CORTLAND, N.Y. - Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) set a school record with his second-place effort in the hammer throw and Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) won the title in the triple jump at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championships. Cortland hosted the meet Wednesday and Thursday.
 
Cortland finished in fifth place out of 61 schools in the final team standings with 45 points. Rowan won the team title with 115.5 points, followed by Geneseo (66), Carnegie Mellon (59.5), Susquehanna (46) and Cortland in the top five.
 
Makowski's hammer throw of 58.45 meters (191' 9") broke the previous school record of 58.33 meters (191' 4") set by David Bernstein in 2019. Hughes won the triple jump with a distance of 14.81 meters (48' 7.25")
 
Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) finished fourth in the discus (51.31 meters/168' 4") and fifth in the shot put (15.88 meters/52' 1.25"). Aaron Jones (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles (14.62) and Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) was fifth in the hammer (54.87 meters/180' 0").
 
Nick LaRocque (Millbrook) turned in a sixth-place finish in the shot put (15.43 meters/50' 7.5"). Doug Knapp (Brooklyn/Xaverian) was eighth in the 400-meter dash (48.64) and Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) placed eighth in the discus (48.16 meters/158' 0").
 
The top eight individual finishers and the top three relays earned All-AARTFC honors.
 
Also scoring at the meet for Cortland was the 4x800-meter relay team of Jack Bisbee (Deer Park/Half Hollow Hills West), Matthew Mullen (Medford/William Floyd), Hector Ramos (Evans Mills/Indian River) and Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) that finished fourth in 7:58.93.
 
Cortland awaits the announcement of qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, which be held at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C., from May 23-25. The final participant list will be posted on NCAA.com on Friday, May 17 at 8 p.m. Eastern. The top 22 declared individuals in each event and the top 16 declared relay teams in each relay (4x100 and 4x400) qualify for nationals.
 
As of late Thursday night, Cortland ranks in the top 22 in the following events: Hughes in the triple jump (8th); 4x400-meter relay (Knapp, Harrison Gavalas (Southampton), Zion Cheatham (Lockport), Andrew O'Gorman (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) (15th); Makowski in the hammer throw (15th); and Brunache in the shot put (tied 18th) and discus (19th).

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

This was quite a long couple of days – hosting 61 men's and 58 women's team is no small undertaking; our thanks to the Cortland Regional Sports Council in addition to our administration, athletic training, stadium complex, and grounds crew for all of the work and assistance. It was great to have such a high level of competition in Cortland and also pretty fantastic to have that kind of impact on the community by bringing so many visitors into the community on a couple of weekdays after graduation.
 
Finishing the championships with two new school records is something that we are certainly excited about, so congratulations to Mitch and the women's 4x100 relay of Kendall Sobczyk, Alexia Prince, Faith Nelson, and Autumn Pittman. Autumn certainly put together a stellar meet with an individual victory in the 100 (after a new PR in the trials) along with a new PR for the bronze medal in the 200 (along with the #2 all-time spot at Cortland).
 
It was great to see our year close out with PRs for the women's 4x400 of Maris Seabury, Matty Lucey, Yasmine Peralta, and Avery Hebert, AnJalyna Talmadge in the heptathlon, Alexa Wolcott in the steeplechase, and Devin Reilly in the 5k. Devin's race was an exceptional effort that was just a lot of fun to be associated with!
 
On the men's side along with Mitch's hammer throw, Isaiah Brunache had a tremendous PR in the discus that has moved him up to the #2 spot all-time at Cortland, while Nick LaRocque closed out his career with nearly a three-foot personal best to score at the regional meet. It was also great to have Doug Knapp PR in the 400 and Zion Cheatham break into the 48-second range with a big PR in a what we were using as a tune-up for the upcoming NCAA Championships for our 4x400 relay. And last but certainly not least Amarian Hughes earning the AARTFC Championship in the triple jump while hitting a big jump within his first three attempts is not only a great accomplishment, but also great preparation for next week's NCAA Championship.
 
We're anxiously waiting for the final meet results to post across the country tonight to see who is 'safe' for the NCAA Championships, and then we will have an additional waiting period tomorrow to see which of our entries are accepted. Fingers crossed!