ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cortland women's indoor track and field team began the 2022-23 season by competing at the Cornell University Greg Page Relays on Saturday.
 
Sarah Parr (Cooperstown) and Elizabeth Liriano (New York/Manhattan Ctr. for Science and Math) each recorded efforts that rank them fourth on the school's all-time performers charts in their events. Parr finished third of 31 in the weight throw at 15.15 meters (50' 4.75") and Liriano was 10th of 75 in the 300-meter dash in 42.23 seconds.
 
The Red Dragons finished the day with three All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifying efforts. In addition to Parr in the weight throw, Liriano was 22nd of 74 in the 60-meter dash in 8.09 seconds and Autumn Pittman (Spring Valley/Ramapo) was 23rd in the 60 meters in 8.10 seconds. The 300 meters is not an AARTFC event.
 
Cortland placed six in the top half of the field in the 3,000 meters. Vanessa Burkard (Newfane) was third of 24 runners in 11:12.82, followed by Khalifah Tracey (Greenville) in fifth (11:14.45) and Rachel Castello (Cheektowaga/West Seneca East) in sixth (11:14.51). Marlee Angus (Penfield) finished eighth (11:16.02), Adrienne Martin (Cincinnatus/Norwich) was 10th (11:24.11) and Kristin Ieva (North Babylon) placed 11th (11:24.13).
 
Megan Spencer (Somers) finished seventh in the weight throw at 13.93 meters (45' 8.5"). Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) was seventh of 21 in the high jump at 1.55 meters (5' 1") and AnJalyna Talmadge (Pine Bush) finished 10th at 1.50 meters (4' 11"). Talmadge also finished 16th of 36 in the 60-meter hurdles (9.93).
 
Other Red Dragon highlights included Avery Hebert (Stillwater) in 25th (44.40) and Yasmine Peralta (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) in 30th (44.76) in the 300 meters, Kendall Sobczyk (Wheatfield/Niagara Wheatfield) in 24th in the 60-meter dash (8.16), and Alyssa LaBelle (Poughquag/Arlington) in 21st out of 42 competitors in the long jump (4.78 meters/15' 8.25").
 
Cortland returns to action next Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Utica University Holiday Classic.

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

We had quite a nice opening effort at Cornell to start off the 2022 – 2023 track and field season! The first meet in particular can be quite stressful, as a number of our athletes have a lot of self-imposed pressure. The new folks can be understandably quite nervous, and the returners (especially the seniors) can put a lot of pressure on themselves to really have a great performance. Despite that, we had a number of very good efforts that also lead to some great performances.
 
For the Lady Red Dragons, Liz Liriano had a very strong day with her performance in the 60 to lead a strong Cortland contingent, but was more impressive in the 300 where she posted a new PR that is make her the fourth-fastest ever at Cortland. Having three other ladies under 45 seconds on the day is a very nice benchmark to start the season off on the right foot. The distance squad worked well together to post some nice early-season times in the 3000; often transitioning to the shorter races after cross country can be a challenge, so having a group of solid efforts was nice to see. Last but certainly not least, firstyear Megan Spencer hit new lifetime best in the weight throw with a distance that would have been in our all-time top- five…except that teammate Sarah Parr had a PR of nearly five feet in the event to move into the  fourth-place spot on our all-time lists.
 
The men's distance squad also had some strong performances to start the day in the 3000, led by Hunter Brignall's very strong effort. While not a top-five worthy performance, Brett Morse certainly opened his campaign in style with two PRs in the 60HH – his previous PR was ranked 19th in the NCAA last year, so being faster than that to start this year's season is a nice credit to what he has been working on. The men's 300 showed a lot of depth – Evan Jensen edged out Coltrane Goring to take over the 5th spot on the all-time list over Coltrane's best from last February, but our depth – as evidenced by strong runs from Aaron Jones, firstyear Harrison Gavalas, and returners Brandon Root and Doug Knapp was great to see. As with the women, the men's weight throw featured strong depth as firstyear Isaiah Brunache opened his career with a throw that earned him a spot in our all-time top five; the depth in men's triple jump led by Amarian Hughes was a pretty strong display as well! But the singular elite performance on the day probably belongs to Dane Sorensen, who vaulted a lifetime best to move into sole possession of second on our all-time list; that jump would have been tied for 8th nationally last year. That's quite a way to open your senior season!
 
We consider ourselves fortunate to have the opportunity to head to compete at Utica University this upcoming Saturday. It's always great when our academic calendar allows for two meets prior to the winter break.