LEWISBURG, PA. and CORTLAND, N.Y. – Five Cortland women's outdoor track and field athletes hit a total of six All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifying marks during a pair of weekend meets. The Red Dragons sent some athletes to the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic on Friday and Saturday, while others remained in Cortland for the Upstate Alternative Meet Saturday.
 
Bucknell Highlights:
 
Cortland recorded two AARTFC efforts at Bucknell. Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) finished third of 35 competitors in the high jump at 1.61 meters (5' 3.25") and Rachel Castello (Cheektowaga/West Seneca East) was 26th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:48.67. Marlee Angus (Penfield) missed the AARTFC standard by less than a half second in the unseeded portion of the 1,500-meter run with her 48th place time of 4:54.33.
 
Autumn Pittman (Spring Valley/Ramapo) and Taylor Hunter (Buffalo/Tapestry Charter) were the Red Dragons' top performers in the short sprints. Pittman was 33rd of 81 in the 100-meter dash (12.78) and 41st of 93 in the 200-meter dash (26.55). Hunter placed 35th in the 100 meters (12.81) and 50th in the 200 meters (26.72).
 
Cortland Upstate Alternative Highlights:
 
Sam Becker (Narrowsburg/Sullivan West) won the 400-meter hurdles with an AARTFC time of 1:06.59. Abby McDowell (Tappan/Tappan Zee) registered two field event victories, both with AARTFC distances. She won the long jump at 5.32 meters (17' 5.5") and the triple jump at 10.84 meters (35' 6.75"). Malana Booker (Cortland) was third in the high jump with an AARTFC height of 1.55 meters (5' 1").
 
Laura Suppa (Canastota) also was a double winner for the homestanding Red Dragons as she captured the 200-meter dash (27.44) in a field of 20 sprinters and the 100-meter hurdles in 16.06 seconds to best 13 other competitors.
 
Emma Trefzger (Horseheads) was second of 14 in the 5,000 meters in 20:10.59. Adrienne Martin (Cincinnatus/Norwich) was third at 20:37.83 and Devin Reilly (Irvington) was fourth at 20:39.20. Matteson Donnelly (Pearl River) was second behind McDowell in the triple jump (10.38 meters/34' 0.75") and Kat Burgess (West Hempstead) was the runner-up to Becker in the 400-meter hurdles (1:12.99).
 
Lauren Anderson (Saratoga Springs) finished third in the long jump (4.94 meters/16' 2.5") and Kitty Tang (Staten Island/CSI H.S. for International Studies) placed third in the 200-meter dash (28.38). In addition, Catie Lally (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) was fourth of 21 in the discus (32.13 meters/105' 5") and Sarah Parr (Cooperstown) was fourth of 16 in the hammer throw (40.52 meters/132' 11").

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

I'm writing these on the bus after leaving a Bucknell meet than ran about 2 hours late. I mention this because I think it illustrates what a great job our last event of the day - the men's 4x400 relay of Evan Jensen, Rich Samuels, Doug Knapp, and Coltrane Goring - did to put down a very fast time! It was important for the long term picture of the season to get that run in, and the guys ran quite well!

Bucknell had a lot of highlights. Marlee Angus had a double PR weekend in the 1500 and 800, taking a huge step forward in her development as a runner. I'd say that she was our top women's performer at Bucknell, although certainly Rachel Castello and Khalifah Tracey had strong performances as well. For the men, Samuels led a great showcase of depth in the 800, but if we were going to highlight anybody out of that group, it should be Cameron Szabo for his 1500, 800, and leg on the 4x800 relay. We had 6 men in the open 800, and all ran under 1:59, which is certainly exciting! We also showed good depth in the 400 as Goring, Jensen, and Knapp all broke the 50-second barrier!

Mike Verde ran a big PR in the steeplechase in his first time for the season. It was a very strong performance, but also came with some learning. And of course a new school record is always a great accomplishment, so some well-deserved congratulations to Ryan Cory!

As the meet progressed on Saturday, the conditions worsened. I had talked about the need to stay focused and to compete the right way even if the situation wasn't ideal. The more we learn to do that, the easier it will be to perform when situations are ideal. From that standpoint, both relays were tremendous, but I'd also like to point out the four ladies in the 200 (Taylor Hunter, Alyssa LaBelle, Katherine McDowell, and Autumn Pittman) along with the men in the 200 (Zashon Abrams, Craig Denton, Brett Morse, Hagie Sesay, and Malachi Williams) for embracing 'doing the right thing' to get ready and to make the effort to compete well. We didn't necessarily get the result we wanted from everybody, but it certainly wasn't from a lack of effort or focus!

For the team that was competing in Cortland, you can't say that the weather deteriorated when it starts out pretty lousy. It was a tough day to be out there - so much so that we saw a team choose not to attend rather than compete. I definitely like where we had strong efforts under less than ideal situations, and believe in the value of working through challenging times as athletes but more importantly as people.

Considering the challenges of competing in Cortland today, to see a series of deep throws in the hammer - for the second week in a row - was great! The depth in that event is growing nicely, and is very exciting to see happening!

On the track the home team was led by Sam Becker who had a great performance in the 400 hurdles, which is never an easy event; doing that well under those conditions is even more rewarding. Emma Trefzger also deserves mention as she turned in a great performance for her first full 5k!

The highlight for the team, however, was Abby McDowell. Abby had a season's best in the triple jump, but that came after a huge improvement in her long jump. Her new PR is a huge step in the right direction made all the more impressive by the conditions she was competing in. It was a great job by her!

We host the Cortland Classic this upcoming weekend, and are definitely looking forward to what is hopefully warmer temperatures!