BETHLEHEM, PA. – The Cortland women's outdoor track and field team tied for 30th place out of 54 schools at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championships Wednesday and Thursday at Moravian University.
 
Cortland's five points at the meet were the result of Danielle Fisk's (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) fourth-place finish in the high jump. She was one of three competitors to clear 1.60 meters (5' 3"), the second-best height during the competition, but the other two athletes cleared it on their first attempt and tied for second place while Fisk was successful on her second attempt.
 
The top eight finishers in each individual event, along with the top three teams in each relay, earn All-AARTFC honors.
 
Elizabeth Liriano (New York/Manhattan Ctr. for Science and Math) finished 11th in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.19. Cat Zamroz (Levittown/Island Trees) was 12th in the 1,500 meters (5:08.10) and 26th in the 800 meters (2:28.74), Sarah Parr (Cooperstown) placed 12th in the hammer throw (45.04 meters/147' 9"), and Autumn Pittman (Spring Valley/Ramapo) was 15th in the 100-meter dash (12.52) and 28th in the 200-meter dash (26.10).
 
Geneseo won the meet with 134 points, followed by Brockport with 61.5 points.
 
The NCAA Division III Championships will be held May 26-28 in Geneva, Ohio. The top 22 in each women's individual event, and the top 16 relays, qualify for the national meet. As of Thursday mid-evening, Fisk is tied for sixth nationally with her height of 1.70 meters (5' 7") from earlier in the season. The final NCAA qualification list will be posted by 8 p.m. on Friday, May 20, on NCAA.com.

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

We're very restrictive with our participation in this meet by design – we look at it as a good last-chance qualification opportunity, as well as potentially a developmental opportunity for a few select athletes in select events. We certainly had some athletes take advantage of the opportunity over the past two days!

* Sarah Parr – in her first season throwing the hammer – threw a new personal best by nearly a meter and a half (which is nearly 5 feet), and moved up into the 3rd position in our all-time list at Cortland. It's very easy to get caught up in the 'pressure' associated with this meet, so to use it to your advantage to perform at your best – literally – is a tremendous accomplishment!

* Mike Verde closes his career with a new personal record of 9:20.75 in the steeplechase, which currently ranks him 42nd in the country in the event. That's certainly quite an achievement! Distance teammates Cameron Szabo (in the 1500) and Clay Santiago (in the 800) were able to finish their years with personal records, which is an exciting as we look ahead to next year.

* The 4x100 relay team of Zashon Abrams, Brett Morse, Coltrane Goring and Aaron Jones ran a stellar time of 41.66, which not only places them in the top 50 for the country, but also moves them up to the third-best time ever run by a foursome at Cortland!

* Coltrane came back with a massive personal record in the 400 of 48.16, which puts him 28th in the nation. It also puts him as the second-fastest to ever run the event for the Red Dragons!

* Brett had PRs every time he ran over the two days – he started the meet with a new PR in the 100HH of 14.56, and then came back after the relay to run a stellar 14.38, which put him into 12th position nationally, and 2nd All-Time at Cortland.
 
We submit entries for the NCAA Championships tomorrow, and look forward to seeing what our accepted entries are!