CHESTER, PA. – Rich Samuels (Wallkill) broke the Cortland men's outdoor track and field school record in the 800-meter run at the Widener University Final Qualifier Meet on Monday. Samuels finished fifth out of 73 runners with a time of 1:50.61, eclipsing the previous school record of 1:51.91 set by Michael Donovan in 1996. Samuels currently ranks 19th nationally in Division III in the event. 
 
Two other Red Dragons competed at the meet. Cameron Szabo (Owego/Owego Free Academy) placed 18th in the 800 meters in 1:53.59 and Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) was fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:23.56. 
 
Cortland will travel to Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., for the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championships Wednesday and Thursday. The Red Dragons' three performances at Widener all met AARTFC standards. 

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

Not much to add here, as the results really speak for themselves! Rich obviously ran really tough to crush both his PR and the school record! The exciting thing is that his heat didn't set up very well for him, and he didn't run his 'perfect' race yet.

Cam also set a big PR, and did so running nearly perfectly even splits. You don't see that very often in the 800, and shows that there's more in the tank.

While Hunter didn't set a new PR, he was quite close, and that's quite a solid rebound after his SUNYAC meet. His race was a good close to his season, and definitely shows more of what he's capable of and provides some good feedback to learn from.

On to the AARTFC meet this Wednesday and Thursday!