BOSTON, MASS. and ITHACA, N.Y. – The quartet of Evan Jensen (Red Hook), Zion Cheatham (Lockport), Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) and Josh Jeffes (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) smashed the Cortland school record in the 4x400-meter relay at the Boston University Valentine Invitational men's indoor track and field meet on Friday.
 
Most of Cortland's competitors attended the Cornell Kane Invitational on Saturday, with the Red Dragons posting 10 All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifying performances.
 
Boston University:
 
Jensen, Cheatham, Gavalas and Jeffes finished first out of 37 teams in the 4x400 with a time of 3:12.87. The previous school record of 3:16.21 was set by Eric Banks, Phill Wiltshire, Neil Yodice and Stephan Linton in 2012. Cortland currently ranks second nationally in Division III. Also at BU, Matthew Mullen (Medford/William Floyd) finished 277th of 384 runners in the mile in 4:17.71, an AARTFC qualifier.
 
Cornell:
 
Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) posted two victories, winning the long jump at 7.14 meters (23' 5.25") and the triple jump at 15.09 meters (49' 6.25"), both easily AARTFC marks. Hughes' long jump placed him 17th nationally. He already ranks second nationally in the triple jump with a distance of 15.21 meters earlier this season. Deontae Bennett (Riverdale, GA/Greenwich (NY)) hit an AARTFC mark with his sixth-place long jump of 6.73 meters (22' 1") and Mitch Diamond (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills West) was fifth in the triple jump with an AARTFC distance of 13.60 meters (44' 7.5").
 
Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) recorded two AARTFC efforts. He was second in the shot put a 17.31 meters (56' 9.5") and third in the weight throw at 17.64 meters (57' 10.5"). Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) also registered two AARTFC qualifiers in those events, finishing fourth in the shot put (14.95 meters/49' 0.75") and fifth in the weight throw (16.81 meters/55' 2").
 
Brandon Mulholland (Syracuse/Westhill) finished second in the 5,000 meters with an AARTFC time of 15:23.18 and Matthew Schaffert (Lockport) met the AARTFC standard with his time of 6.98 seconds in the 60-meter dash prelims. He finished sixth in the finals in 6.99 seconds. Schaffert also was fifth in the 200-meter dash in 22.62 seconds.
 
Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.64) and fifth in the high jump (1.87 meters/6' 1.5"). Andrew Farnsworth (Rotterdam/Mohonasen) also cleared 1.87 meters in the high jump and officially finished sixth. Hunter Rautenstrauch (Buffalo/West Seneca West) was fourth in the 3,000 meters (9:12.76) and Adam Schreiber (Williamson) placed sixth (9:19.22).
 
Robert Davidson (Setauket/Ward Melville) and Paul Tommolino (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) finished fifth (16:02.95) and sixth (16:21.13), respectively, in the 5,000 meters, while Christian Hunter (Westbury/W.T. Clarke) and Evan Cruz (Pearl River) were fifth (8.82) and sixth (8.85), respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles.
 
In the triple jump, Brady Melious (Tribes Hill/Fonda-Fultonville) placed sixth (13.04 meters/42' 9.5") and Gavin Franco (East Islip) finished seventh (12.45 meters/40' 10.25"). Three Red Dragons finished in the top nine in the 400-meter dash - Lassad Richards (Wheatley Heights/Half Hollow Hills West) in seventh (51.88), Nick Schaffer (Pompton Lakes, NJ) in eighth (52.06) and Brandon Root (Merrick/John F. Kennedy) in ninth (52.16). Daniel Cruz (Bronx/Saint Raymond for Boys) was eighth in the 200-meter dash (23.03), LeBron Richardson (Pelham/Pelham Memorial) finished eighth in the 60-meter dash (7.07, 7.05 prelims), and Matthew Breslin (Islip) tied for eighth in the pole vault (4.00 meters/13' 1.5").

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

Obviously the run at Boston University by the men's relay was pretty exciting – earning the victory was certainly exciting, as was the new school record. One of the most exciting things is that only Zion Cheatham really ran his leg close to his potential – and it was an excellent leg! When we get all four legs running as well as Zion did and some close competition, it should be exciting!
 
From the Kane Invite at Cornell, there were a number of great things!. Firstyear Kayla Tretola was probably the women's highlight, as every one of her legal throws in the shot put was a new PR; her best throw was an astounding 3' better than her previous best! That was a pretty exceptional achievement!
 
Fellow firstyear Eilise Marino had a great double, breaking 10 seconds in the 60 meter high hurdles, and breaking the 10 meter barrier in the triple jump. Both are great markers of her progress. And while not a double, Julia Benton broke through the 19-minute barrier in a tough 5k, putting together a really strong effort over her 25 laps. In the middle distances, Kelly Newman (800), Sammie Salisbury (mile), and Jewel Jones (mile) all ran strong season's bests.
 
Amarian Hughes led the men with the PR/victory in the long jump, and an exceptional series in the triple jump. Roland Zanger led the men's high hurdle contingent as he, Christian Hunter, and Evan Cruz all PR'd in the finals with strong efforts; Roland also hit a season's best in the high jump. Mitch Diamond had a very solid day with a big PR in the 60m along with a very consistent series in triple jump; classmate Evan Collette set a PR in the shot put and very nearly broke his PR in the weight throw. From the distance events, Brandon Mulholland ran his second PR in as many weeks, with a great effort in the 5000.
 
We return to Cornell next weekend to tune up for the SUNYAC Championships – we're excited about the direction the program is taking!