 800 meters (1:03.42) and 1,500 meters (4:20.15).
 
Cortland will host the Cortland Challenge on Monday, April 12, at 3 p.m., with the women's version of the meet the previous day, April 11, at 1 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.