CORTLAND, N.Y. – Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) eclipsed a 40-year-old school record in the shot put during the Cortland CNY Challenge, hosted by the Red Dragons on Tuesday. The meet featured Division I schools Cornell, Binghamton and Colgate along with Ithaca and Oswego.
 
Brunache finished second overall, and was the top Division III performer, with his record distance of 16.59 meters (54' 5.25") that currently ranks eighth nationally in Division III. The previous Cortland school record was 16.42 meters (53' 10.5") by James Monaco in 1983. Brunache's effort marks the second time in less than a week that a Cortland athlete broke a 40-year-old school record; Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) broke the triple jump record last weekend at the Cortland Classic.
 
Brunache turned in two of Cortland's 11 efforts at Tuesday's meet that met All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualification standards. He also finished fourth in the discus throw at 45.39 meters (148' 11"). Brett Morse (Saratoga Springs) also recorded two AARTFC marks with his wins in the 100-meter dash (11.07) and 110-meter hurdles (14.86).
 
Coltrane Goring (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) won the 200-meter dash in 22.22 seconds, and Cortland posted three AARTFC marks in the 400-meter dash with Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) winning in 49.07 seconds, Rich Samuels (Wallkill) placing second in 49.54 seconds, and Austin Garske (Rocky Point) finishing third in 49.74 seconds. The quartet of Eddie Manente (Beacon), Andrew O'Gorman (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East), Gavalas and Matthew Schaffert (Lockport) hit an AARTFC standard in 42.93 seconds as the lone entry in the 4x100-meter relay.
 
Cortland's other AARTFC efforts were Brandon Root (Bellmore/John F. Kennedy) with a second-place time of 56.60 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles and Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) with a fifth-place hammer throw of 50.19 meters (164' 8").
 
Cortland took the top five spots out of 19 competitors in the 100-meter dash. In addition to Morse's win, Schaffert was second (11.22), Manente finished third (11.30), Goring was fourth (11.30) and Deontae Bennett (Greenwich) placed fifth (11.42). Jean-Andre Sassine (Queens Village/The Lawrenceville School (NJ)) was second in the long jump at 6.25 meters (20' 6.25"), followed by Sean Platt (Baldwin) in third (5.91 meters/19' 4.75").

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

April 25th should be a pretty perfect day to host a meet…"it's not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket." If you understand that reference, you were most likely born before 1990!
 
Today was not perfect, but we were pretty effective. It can be hard to come back out and compete on short notice, but we certainly saw a lot of great things happening today! The chill and the headwind can influence results in a negative way, but for the most part our effort was where it should be.
 
Speaking of things older than 1990, I think it's pretty cool that the two oldest records on the books prior to the start of the season on the men's side are now gone, after Isaiah Brunache uncorked a huge toss in the shot put today! In general the shot, disc, and hammer went quite well on the men's side today; the other really strong events on the men's side would have to be the 100 (despite the headwind) and the 400.
 
The women's 4x100 relay may have had the most impressive performance of the day on the track, as they set a new season's best while running by themselves! That's quite an impressive achievement! Khaleah Ollivierre-Ryner had a huge improvement in her PR for the 200, and both Maris Seabury and Helena Trackey posted big PRs in the 400 hurdles.
 
We have a split squad this upcoming weekend, as some of the team competes Saturday at Shippensburg University and we will also close out the season at home on Sunday.