UTICA, N.Y. – The Cortland men's indoor track and field team finished in first place out of 15 schools at the Utica University Winter Opener. The Red Dragons scored 125.5 points, with RPI in second at 96. Utica (77), St. Lawrence (64.5) and Brockport (58) rounded out the top five.
 
Cortland scored 70 points by virtue of winning seven events. Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) won the shot put at 15.62 meters (51' 3"), Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) captured the triple jump (13.90 meters/45' 7.25") and Zach Nyhart (Hamburg) won the pole vault (4.70 meters/15' 5"). Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) took top honors in the 200-meter dash (22.57) and Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) won the 500 meters (1:08.05).
 
Cortland won both relays at the meet. The 4x200-meter relay of Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs), Matthew Schaffert (Lockport), Travis Iwuagwu (Suffern) and Jones won in 1:31.29, and the 4x400-meter unit of Goring, Douglas Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian), Andrew O'Gorman (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) and Evan Jensen (Red Hook) was victorious in 3:28.31.
 
Brunache, in addition to his win in the shot put, finished second in the weight throw at 17.00 meters (57' 7"), which currently ranks 20th nationally in Division III. Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) was third in the 5,000 meters in 15:13.79, which is presently 26th nationally. Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) placed third in the 400-meter dash (51.94), Hagie Sesay (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) was third in the triple jump (13.26 meters/43' 6"), and Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) finished third in the weight throw (16.23 meters/53' 3").
 
Cortland's scoring (top 8) performances at the meet were:    (* AARTFC qualifier)
 
Brett Morse, Matthew Schaffert, Travis Iwuagwu, Aaron Jones, 1st, 4x200-meter relay, 1:31.29

Coltrane Goring, Douglas Knapp, Andrew O'Gorman, Evan Jensen, 1st, 4x400-meter relay, 3:28.31
 
Aaron Jones
1st, 200-meter dash, 22.57*
 
Coltrane Goring
1st, 500 meters, 1:08.05
 
Zach Nyhart
1st, Pole Vault, 4.70 meters (15' 5")*
 
Amarian Hughes
1st, Triple Jump, 13.90 meters (45' 7.25")*
 
Isaiah Brunache
1st, Shot Put, 15.62 meters (51' 3")*
2nd, Weight Throw, 17.00 meters (57' 7")*
 
Harrison Gavalas
3rd, 400-meter dash, 51.94
 
Hagie Sesay
3rd, Triple Jump, 13.26 meters (43' 6")
7th, 200-meter dash, 23.32
 
Mitchell Makowski
3rd, Weight Throw, 16.23 meters (53' 3")*
5th (6th overall), Shot Put, 13.21 meters (43' 4.25")
 
Hunter Brignall
3rd, 5,000 meters, 15:13.79*
 
Douglas Knapp
5th, 500 meters, 1:09.46
 
Alex Daniel (Warsaw)
5th, Triple Jump, 12.84 meters (42' 1.5")

Ryan Serp (Commack/Fayetteville-Manlius)
6th, 60-meter dash, 7.34 (7.32 prelims)
tied 8th (9th overall), Pole Vault, 3.00 meters (9' 10")
 
Evan Jensen
6th, 500 meters, 1:09.81
 
Tommy Burek (Latham/Shaker)
7th, Weight Throw, 13.98 meters (45' 10.5")
 
Andrew O'Gorman
8th, 500 meters, 1:10.22


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

The first meet back is usually pretty rough, especially since it has been over a month since we have competed. I'm absolutely thrilled with the attitude and the effort that the team brought today to Utica. Today's meet was focused on the process of how we are going to go about competing…right now the team is tired and definitely not ready for any peak performances. I do feel great about what we can achieve if we continue to have this type of work ethic and attitude!
 
I have an enviable problem as I write this of having way too many people to recognize for their strong efforts on the day, so I'll use the measure of having personal best performances to identify two men to highlight: first, senior Hagie Sesay jumped very nearly a lifetime best in the triple jump, after being away from the event since high school. That showed a lot about the work he has put in both at practice and on his own, and in particular how he has worked to return after a knee injury kept him from focusing on being a jumper for a lot of his college career. The second is firstyear Isaiah Brunache, who now owns the #3 all-time best performance at Cortland in the weight throw in what was only his third competition with college weight! Isaiah is remarkably focused and hard-working, so it's of course wonderful to see him have that level of success.
 
Having a personal best performance after some very hard training is difficult to do. We made the decision to work through this meet with the promise of more important competitions in the future. For the Lady Red Dragons, that is again the measuring stick to identify performers that really achieved this weekend. The first is sophomore Regan Kaiser, who had a three (!) PR day – in the indoor 200, in the high jump, and in the long jump. There was quite a bit of improvement for her since she has been back training this semester, and it was great to see it in the meet as well. The second individual I'd like to recognize is firstyear Hannah McMasters, who threw a lifetime best in the weight throw by nearly 3 feet – since the weight is the same for the women in college and high school, that was quite an improvement!
 
We don't have the lightest week of training planned, but that's OK as we have big goals for the future. We are excited for the short trip over to Ithaca College for a small meet this upcoming Saturday!