LEWISBURG, PA. and CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team posted two NCAA Division III top-15 efforts, including a school record by Ryan Cory (Beacon) in the 5,000 meters, at the Bucknell University Bison Outdoor Classic Friday and Saturday. In addition, the Red Dragons hosted the Cortland Upstate Alternative Meet on Saturday and had two individual winners and three second-place finishes.
 
Bucknell Highlights:
 
Cory placed 12th out of 102 runners in the invitational portion of the 5,000-meter run in 14:18.10. He eclipsed the previous school mark of 14:26.63 set by C. Fred Joslyn in April 2007. Cory currently ranks 11th nationally and third in the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC).
 
The foursome of Evan Jensen (Red Hook), Rich Samuels (Wallkill), Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian) and Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) ranks 14th nationally in Division III as of Saturday evening with their winning time of 3:18.41 in the 4x400-meter relay. The effort also ranks fourth in the AARTFC and was one of 14 Cortland performances at Bucknell that met AARTFC standards.
 
Mike Verde (Hopewell Junction/Arlington) finished 12th of 52 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:22.95, which is 25th on the national charts and fifth in the AARTFC.
 
The 4x100-meter relay of Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs), Jensen, Goring and Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) finished 10th of 25 in an AARTFC time of 42.77 seconds. Morse finished 18th of 44 in the 110-meter hurdles in an AARTFC time of 15.34 seconds and was 28th of 68 in the 200-meter dash in 22.58 seconds. Brandon Root (Bellmore/John F. Kennedy) was 10th of 30 in the 400-meter hurdles in 56.75 seconds, an AARTFC qualifier.
 
Three Red Dragons finished in the top quarter of the field in the 400-meter dash with AARTFC times. Goring was 11th of 86 in 49.31 seconds, Jensen finished 13th in 49.40 seconds and Knapp was 21st in 49.95 seconds. Cortland also had three AARTFC qualifiers in the unseeded portion of the 1,500-meter run. Cameron Szabo (Owego/Owego Free Academy) was 33rd of 96 in 3:59.51, David Soto (Warwick/Warwick Valley) placed 36th in 4:00.01, and Hunter Braun (Victor) was 38th in 4:00.38. In addition, Samuels was 44th of 188 runners in the 800 meters in 1:54.79, followed by Soto in 90th place in 1:56.48, both with AARTFC efforts.
 
Cortland Upstate Alternative Highlights:
 
The Red Dragons received wins from Jean-Andre Sassine (Queens Village/The Lawrenceville School) in the triple jump (12.79 meters/41' 11.5") and Christopher Blake (Red Creek) in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.83). Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) was second of 20 in the hammer throw with an AARTFC distance of 50.80 meters (166' 8"), and Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) finished second in both the long jump (6.19 meters/20' 3.75") and the high jump (1.85 meters/6' 0.75").
 
Alex Daniel (Warsaw) finished third in the triple jump at 12.43 meters (40' 9.5"). Josh Jamison (Bethpage) was third of 17 in the 200-meter dash (24.77) and fourth of 26 in the 400-meter dash (54.47). Tommy Burek (Latham/Shaker) placed fourth of 23 in the shot put (12.90 meters/42' 4") as well as fifth of 27 in the discus (37.27 meters/122' 3") and sixth in the hammer throw (45.96 meters/150' 9").


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!