CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team won seven events and recorded a total of 14 AARTFC-qualifying performances at the Cortland Classic, hosted by the Red Dragons on Friday and Saturday.
 
Cortland took top honors in both the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays with AARTFC times. Mitch Diamond (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills West), Harrison Gavalas (Southampton), Zion Cheatham (Lockport) and Brandon Levin (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) won the 4x100 in 42.05 seconds and Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian), Andrew O'Gorman (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East), Cheatham and Gavalas won the 4x400 in 3:19.07. Cortland also finished second in the 4x400 as Aidan Garafola (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point), Levin, Brandon Root (Merrick/John F. Kennedy) and Austin Garske (Rocky Point) finished in 3:25.11.
 
O'Gorman was first out of 40 competitors in the 400-meter dash in 49.26 seconds, followed by Gavalas in second in 49.32 seconds, both AARTFC times. Knapp placed third in 49.53 seconds. Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.42 seconds, an AARTFC time that is tied for 15th nationally in Division III as of Sunday evening. Jones also placed second of 60 in the 200-meter dash in an AARTFC time of 21.85 seconds.
 
Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) won the hammer throw in a field of 39 competitors with a heave of 57.68 meters (189' 3"), an AARTFC mark that ranks 15th nationally in Division III. Cortland's next two finishers also hit AARTFC marks in the event - Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) was second at 55.18 meters (181' 0") and Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) finished fifth at 51.98 meters (170' 6"). Kaires also met the AARTFC standard in the discus with his third-place toss of 44.83 meters (147' 1"), as did Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) with his fourth-place effort of 44.60 meters (146' 4"). Brunache finished second in the shot put out of 46 athletes with an AARTFC distance of 15.67 meters (51' 5").
 
Cortland's other two AARTFC qualifiers were Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro), who beat 26 other entrants in the triple jump with a distance of 14.29 meters (46' 10.75"), and Garske, who was second overall and the top collegiate finisher in the 400-meter hurdles in 54.98 seconds. Hughes also finished sixth overall and was the third collegiate placer in the long jump at 6.63 meters (21' 9").
 
Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) finished first of 49 in the 1,500 meters in 4:02.83. Josh Koeppe (Bridgeport/Cicero-North Syracuse) was second in the 10,000 meters (33:58.24) and Robert Davidson (Setauket/Ward Melville) was the second collegiate finisher, and third overall, in the 5,000 meters in 15:31.23.
 
John Anderson (Ithaca) placed second in the decathlon with 4,879 points. He won the 100-meter dash (11.52) and the 110-meter hurdles (16.86) during the two-day event. Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) finished third in the 110-meter hurdles (15.89, 15.71 prelims), Brandon Mulholland (Syracuse/Westhill) was the third-best collegian in the 5,000 meters (15:32.61), Root was fourth overall, and third among collegiate competitors, in the 400-meter hurdles (57.95), and Knapp finished third in the javelin throw (43.81 meters/143' 8").

Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Steve Patrick:
 
First and foremost, I'd like to thank the friends and family that made the trip to support especially on this weekend! After the meet we were able to have our dessert reception/senior recognition and having family and friends there was tremendous! The senior recognition is always bittersweet for me for as much as I'm thrilled for the direction these folks are taking, we're sad to see them leaving us.

We also had the pleasure of a number of alumni around for the weekend, including even a couple of competitors, as well as Olympian Michelle Rohl competing in the 10,000 on Friday night!
 
We definitely had a successful meet in terms of efforts and performances. While our weather was once again far from ideal, you could see that after the previous weekend, less than ideal wasn't going to stop these Red Dragons! Because we had so many exceptional performances, it is hard to highlight standouts, as the bar is so high (which is a great track and field pun)!
 
Faith Nelson had one of the strongest days for the women's program, with big PRs in both the 100 and the 400. We hold high expectations for our team, so any time we are surprised by a breakthrough it really says something, and Faith's 400 was a little surprising, and is a credit to the work she has been putting in. Hannah McMasters had a very strong day in the throws, with excellent marks being posted in all three of her events. It's a challenge to have the focus and determination to be 'on' in one event, but to have to summon that three times over a weekend is pretty remarkable. Back to the track, Melissa Innocent nearly cracking the 18-minute barrier in the 5000 (thanks to a great pacemaking by teammate Devin Reilly), and Sydney Smith with a double PR weekend – especially after nearly losing her shoe in the 1500 – were both pretty exceptional.
 
For the men's squad, Aaron Jones had an exceptional day with a PR in the high hurdles and a very nearly a lifetime best in the 200 which was run into a cold, stiff headwind. It's really exciting for him to see that level of performance for this time of year! Firstyear Evan Collette threw PRs in two events and was near a PR in his third which showed a lot of great progress through his first campaign. Finally, I'd like to highlight Austin Garske for a big season's best in the 400 hurdles.

We have our small final 'regular season' home meet this Tuesday, and will split the squad between Shippensburg's Paul Kaiser Classic on Saturday and visiting Cornell University on Sunday; the following week will be the SUNYAC Championships!