VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. – Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump during the final day of action Saturday at the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships. The two-day event was held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
 
Hughes recorded a distance of 14.66 meters (48' 1.25") to earn first-team All-America recognition, which goes to athletes who finish in the top eight and score team points. He previously finished 11th in the event at last year's indoor nationals and 18th at last year's outdoor nationals.
 
In the opening round of three jumps, Hughes earned the right to advance to the final nine with a seventh-place distance of 14.44 meters on his second attempt. He was eighth after his fourth and fifth attempts before moving back into seventh with his best jump of the day in the final rotation. Shelvin Garrett II of Wisconsin-Whitewater won the title at 15.97 meters (52' 4.75").
 
Cortland finished the meet with two team points as a result of Hughes' performance and tied for 55th place nationally.

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

This was a pretty exciting morning for us! Within about a 2-minute span Amarian earned 7th in the triple jump, moving up a spot in his final jump, and Danielle's second podium finish of the weekend became official.

I can't stress enough how well both of these folks competed. Amarian had the challenge of a mild strain over the past couple of weeks, to the point where we were concerned if he should even compete; for Danielle coming off the pentathlon yesterday is a pretty tall order.

They both maintained their composure and maintained a high level of focus to earn that podium spot.

Spring break is going to be good for everybody; on the 23rd of March we'll send a few 'outdoor only' folks to Houghton for a small meet and we host our annual Learn By Doing Cljnic on the 24th so things will get busy quickly!