ITHACA, N.Y. and UTICA, N.Y. – The Cortland men's indoor track and field team opened its 2024-25 season by sending competitors to both the Cornell University Greg Page Relays Friday and Saturday and to the Utica Holiday Classic on Saturday.
 
Cornell Highlights:
 
Two Red Dragons qualified for the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championship at the meet - Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) with a fifth-place weight throw of 15.93 meters (52' 3.75") and Deontae Bennett (Riverdale, GA/Greenwich (NY)) with a ninth-place finish out of 55 runners in the 60-meter dash (7.02).
 
LeBron Richardson (Pelham/Pelham Memorial) finished 10th in the 60-meter dash in 7.03 seconds and was seventh in the high jump at 1.85 meters (6' 0.75"). Lucas Flore (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) placed fourth in the 200-meter dash (22.63) and Daniel Cruz (Bronx/Saint Raymond for Boys) was sixth (23.15) in the event. Matthew Breslin (Islip) finished sixth in the pole vault (3.85 meters/12' 7.25").
 
Utica Highlights:
 
Cortland recorded 12 AARTFC marks at the meet. Three of those came in the 400-meter dash, led by Josh Jeffes (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) with a victory in 48.94 seconds. Evan Jensen (Red Hook) was second in 49.31 seconds and Zion Cheatham (Lockport) finished third in 49.71 seconds. Jeffes and Cheatham also recorded AARTFC efforts in the 200-meter dash - Jeffes finished third of 63 competitors in 22.42 seconds and Cheatham was fifth in 22.44 seconds.
 
Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) posted two AARTFC qualifiers, winning both the shot put in a field of 49 at 16.59 meters (54' 5.25"0 and the weight throw out of 38 competitors with a toss of 18.30 meters (60' 0.5"). Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) had an AARTFC mark of 15.71 meters (51' 6.5") in the weight throw to place fourth.
 
Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) and Mitch Diamond (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills West) also registered two AARTFC performances each. Hughes was first of 22 in the triple jump at 14.98 meters (49' 1.75") and second of 42 in the long jump at 7.07 meters (23' 2.5"). Diamond finished third in the triple jump (14.02 meters/46' 0") and fourth in the long jump (6.78 meters/22' 3").
 
Lenny Diaz (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) won the 800 meters (2:02.21) and finished eighth in the mile (4:38.14). Matthew Mullen (Medford/William Floyd) won the mile (4:25.99) and was second in the 800 meters (2:02.79).
 
In the 5,000 meters, Vincent Smaldone (Red Hook) was fifth overall, and the second collegiate finisher in 15:49.12. Brandon Mulholland (Syracuse/Westhill) was sixth in the event (15:58.01) and Ronan Pollard (Lindenhurst) finished seventh (15:58.01).
 
Antoine Wheeler (Penn Yan/Penn Yan Academy) finished fourth in the 800 meters (2:03.99), while Jordan Wingert (Verona/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) was fifth in the 800 (2:05.80) and sixth in the mile (4:33.93).
 
Jensen placed sixth in the 200-meter dash (22.52), and in the 400-meter dash Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) finished sixth (50.40) and Aidan Garafola (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) was eighth (51.44).
 
Collette finished sixth (13.45 meters/44' 1.5") and Lucas Chamberlain (Copake/Taconic Hills) was seventh (13.02 meters/42' 8.75") in the shot put, and in the triple jump Hayden Erick (Dundee) finished sixth (13.34 meters/43' 9.25") and Brady Melious (Tribes Hill/Fonda-Fultonville) was eighth (13.21 meters/43' 4.25").

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

Before discussing either meet, a couple of important points to consider on this:
 
First, the  calendar was a bit 'odd' this year, and limited us (like most other colleges) to only one chance to compete this semester. For the non-cross country folks, this means a lot of training (we started indoor practices 11 weeks ago), without many competitive chances. That tends to increase the pressure folks feel. Since classes ended yesterday, there's that additional challenge for our folks to work through.
 
Second, because of the first point, we felt that we needed to not send the entire team over to Cornell the way we normally would for this first weekend, as their schedule of events doesn't include some things we definitely wanted to get in, as well as since they have moved this to a two-day competition, we wanted to be mindful of NCAA rules regarding dates of competition. Having the ability to attend two meets – which is a result of support from our athletic department – is a pretty awesome thing!
 
