CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team competed at both the Bucknell University Bison Outdoor Classic on Saturday and Sunday and at its own Cortland Upstate Alternative meet on Saturday.
 
Bucknell Highlights:
 
Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) placed second of 43 in the triple jump with a distance of 14.86 meters (48' 9"), an AARTFC qualifying effort that moved him to fifth in the NCAA Division III rankings as of Sunday evening. Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) and Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian) each notched AARTFC times in the 400-meter dash; Gavalas finished 26th of 104 in 49.07 seconds and Knapp was 32nd in 49.34 seconds.
 
Brandon Levin (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) finished 32nd of 114 in the 100-meter dash in an AARTFC qualifying time of 10.89 seconds. He was also 30th of 123 in the 200-meter dash in 22.29 seconds. Matthew Mullen (Medford/William Floyd) and Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) each met the AARTFC standard in the 3,000-meter steeplechase; Mullen finished 35th of 67 (9:40.08) and Brignall was 36th (9:41.94). Cameron Szabo (Owego/Owego Free Academy) placed 73rd of 159 in the 800 meters (AARTFC qualifying 1:55.05) and 37th of 93 in the 1,500 meters (4:04.61).
 
Cortland Alternative Highlights:
 
Seven Red Dragons earned victories at the meet as the competitors battled brutal weather conditions with heavy rain and wind.
 
Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) won the discus at 43.50 meters (142' 8") and was third in the hammer at 50.58 meters (165' 11"), both AARTFC qualifiers. Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) won the hammer at 56.91 meters (186' 8") and Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) was second at 52.35 meters (171' 9").
 
Lenny Diaz (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) won the 800 meters in 2:02.77, followed by Hector Ramos (Evans Mills/Indian River) in second (2:05.96) and Jack Bisbee (Deer Park/Half Hollow Hills West) in third (2:06.76). Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) was the 200-meter dash winner (23.03) and Zion Cheatham (Lockport) won the 400-meter dash (51.39).
 
Logan Buchanan (Dundee) won the high jump by clearing 1.90 meters (6' 2.75"). Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) placed third at 1.78 meters (5' 10"), and he also was third in the long jump (6.32 meters/20' 9"). In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Josh Koeppe (Bridgeport/Cicero-North Syracuse) finished first (10:09.45) and Daniel Patrick (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) was second (10:41.34).
 
Nick LaRocque (Millbrook) finished second in both the discus (39.39 meters/129' 2") and the shot put (13.93 meters/45' 8.5"). Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) was third in both events with efforts of 37.77 meters (123' 11") in the discus and 13.66 meters (44' 9.75") in the shot put. Brandon Mulholland (Syracuse/Westhill) finished third in the 1,500 meters (4:18.62).

Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Steve Patrick:
 
On the Cortland Upstate Alternative Meet:
 
It was a real weather-related challenge for anybody that competed in Cortland. It may have been the worst weather for a track and field meet that Cortland was involved in over the past 30 years. Our outdoor season is so short that we hate to miss on competitive opportunities; I really appreciate the folks that were able to fight through the challenge to stay competitive. The meet at home wasn't a great opportunity to run our fastest, jump our furthest, or throw our farthest, but the value in practicing focus, how we execute our skills, and just being tough has so much value! So many on the team did just that today, so we have a lot to be proud of!
 
Out of the folks that were competing in Cortland, I'd like to highlight Nick Kaires not only for his win in the discus, but also for breaking the 50-meter barrier in the hammer throw for the first time ever. I'll also point out what a big PR Suzy Conners had in the hammer throw. For both Nick and Suzy to PR under those conditions shows the level they were competing at today!
 
Deirdre Sullivan had a huge PR in the steeplechase today, which just sounds like the absolute worst event to do on a day like today. Aliesha Howard and Josh Koeppe also put forward impressive efforts in the event.
 
I'll close by mentioning how Roland Zanger had a very impressive long jump for the cold/rainy/snowy/windy conditions. There's a lot of confidence to be gained from having a strong showing in less-than-ideal conditions, and these folks (and more) really fought to do something pretty special.
 
On the Bucknell Meet:
 
Unfortunately we didn't quite get the weather we were hoping for on Saturday. The temperature was pretty great for racing, but the wind was pretty brutal and kept the races from really being hot. We certainly had some good efforts, most notably from Anika Parnell, who had a big PR in the steeplechase and won her heat, which is always a really fun thing to do. A wise coach once told me that you "should never underestimate the value of winning" and we're quite thrilled with Anika earning that victory today!
 
The second highlight from day one of Bucknell would be Ryan Joule who had two really good throws into a gnarly headwind today. He's been putting in a lot of effort to improve some specific aspects of his technique and it is really paying off!
 
The final highlight was Danielle Fisk in the high jump, who endured a competition that featured 40 women, and lasted nearly three hours. That's pretty unusual circumstances! Danielle jumped great and was able to make some good adjustments to both the length of the competition and the wind.
 
Until the thunderstorms rolled in on Sunday night cancelling the 4x400 relays, things were rolling along quite well for us. In general, Sunday was a day of learning, as we had minimal 'poor' performances and a number of really good efforts.

Cameron Szabo started us off with a really nice 800 on the track, where he made a number of good decisions during the race. He ran fast today but set himself up better to run even faster in the future! Avery Hebert put together a wonderful 400, with again leaving room to improve in the future. It was also a big step forward! Brandon Levin had a stellar day with another big PR in the 100, as well as a strong PR in the 200. That's an exciting step to see a firstyear running so well.
 
Sophomore Yasmine Peralta executed her 400 hurdles quite well except for one pesky hurdle, but as with many of our others that created a great learning opportunity for the future. Our triple jump squad of Mitch Diamond, Cam Buchanan, and Amarian Hughes all made their way to season's bests while doing a great job of adjusting and learning from jump to jump. Finally, Danielle Fisk had a big PR in the hurdles, which sets her up nicely for the heptathlon this upcoming weekend.
 
We're looking forward to hosting the Cortland Classic on the 19th and 20th, which will be a pretty sizable meet and a great chance to continue to develop the team.