BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Zach Nyhart (Hamburg) earned All-America honors in the pole vault with a seventh-place national finish during Day 1 of the NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships. The two-day event is being held at the Birmingham Crossplex.
 
Other Red Dragons competing on Friday included Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs), who finished 17th in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.29 seconds, Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame), who placed 18th in the 400-meter dash in 48.97 seconds, and the 4x400-meter team of Evan Jensen (Red Hook), Douglas Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian), Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) and Goring that finished 10th in 3:17.26.
 
Nyhart cleared 4.85 meters (15' 11") for his seventh-place finish in the 20-competitor field. The top eight finishers earn All-America honors. Nyhart easily improved on his 17th-place national finish from the 2022 championships. Nyhart was one of three competitors to clear 4.85 meters, but the other two did so on their third attempts while Nyhart did so on his second try, giving him seventh place on his own. Ben Drummey of Southern Maine won the title at 5.05 meters (16' 6.75").
 
Cortland's other performances on Friday came during preliminary rounds, and the Red Dragons did not advance to the finals in those three events. Morse was making his second indoor national appearance; he was 12th last March. The 4x400 relay competitors were making their first NCAA showing.
 
Saturday's men's action features Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) in the shot put at 11 a.m. and Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) and Jean-Andre Sassine (Queens Village/The Lawrenceville School (NJ)) in the triple jump at 2 p.m., and on the women's side Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) in the high jump at 12:30 p.m. (all times Central). Cortland did not have any women's competitors during Day 1.

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

Brett's hurdle race was pretty tough. He had probably the worst start of the year, but really came back in the middle of the race. He was working back up into potential qualifying position but just crept up into hurdle 5 and lost his momentum. It's certainly frustrating for him, but we're quite proud of the indoor season he put together, and are excited for where he is in his overall development.

Coltrane certainly put together a strong day. He had a tough draw, but showed up big and competed well. He also came back and ran an excellent anchor leg for the relay, and was a big part of that team beating their seed time to be 10th in the country!

The rest of the relay put together strong legs, especially by our leadoff Evan Jensen. He made a smooth and aggressive move that was necessary to have us in contention, and it paid off. Having that relay here to gain experience of what competing at the NCAA Championships is like is certainly valuable.

Having Zach earn All-American honors was certainly something special! He's put together a great senior season of indoor track and field, and has worked very diligently to earn this level of success. He had a series of great jumps today - possibly his most consistent competition of the year - and performed very relaxed and focused while under pressure. I'm thrilled for him and for our beloved vault coach, Dr. Peter McGinnis!

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