ITHACA, N.Y., STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. and BOSTON, MASS. – The Cortland men's indoor track and field team sent competitors to three meets over the weekend. Many of the Red Dragons competed in a tri-meet at Ithaca College that also featured Division I Cornell University, while others went to the Big Apple Invitational in Staten Island or the Boston University Valentine Invitational.
 
At Ithaca, Cortland finished second in the team scoring. Cornell won with 80 points, followed by Cortland with 56 and Ithaca with 15 using a 5-3-2-1 scoring system.
 
Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) won the 60-meter dash in an AARTFC time of 8.18 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 22.66 seconds. His hurdles time ranks 24th nationally in Division III. Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) won the weight throw with a toss of 18.34 meters (60' 2"), which ranks 11th nationally, and he was second in the shot put at 16.13 meters (52' 11"). Both are AARTFC qualifiers.
 
Logan Buchanan (Dundee) won the high jump (1.93 meters/6' 4") and Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) won the triple jump (14.53 meters/47' 8"), both with AARTFC marks, and Daniel Cruz (Bronx/Saint Raymond for Boys) won the 60-meter dash (7.34).
 
Two other Red Dragons met AARTFC standards at the meet – both in the weight throw. Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) finished second at 16.89 meters (55' 5") and Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) was third at 15.82 meters (51' 11").
 
Other Cortland scorers at the meet:
 
Julian Palma (East Rockaway), 2nd, 60-meter dash, 7.38
Paul Tommolino (Stony Brook/Ward Melville), 2nd, 3,000 meters, 9:30.19
Jack Bisbee (Deer Park/Half Hollow Hills West), 3rd, 800 meters, 2:00.65, and 3rd, Mile, 4:24.06
Daniel Patrick (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius), 3rd, 3,000 meters, 9:43.32
Mike Alvarez (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy), 4th, 3,000 meters, 9:54.72
Travis Iwuagwu (Suffern), 4th, 60-meter hurdles, 8.97
Roland Zanger (Port Jervis), 4th, High Jump, 1.83 meters (6' 0")
Gavin Franco (East Islip), 4th, Long Jump, 6.15 meters (20' 2.25")
Nick LaRocque (Millbrook), 4th, Shot Put, 14.06 meters (46' 1.5")
Logan Darling (Homer), 4th, Weight Throw, 14.31 meters (46' 11.5")
 
At the Big Apple Invitational, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, Deontae Bennett (Greenwich) posted an AARTFC mark with his long jump of 6.81 meters (22' 4.25"). He finished third out of 45 competitors. Matthew Schaffert (Lockport) placed eighth in the long jump (6.54 meters/21' 5.5") and sixth of 68 in the 200-meter dash (22.41), while Brandon Levin (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) finished 12th in the 200 meters (22.57).
 
All of Cortland's competitors at Boston University registered AARTFC marks. Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) placed 50th of 216 in the 400-meter dash in 49.15 seconds, followed by Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian) in 75th (49.53) and Andrew O'Gorman (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) in 81st (49.62). Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) finished 58th in the 3,000 meters (8:32.70), and the 4x400-meter relay team of Knapp, O'Gorman, Aidan Garafola (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) and Gavalas finished 23rd (3:19.39).

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

First off, it's pretty amazing to think that we were at three different meets this weekend! There's a lot to be said for having the level of support from our administration that allows us to pursue meets that are the best fit for the various parts of the team. Not every meet or facility is ideal for the wide range of events in track and field, so to have that amount of flexibility is great for us.
 
Now, in terms of this weekend, once again we saw some tremendous throws over at Ithaca College, particularly in the weight throw as not only did Isaiah Brunache improve on his PR (narrowly missing the school-record), but Evan Collette has now entered the top-five list with his big throw as well. Although not making our top-five list, Hannah McMasters countered with a big PR of her own in the weight throw. In the jumps, men's high jump was particularly strong as all three men competed well, led by Logan Buchanan earning the win with a significant college PR.
 
The squad at Ithaca showed some tremendous improvement in the 60 as PRs were run more than half of our athletes, highlighted by a huge improvement from Alexia Prince! We also saw some very good individual efforts and team tactics in the mile and the 3000 for both teams.
 
The success in the 3000 was a theme that we also saw at the Big Apple Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island. The distance squad really produced in that race as all nine of our competitors ran lifetime bests over the event. Beyond that achievement, how they raced was pretty tremendous, as they were engaged in the race, making mature decisions, and racing tough when it counted. I'll also mention Autumn Pittman nearly earning another school record, as she is now the #2 performer All-Time in the 200, just .02 seconds behind Taylor Hunter's mark from 2019. I'll also highlight Andrew O'Gorman breaking the 50-second barrier for the first time in the 400 at Boston University as a pretty big highlight for the program over the weekend.
 
For the most part, the members of the team that competed this weekend – regardless of the location – did well. While we didn't always have as great of a result that we might have wanted, in the few places where we came up a bit short of what the 'ideal' was we were able to have a good learning experience from it. We didn't have many big mistakes or letdowns, and many members of the team needed to experience the higher level of competition that the meets at Boston University and Ocean Breeze offer so that we can take advantage of the championship opportunities that are coming up soon.
 
Next weekend will be a tune-up for some folks prior to the conference championships at Cornell. We're excited about how the season has been progressing!