BROCKPORT, N.Y. - The Cortland women's indoor track and field team won its 18th State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title and first since 2014 with a strong performance at the conference championship meet at Brockport.
 
The Red Dragons finished first in the 12-team field with 243.5 points, followed by Oneonta with 124.5, Delhi with 75, Buffalo State with 52 and Plattsburgh with 47 in the top five. The championship included eight SUNYAC core members along with four new associate members - Penn St. Behrend, Delhi, Alfred State and Cobleskill.
 
Autumn Pittman (Spring Valley/Ramapo) set two school records at the meet. She broke her own school mark in the 60-meter dash with her winning time of 7.58 seconds; her previous record of 7.60 seconds was set last week. Pittman established meet and facility records and repeated as league champion in the event. She currently ranks sixth nationally in Division III. Pittman also finished second in the 200-meter dash in 25.10 seconds, breaking the previous school record of 25.35 seconds set by Taylor Hunter in 2019. Pittman first broke the record with her prelim time of 25.30 seconds. She ranks 19th nationally in the event.
 
Five other Red Dragons claimed SUNYAC titles at the meet. Deirdre Sullivan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) won the 5,000 meters in 18:31.38 and Lillian Swyers (Peru) was the triple jump champ at 11.09 meters (36' 4.75"). Kayla Tretola (Levittown/Island Trees) won the shot put (12.56 meters/41' 2.5"), Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School) won the weight throw (15.98 meters/52' 5.25"), and Regan Kaiser (Queensbury/Glens Falls) tied for first in the high jump (1.57 meters/5' 1.75").
 
Swyers also finished second in the long jump (5.35 meters/17' 6.75") and third in the 60-meter hurdles (9.34, 9.33 prelims), while Ndukwu was third in the shot put (12.04 meters/39' 6"). Melissa Innocent (Elmont/Valley Stream South) earned two runner-up finishes with times of 5:13.87 in the mile and 10:51.37 in the 3,000 meters. Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City) finished second in the shot put (12.18 meters/39' 11.5") and third in the weight throw (14.81 meters/48' 7.25").
 
Julia Benton (Addison) was runner-up in the 5,000 meters (18:36.62), Ryan Stark (Schuylerville) placed second in the pole vault (3.50 meters/11' 5.75"). AnJalyna Talmadge (Pine Bush) was the runner-up in the pentathlon (2,941 points) and Reilly Quinn (Morrisonville/Beekmantown) tied for third in the high jump (1.52 meters/4' 11.75").
 
In relay action, the 4x400-meter quartet of Faith Nelson (Rensselaer/Columbia), Izzie Bosko (Hillsdale/Taconic Hills), Yasmine Peralta (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) and Matty Lucey (Freeville/Groton) finished second in 4:06.15, while the distance medley relay of Jewel Jones (Long Beach), Emily Pierro (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown), Mia Hannan (Lynbrook/Sacred Heart Academy) and Sammie Salisbury (Poughkeepsie/Arlington0 finished third in 13:08.50.
 
Cortland earned a total of 26 All-SUNYAC honors (18 individuals and eight relay runners). All-league honors go to the top three places in each event. Winners are first team, runners-up are second team, and third-place finishers are third team.
 
Also at the meet, junior Colleen Patrie (Syracuse/Westhill) was named the co-winner of the SUNYAC Women's Indoor Track and Field Elite 20 award. The honor goes to the student-athlete at the finals site of each league championship with the highest overall GPA. Patrie is an inclusive childhood education major with a 4.0 GPA.
 
Final Team Scores:
1) Cortland 243.5, 2) Oneonta 124.5, 3) Delhi 76, 4) Buffalo St. 52, 5) Plattsburgh 47, 6) Penn St. Behrend 30, 7) Alfred St. 25, 8) Fredonia 24.5, 9) Oswego 11.5, T10) Potsdam 10, T10) Cobleskill 10, 12) Morrisville 0

(List of remaining scoring performances is below the Coach's Corner)

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

There are so many 'obvious' highlights on the day, so I'd like my focus to be on the unsung heroes that we had over the weekend. I'm sure that the recap will address the new conference champions, new school records, national rankings, all-conference performers, and scoring performances.
 
To start, we scored in every event. All 34. That's a pretty tremendous accomplishment, and shows off a lot of depth across the program!
 
On the women's side, Lillian Swyers scoring 24 total points with huge personal records in all three of her events (triple jump, long jump, and the 60 high hurdles) is a pretty amazing performance through the weekend. Alexia Prince dropped personal records in both of her events, which is quite exciting! Jewel Jones ran a great lead-off 1200 in the distance medley relay, and came back to run a stellar mile on Saturday! Melissa Innocent ran two tough efforts in the mile and the 3k, setting a huge PR in the mile. Our depth in the longer track races – led by the 1-2 punch of Deirdre Sullivan and Julia Benton – was on display as four of the six ladies in the 5k set new personal records. Alexa Wolcott led much of the race – following our pre-race plan – in a manner that ended up setting up her teammates fantastically! The women's 4x400 relay of Faith Nelson, Izzie Bosko, Yasmine Peralta, and Matty Lucey was especially impressive not only in the overall time, but also their individual splits and how they raced.
 