Third, our goal for this weekend was to learn about ourselves and how we compete. Any performances that were noteworthy were a real bonus as long as that learning occurred! Sometimes we are learning what we should do; sometimes we are learning what not to do, but as long as we can reinforce the good decisions and work to reduce the less productive ones, it's a pretty good day!
 
Finally, it's hard to estimate just how much nervousness is there for a lot of our folks, especially the newcomers to the program. It's understandable, and something that requires a lot to work through.
 
With all that being said, looking at the Cornell Meet, I'd like to highlight the following folks for what they did:

* LeBron Richardson is probably our 'rookie of the meet' after strong performances in both the 60m dash and the high jump. It was a pretty exciting day for him, and he handled the stress of competition well!

* Firstyear Lucas Flore also performed quite well, especially with his performance in the 200.

* Having Andrew Farnsworth return to competition – and look pretty good even if we didn't get the height we wanted – after a pretty major injury was pretty special to see. I'll same the same about Travis Iwuagwu, who missed outdoor with injury last spring, only to open his season with a personal best in both the 60HH and in the indoor 200 (on a flat track) is a credit to what he has done to get to this point.

* Both Vegas Petersen and Matthew Breslin opened the season with strong pole vault performances – in their first college meet and opening at a relatively high height – to start the jumps off with a bang on Friday night.

* Abigail Carberry had a strong day in the pole vault on Saturday, with good attempts at what would have been a pretty significant PR after two bars cleared.

* Newcomer Grace Reed – and in this case newcomer isn't just to our program but in a broader sense to the sport of track and field in general – cleared a height in the high jump that will very likely qualify her for the SUNYAC Championships in February.

* Gabby Collins and Eilise Marino both had openings to their career in the 60 high hurdles – both demonstrated significant progress as compared to where they came into the program at the beginning of the year, which is quite exciting!

* Jewel Jones, Mia Hannan, and Jade Hornick all had strong efforts in the 3000 meters, running with patience early and toughness late when it really counted – it was great to see! Chris Dalton had a similar strong effort in the men's 3000 as well.
 
Reviewing the performances from Utica, there's a lot to be excited about there as well!

* Jennifer Ndukwu had herself a day, with big-time throws in both the shot put and the weight. She led a deep squad of throwers for the Lady Red Dragons in both events.
Isaiah Brunache had a similarly strong day, with very solid efforts in both the shot put and the weight throw, leading a very deep squad today.

* Amarian Hughes led the men's horizontal jumps squad with outstanding performances in both the long and triple jump! Sophomores Mitch Diamond and Hayden Erick along with firstyear Brady Melious were quite strong in both events as well.

* Newcomer Lilly Swyers posted double PRs today in the triple jump and in the 60 High Hurdles. She's been asked to make a lot of changes in both events – which is challenging to do – and it seems to have worked out well so far!

* The track events featured some strong distance performances, starting off with a big PR from Deirdre Sullivan in the 5000, and very impressive track debuts in the event from firstyears Julia Benton, Phoebe Peer, and Vincent Smaldone.

* In the mile Kristin Ieva, Matthew Mullen, Jordan Wingert, and Zachary Arria all were able to negative split – running the 2nd half of the race faster than the first. That's a great way to run smart and tough, and we're thrilled that all four were able to do this today.

* Nearly all of our crew in the 800 was able to negative split as well today! Normally that isn't the way to run your fastest in the 800 but for the season opener after already running the mile, it was a big point of emphasis for us today to focus on finishing fast. When seven folks are able to do this, that is a sign of good things to come.

* We're generally quite pleased with the results in the 400. That's a race with a very small window for error, so being out a little too fast or a little too slow can have big consequences. While we didn't execute exactly everything we wanted to today in that event, we certainly demonstrated both our depth and that we're in a good spot in terms of our training. Out of that group, Faith Nelson returned later in the day to have a pretty significant PR in the indoor 200, which is quite exciting!
 
Final exams begin on Monday; our focus will shift to 'foundational training' until folks return to campus in January.


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