MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Cortland sophomore Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) finished in 20th place out of 22 competitors in the shot put with a distance of 15.63 meters (51' 3.5") during the second day of competition at the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The three-day meet is being held at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach.
 
Brunache, last year's national runner-up, recorded his 15.63-meter distance on his second attempt but fouled on his first and third tries. He finished nine inches shy of a 16th-place finish, which would have garnered second-team All-America honors. Joseph White of Carthage won the national title at 18.69 meters (61' 4").
 
Cortland concludes action Saturday as senior Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) will compete in the triple jump at 1 p.m. and graduate student Mitchell Makowski (Webster/Webster Thomas) will compete in the hammer throw at 3:45 p.m.

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

This was a relatively slow day for us on the schedule, with 'only' Isaiah competing. It was understandably a challenging day for him, but he did finish at the same ranking he came in at, which is a nice takeaway.
 
One thing that is hard for folks on the outside to recognize is that it's tough returning to the meet after being the runner-up last year! There's a lot of unspoken pressure, and the thought about placing high is a very challenging one to keep out of your head. Isaiah does a great job of not focusing on that both during the year and at the meet, but it's still there, almost like background noise that is hard to filter out.
 
And ultimately, that's OK, as this was a tremendous learning opportunity for Isaiah! And considering how bright he is, I'm very confident that the lesson will ultimately lead to more positives! Considering the length of time Isaiah was out with the injury he sustained at the indoor championships, getting back to this meet in not one but two events (discus on Thursday) is quite an accomplishment!
 
It's sad to think that the season closes out tomorrow, but we're excited to be representing the Red Dragons in both the hammer throw and the triple jump tomorrow!