The jumpers certainly got things done over the weekend! Ryan Stark enters the All-Time top 5 list at Cortland with her vault. Regan Kaiser jumped to a share of the win in the high jump after being out for more than a week with a hip injury. Hannah Nolan had a hugh series – with multiple PRs – to earn her spot in the top eight; putting five of the Lady Red Dragons on the podium was certainly an accomplishment we are proud of! Speaking of putting five on the podium, the throws squad absolutely dominated, especially in the shot put where 32 points were scored from first, second, third, fourth, and sixth place finishes; in the weight throw they earned first, third, fourth, and fifth. Overall that group scored 57 points in just two events!
 
For the  men, Roland Zanger had a day very similar to what Lily did – three season's bests across three events (the 60HH, the long jump, and the high jump), scoring well in all of them. Zion Cheatham returned in the finals of the 400 to drop a huge PR – running exceptionally tough in his third race of the weekend. Mike Alvarez really impressed – taking 5th overall in the 800 from the slow heat, after battling through a long number of months with a hip injury. As with the Lady Red Dragons, the distance crew came up big with strong efforts and great team races. In the 3k, Hunter Rautenstrauch made a great move that probably did him no favors, but worked to connect his classmate Ronan Pollard with the race in a manner that helped Ronan race for 8th. We stress that if you aren't having your day, make the effort to put your teammate into contention, and that is exactly what Hunter did!
 
In the jumps, I'll highlight the effort of Mitch Diamond, who really committed to attacking the phases of his triple jump, ending his series with a new PR to earn the runner-up position. In a lot of ways that is a good metaphor for how the weekend went – over and over again, we saw folks commit to HOW they were going to compete. They focused on what they needed to do to be successful, and that allowed the results to happen naturally. It was a great thing to be a part of! Christian Hunter is a great example of this – after a disappointing 'no mark' in the shot put during the heptathlon, he really dug down and PR'd in two of his next four events, tied his PR in another, and was 0.02 seconds off in the fourth. While obviously the no mark was disappointing, to respond that way is pretty fantastic. Nick Schaffer is somebody else who really committed to running in a positive way despite challenging circumstances – he dropped a 50.26 relay split to anchor the 4x400 relay in a tremendous solo effort!
 
The men's throws squad matched the women's team in terms of dominance, earning a total of 42 points across the two events! I'd like to point out the big PR by Jason Zaita in the shot put, Cabe Hogue in the weight throw, and Lucas Chamberlain the in shot put. Luke is another example of staying calm and focusing on the process: he wasn't expected to make the finals, but took advantage of it when he got there and popped a big indoor PR – and his second-furthest throw ever – to place in the event.
 
Finally, I'd like to acknowledge the incredible honor that Colleen Patrie earned – the SUNYAC Elite 20 award for having the highest GPA at the championships. Colleen has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA during her three years at Cortland, which is simply amazing!
 
Up next for some is the AARTFC Regional Championships just down the road at Ithaca next weekend; a few already have an NCAA bid locked up. A lot of the team is transitioning into getting ready for the outdoor season. It's hard to believe that is only 4 weeks away!

OTHER SCORING PERFORMANCES (PLACES 4-8):

4th place:
Katie Ball (Smithtown/Smithtown East), Pentathlon, 2,730 pts.
Alexia Prince (Spring Valley/Clement Howell), 200m dash, 26.01, 25.88 prelims
Kelly Newman (Harrison), 800m, 2:24.09
Anne Barney (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills), 3,000m, 11:03.90
Alexa Wolcott (Wyoming/Pavilion), 5,000m, 18:48.81
Eilise Marino (West Sayville/Sayville), 60m hurdles, 9.58
Faith Hoyt (Pittsford/Pittsford Mendon), Pole Vault, 3.05m (10' 0")
Hannah Nolan (Montour Falls/Odessa-Montour), Triple Jump, 10.67m (35' 0.25")
Talmadge, Shot Put, 11.76m (38' 7")
Hannah McMasters (Homer), Weight Throw, 14.56m (47' 9.25")
 
5th place:
Prince, 60m dash, 7.94
Jones, Mile, 5:26.54
Tretola, Weight Throw, 13.89m (45' 7")
 
6th place:
Marino, Triple Jump, 10.26m (33' 8")
McMasters, Shot Put, 11.66m (38' 3.25")
 
7th place:
Nelson, 200m dash, 27.24, 26.95 prelims
Bosko, 400m dash, 1:03.42, 1:02.16 prelims
Kristin Ieva (North Babylon), Mile, 5:30.34
Phoebe Peer (Saranac Lake), 3,000m, 11:12.45
Gabby Collins (East Northport/Elwood-John Glenn), 60m hurdles, 10.20, 9.95 prelims
Lexi Clark (Chazy/Chazy Central Rural School), Triple Jump, 10.21m (33' 6")
 
8th place:
Grace Reed (South Windsor, CT), High Jump, 1.42m (4' 7.75")
Abigail Carberry (Sayville), Pole Vault, 2.75m (9' 0.25")
Caitlin Mahar (Hartsdale/Ardsley), Triple Jump, 10.20m (33' 5.75")