CHESTER, PA. – The Cortland track and field teams sent a handful of competitors to the Widener University Final Qualifier Meet on Monday.
 
Highlights for the men included a second-place finish by Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian), Harrison Gavalas (Southampton), Zion Cheatham (Lockport) and Andrew O'Gorman (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:12.91, which currently ranks 12th nationally in Division III, and a second-place effort by Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) in the shot put at 16.47 meters (54' 0.5"), which is tied for 18th nationally.
 
The Red Dragons took three of the top six spots in the hammer throw. Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) placed second with a distance of 55.07 meters (180' 8"). Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) finished third (54.28 meters/178' 1") and Brunache was sixth (53.15 meters/174' 4").
 
Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.23 seconds. Tommy Martin (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) placed ninth in the javelin (50.56 meters/165' 10") and Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) was 11th in the discus (44.11 meters/144' 9").
 
Cortland's top women's performance came from Autumn Pittman (Spring Valley/Ramapo), who finished first out of 30 in the 100-meter dash in 12.09 seconds. The combination of Kendall Sobczyk (Wheatfield/Niagara Wheatfield), Alexia Prince (Spring Valley/Clement Howell), Faith Nelson (Rensselaer/Columbia) and Pittman finished third in 47.69 seconds. Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School) was seventh in the hammer throw (47.55 meters/156' 0") and Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) was ninth in the high jump (1.57 meters/5' 1.75").
 
Cortland will host the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championships Wednesday and Thursday. All of the Red Dragon performances mentioned above met AARTFC standards.

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

We're really fortunate to have the support to bring a good-sized squad down to Widener for this meet.

Last chance meets are strange in that they come after the pressure of finals and they become a high-pressure situation of their own. As much as we try not to focus on the time distance or height, it's very hard not to, especially when how you do at this meet can determine if you have any meets left in your season or even your career.

With that being said, Isaiah Brunache in the shot put and the men's 4x400 came through with tremendous performances in the face of that pressure.

We're excited to host the AARTFC Championships this upcoming Wednesday and Thursday.