SELINSGROVE, PA. – The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team earned 18 top-8 finishes, including a win and three runner-up showings, at the season-opening Susquehanna University Jim Taylor Invitational.
 
Ryan Cory (Beacon) won the 5,000-meter run in a field of 76 competitors in 14:57.08. Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) placed fourth (15:17.05), Mike Verde (Hopewell Junction/Arlington) was fifth (15:19.44) and Harry Tomasi (Port Jervis) finished seventh (15:25.40).
 
Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) was second of 39 in the hammer throw at 51.86 meters (170' 2"), which as of Sunday afternoon ranks sixth nationally in Division III. Zach Nyhart (Hamburg) was the runner-up out of 35 pole vaulters with a height of 4.75 meters (15' 7") and Sam Haaland (Shokan/Onteora) was sixth at 4.40 meters (14' 5.25"). They currently rank seventh and 21st, respectively, in the national standings.
 
Eli Craddock (Norwich) finished second of 38 in the triple jump at 13.55 meters (44' 5.5"), which ranks 15th nationally, and he was fourth of 44 in the long jump at 6.31 meters (20' 8.5"). Amarian Hughes (Marlboro) placed seventh in the triple jump (13.01 meters/42' 8.25") and Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) was sixth in the long jump (6.18 meters/20' 3.5").
 
Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) also registered two top-five efforts. He was fourth of 73 in the 200-meter dash in 22.85 seconds and fifth of 71 in the 100-meter dash in 11.12 seconds. Evan Jensen (Red Hook) finished fifth in the 200 (22.91) and sixth in the 100 (11.21, 11.17 prelims), and Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian) was seventh in the 200 (22.98).
 
Ryan Serp placed seventh of 44 in the 400-meter dash (52.45) and was ninth in the long jump (6.02 meters/19' 9"). Ryan Joule (Staten Island/Susan B. Wagner) finished seventh of 41 in the javelin (50.39 meters/165' 4").
 
Other Red Dragon highlights included: Malachi Williams (New Haven, CT/Amistad Academy) finishing ninth in the 100-meter dash (11.34) and 15th in the 200-meter dash (23.47); Makowski placing 10th in the shot put (12.94 meters/42' 5.5"); Knapp finishing 10th (11.34) and Craig Denton (Albertson/Herricks) placing 11th (11.39) in the 100; Denton finishing 11th (23.33) and Justin Schrom (Richmondville/Cobleskill-Richmondville) 12th (23.34) in the 200; Hughes finishing 12th in the long jump (5.90 meters/19' 4.25"); and Brandon Root (Bellmore/John F. Kennedy) finishing 11th in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.78).

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

It was great to open our outdoor season – in some ways, this was the first one for us since 2019! While we were very fortunate to have opportunities to compete last spring, it wasn't a 'normal' season; some of the team hadn't competed outdoors since 2019 in any way because of individual circumstances, so this was certainly a good position for us to be in.
 
The meet was rather strange, as it was quite large, and we battled some challenging weather. I counted at least 3 different snow flurries, a couple of significant rainstorms, and some wonderful stretches of sunny weather. We had talked about the fact that the weather would be a challenge, and that we needed to focus on what was under our control, and work to compete well. For the most part, I'd say we were pretty successful at doing that!
 
Mitchell Makowski opened our season up with a really nice lifetime best in the hammer throw (51.86m/170' 2"), that is now 4th-best all-time at Cortland. The best part is that it wasn't the best he can do with his technique, and he knew it immediately. That's always an exciting place to be! Zach Nyhart also put is name into our top-5 list, with his vault of 4.75m (15' 7"); we saw some really strong performances out of our javelin throwers (Ryan Joule and Stuart McLeod), in the men's 100 (where I am really pleased with both the performances as well as the approach to competition), and the men's 5000 meters – in particular, I'd like to highlight Harry Tomasi, who turned in a stellar performance to run 15:25! For perspective, last year Harry barely broke 17 minutes, so it is nice to see the work he has been putting in result in a strong performance!
 
The toughest performance of the day, however, was clearly from Sam Haaland in the pole vault. On his first attempt at his second height, he ended up getting hit in the knee by the pole during his miss. For those who have never felt it, it probably felt close to being hit in the leg by a 9-year-old wielding a baseball bat. Sam was the only vaulter jumping at that height, so we made the decision to pass his next two attempt to the next height to give him some time to see if he could shake it off. I had given him the option to withdraw from the competition, but he chose to stay in and ended up making the next height (4.40m/ 14'5.25"), and taking really good jumps at the next height. Passing attempts during a height is never an easy thing to do, especially after getting hit like that, so Sam showed a lot of focus and competitiveness today!
 
On the women's side, the emphasis on the process and following the instructions/feedback/race plan paid off with good early season marks, that are a great foundation for where we are going to be as the season progresses. Certainly Taylor Hunter had a strong day with her performances in the 100 and 200 to lead the sprint group in both events; our results in the 100 in particular are quite exciting for this early in the season! The ladies in the 5000 did a stellar job of working together, talking, and paying attention to where there were in the race. It's not as fast as they are capable of going, but it was a personal best for nearly all of them, and a great display of toughness and commitment. Our throws group did a really good job, with a different leader in each of the four events, which showcases our depth!
 
For the women, Lauren Anderson was probably our star of the meet – she started off the day with a solid effort in the 100 hurdles, opening her season over a second faster than last year. She also had the best push out of the blocks in a race effort, and it actually made it harder to perform as she got way too close to the first hurdle. That's a great problem to have, and should be something that we can work on and have adjusted in practice soon. Lauren came back to then set personal records in both the long jump (nearly breaking the seventeen-foot barrier) as well as in the 200. That's certainly a great way to start the season!
 
We are going to have a good week of training, and head to two meets next weekend: we will be at Widener University and at Hamilton College, where we will be looking to take the next steps in our progression for the season.