BROCKPORT, N.Y- Cortland won five individual events, and Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) was named the Co-Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet, as the Red Dragons finished second out of nine schools at the SUNYAC Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships. 
 
Geneseo won the team title with 237 points, with Cortland second at 152 points and Brockport, the host school, third with 129. The remainder of the standings included Oneonta (52), Fredonia (30), Buffalo State (20), Oswego and Plattsburgh (15 each), and Potsdam (2). 
 
Jones and Geneseo's Nick Andrews each scored 20 points at the meet. Jones won the 200-meter dash in 22.13 seconds and the 60-meter hurdles in 8.39 seconds (8.16 in prelims, which currently ranks ninth nationally). Andrews was the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter champion. 
 
Cortland's other league champions included Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) in the high jump at 1.95 meters (6' 4.75"), Dane Sorensen (Warwick/Warwick Valley) in the pole vault at 4.80 meters (15' 9"), and Amarian Hughes (Marlboro) in the triple jump with a distance of 13.90 meters (45' 7.25"). 
 
Zach Nyhart (Hamburg) finished second behind Sorensen in the pole vault with a height of 4.70 meters (15' 5"). Malachi Williams (New Haven, CT/Amistad Academy) was second in the 60-meter dash (7.05 seconds, 7.03 prelims), Ryan Cory (Beacon) finished second in the mile (4:13.03), and Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs) was second in the long jump (6.69 meters/21' 11.5"). Evan Jensen (Red Hook) was the 200-meter dash third-place finisher (22.55 seconds, 22.44 prelims) and Ryan Serp (Commack/Fayetteville-Manlius) placed third in the heptathlon (4,182 points). Serp's top heptathlon events were 775 points (first place, 7.31 seconds) in the 60-meter dash and 761 points (second place, 8.93 seconds) in the 60-meter hurdles. 
 
Cortland earned second place finishes in both relays. The 4x400-meter relay team of Justin Schrom (Richmondville/Cobleskill-Richmondville), Michael Eubanks (Islip), Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian) and Rich Samuels (Wallkill) completed their race in 3:22.49, while the distance medley relay unit of Cameron Szabo (Owego/Owego Free Academy), Eubanks, Ben Fenton (Horseheads) and Clay Santiago (Bethpage) turned in a time of 10:37.64. 
 
Cortland earned a total of 19 All-SUNYAC honors (11 individual and eight relay runners). All-league honors go to the top three places in each event. Winners are first team, runners-up are second team, and third-place finishers are third team. 
 
Zanger scored in three events at the meet. In addition to his win in the high jump, he finished fourth in the long jump (6.56 meters/21' 6.25") and seventh in the 60-meter hurdles (9.20). Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) tallied points with his fifth-place 200-meter dash (22.73) and sixth-place 400-meter dash (50.59), while Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) was also a double scorer with a fifth-place weight throw (15.52 meters/50' 11") and an eighth-place shot put (13.61 meters/44' 8"), and Jensen scored in the 400-meter dash (eighth, 51.01) in addition to his third-place effort in the 200-meter dash. 

Samuels finished fourth in the 800 meters (1:55.96) and Sam Haaland (Shokan/Onteora) was fourth in the pole vault (4.25 meters/13' 11.25").  
 
Alex Daniel (Warsaw) placed fifth in the triple jump (13.13 meters/43' 1") and Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) was sixth in the 3,000 meters (8:45.57). Rounding out Cortland's scorers with top-eight finishes were: Hagie Sesay (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) in the 60-meter dash (seventh, 7.35, 7.27 prelims); Nik Knobloch (New Paltz) in the heptathlon (seventh, 3,468 points); and Nate Wilsoncroft (Horseheads) in the 800 meters (eighth, 1.59.21, 1:58.70 prelims). 
 
Cortland will compete at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday, March 4-5, at Nazareth College. Cortland's AARTFC qualifiers during the SUNYAC Championships were: 
 
Brignall, 3,000 meters 
Cory, Mile 
Eubanks, 400-meter dash (ninth place, 51.25) 
Goring, 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash 
Hughes, Triple Jump 
Jensen, 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash 
Jones, 200-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles 
Makowski, Weight Throw 
Morse, Long Jump and 60-meter hurdles (8.21 prelims, ranks 13th nationally; DQ in finals) 
Nyhart, Pole Vault 
Samuels, 800 meters 
Serp, Heptathlon 
Williams, 60-meter dash 
Sorensen, Pole Vault 
Zanger, High Jump 
4x400 relay (Schrom, Eubanks, Knapp, Samuels) 
DMR (Szabo, Eubanks, Fenton, Santiago) 
 
(NOTE: Heptathlon at the AARTFC Championships is limited to top 12 qualifiers. As of Saturday night, Serp is 13th based on his performance at the SUNYAC Championships.) 
 
Final Team Scores: 

1) Geneseo – 237 
2) Cortland – 152 
3) Brockport – 129 
4) Oneonta – 52 
5) Fredonia - 30 
6) Buffalo St. – 20 
tie 7) Oswego - 15 
tie 7) Plattsburgh 15 
9) Potsdam – 2


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

This was a great weekend to be a Red Dragon! The conference championships certainly brought out a lot of the best in our program, and it was a very exciting and enjoyable weekend!
 
I'm guessing that over 75% of our team had a season or lifetime best over the weekend, and that is certainly quite an exciting thing to have happen! We're really proud of the development that we were able to demonstrate across all of our events, and it is great to have some tangible evidence of progress! We had so many great performances that ended up outside of scoring position – far to many to mention here, but a great indicator that things are working well for the team!
 
I'd like to make mention of the two biggest breakthrough performances of the weekend. Rebecca Salim – who we were surprised to see amongst the accepted entries – ran a massive PR to make the finals for the 60. Alex Daniel had a similar breakthrough in the triple jump to earn 5th place; he's increased nearly 5 feet since his freshman year, and had the three longest jumps of his collegiate career over the weekend.
 
We have a select group that will be competing this upcoming weekend at the AARTFC Championships with an eye on the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, while most of the team shifts focus to prepare for the outdoor track and field season.