CORTLAND, N.Y. and LEWISBURG, PA. – The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team recorded seven victories at the Cortland Upstate Alternative Meet on Saturday and posted three top-20 Division III nationally ranked performances at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic on Saturday and Sunday during a split-meet weekend. 
 
Cortland Upstate Alternative Recap: 
 
Four of the Red Dragons' victories at its home meet were All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifiers. Nate Wilsoncroft (Horseheads) won the 800 meters in a field of 34 runners in 1:56.02, Hagie Sesay (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) was the long jump winner at 6.91 meters (22' 8"), Jean-Andre Sassine (Queens Village/The Lawrenceville School (NJ)) won the triple jump at 14.42 meters (47' 3.75"), and Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) was the discus winner at 44.31 meters (145' 4"). Sassine and triple jump runner-up Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) both rank in the top 15 nationally with their performances. Sassine is tied for 12th, while Hughes' distance of 14.40 meters (47' 3") is tied for 14th nationally and is an AARTFC qualifier. 
 
Cortland's other victories came from RJ Davis (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) in the 5,000 meters (15:53.82), Travis Iwuagwu (Suffern) in the 110-meter hurdles (15.93) and Aidan Aguirre (Hicksville) in the 400-meter hurdles (57.81). 
 
In addition to Brunache's win in the discus, he also placed second in the shot put with an AARTFC heave of 14.58 meters (47' 10"). Zach Nyhart (Hamburg) finished second in the pole vault with an AARTFC height of 4.90 meters (16' 0.75"). He actually tied for the top height along with Ithaca's Dominic Mikula but finished second due to clearing the height on his third try compared to Mikula's success on his first attempt. Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) placed second in the hammer throw with an AARTFC toss of 50.96 meters (167' 2"). 
 
Cortland recorded five other runner-up showings during the meet. Joe Mascetta (Carmel) was second in the long jump (6.53 meters/21' 5.25"), Zaire Higgins (Albany/Colonie) was second of 41 in the 100-meter dash (11.26) and Sesay finished second of 45 in the 200-meter dash (22.88). Tommy Martin (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) placed second in the javelin (47.62 meters/156' 3") and the combination of Wilsoncroft, Mike Alvarez (New Windsor/Newburgh Free Academy), Aidan Garafola (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) and Aguirre placed second in the 4x400-meter relay (3:29.57). 
 
Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) registered two of Cortland's third-place finishes with his time of 16.24 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and his high jump of 1.83 meters (6' 0"). Makowski was third in the shot put (13.23 meters/43' 5"), Higgins placed third in the 200-meter dash (22.96), Alex Daniel (Warsaw) was third in the triple jump (13.23 meters/43' 5"), Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) finished third in the discus (42.01 meters/137' 10"), and Justin Schrom (Richmondville/Cobleskill-Richmondville) placed third in the 400-meter dash (51.76). 
 
Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic Recap: 
 
Some of Cortland's highlights at Bucknell included Austin Garske (Rocky Point) placing sixth of 52 in the 400-meter hurdles in 53.86 seconds, which currently ranks 13th nationally, Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs) finishing seventh of 58 in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.57 seconds, which is 14th nationally, and the 4x400-meter relay team of Garske, Douglas Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian), Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) and Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) finishing third of 29 in 3:15.58, which ranks eighth in the country. 
 
The foursome of Morse, Evan Jensen (Red Hook), Goring and Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) was sixth of 30 in the 4x100-meter relay in 41.53 seconds. Cortland's second 4x400-meter relay team of Andrew O'Gorman (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East), Rich Samuels (Wallkill), Brandon Root (Ballmore/John F. Kennedy) and Cameron Szabo (Owego/Owego Free Academy) finished 15th in 3:23.18. 
 
Goring finished eighth out of 104 runners in the 400-meter dash in 48.25 seconds, with Knapp placing 28th (49.56) and Gavalas in 31st place (49.60). Jones was 11th in the 110-meter hurdles (14.94) and 13th of 98 in the 200-meter dash (21.90), while Morse finished 24th in the 200 meters (22.11). 
 
Szabo was 22nd of 101 runners in the 1,500 meters (3:59.51) and 74th in the 800 meters (1:55.49). Root finished 25th in the 400-meter hurdles (56.75), Samuels was 83rd in the 800 meters (1:55.93), and Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) and Matthew Mullen (Mastic/William Floyd) finished 20th (9:22.70) and 48th (9:51.71), respectively, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. 
 
All of Cortland's performances at Bucknell mentioned above met AARTFC qualifying standards.

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

Certainly an exciting weekend of track and field for the Cortland Red Dragons!

There were a lot of great performances at home on Saturday, with Sarah Parr setting a new school record in the women's hammer throw to lead the way! Isaiah Brunache has also entered the top five list with his toss in the discus, but it seems as though overall that group had a pretty phenomenal weekend!

We had some very strong performances in the jumps as well, with significant PRs from Zach Nyhart and Becca Bready in the pole vault, Hagie Sesay and Joe Mascetta in the long jump, Caitlin Maher in the triple jump, and by Mariah Saggese and Regan Kaiser in the high jump.

I'd also like to acknowledge RJ Davis and Emma Trefzger for wins in the men's and women's 5ks, as well as Gianna Motto and Zaire Higgins for having very strong days in both the 100 and 200, Nate Wilsoncroft for a great 800, and Aidan Aguirre with a win in the 400 hurdles and a very strong anchor in the 4x400.

The meet at Bucknell felt a bit like it would never end. On Saturday, we had pretty much all good performances in the distance events, but at the same time left a lot on the table. I think it's fair to say that we had a lot of good steps forward, but aren't satisfied with where we are yet. What stands out is Matthew Mullen, who made some very good decisions over the course of his steeplechase to set a new PR, and the trio on the 5k of Khalifah Tracey, Adrienne Martin, and Devin Reilly, who stayed very focused, worked together well, and ran tough to all set new PRS!

Sunday at Bucknell became a challenge, in that it was a very long, hot day. We spent nearly 11 hours at the facility, and that can be a strain on athletes. While we certainly enjoyed having a hot, sunny day, that created some different challenges then what we are used to. That's ok though in that it's a good learning experience. Sometimes you only learn through those experiences.

Both 4x1s started the day off right, and we kept that momentum with our 800s. At the end of the day, we brought those folks back for the rarely-run 4x800 relay. It was good training, and pretty fun! It was also nice to have the wonen's squad break 10 minutes and the men's squad break 8 minutes, which is a nice benchmark of being a strong program.

Austin Garske probably takes the 'gold star' for the day with his hurdle race that is another big PR and moves him into the top 5 list, along with leading off the 4x4 relay in a great split that also entered our top 5 list.

I'm sure I've missed some other strong performances that deserve mention, but I want to get these comments submitted before it gets much later!

We host the Cortland Classic this upcoming Friday and Saturday, and are looking forward to having the whole team at home for a great weekend of competition on Friday and Saturday.