CHESTER, PA. – Tommy Martin (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) and Josh Jeffes (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) each set school records as the Cortland men's track and field team opened its 2025 outdoor season at the Widener University Danny Curran Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
 
Martin broke a 29-year-old school record in the javelin throw with his distance of 54.95 meters (180' 3"). The previous record of 54.14 meters was set by Adam LaBuda in 1996. Martin finished ninth of 33 competitors in the field and hit an All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifying mark.
 
Jeffes finished first out of 109 runners in the 400-meter dash in 47.42 seconds. The previous school record was 47.50 seconds by Gino Bisceglia in 2011. Jeffes currently ranks fourth nationally in Division III in the event - one in which he finished sixth at the NCAA indoor championships two weeks ago for All-America honors.
 
The 4x400-meter relay team of Evan Jensen (Red Hook), Zion Cheatham (Lockport), Harrison Gavalas (Southampton) and Jeffes picked up where it left off two weeks ago when it won an indoor national title. The Red Dragon quartet finished first out of 30 relay teams at Widener in 3:13.36, which currently ranks first nationally in Division III.
 
All four of the 4x400 members placed in the top 15 in the individual 400-meter dash. In addition to Jeffes' victory, Jensen finished fourth in 48.24 seconds, which ranks 15th nationally, Gavalas was 13th in 49.30 seconds and Cheatham placed 15th in 49.31 seconds. Jensen and Gavalas hit AARTFC times.
 
Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) finished fourth of 33 in the discus at 46.63 meters (153' 0"), an AARTFC mark that ranks 15th nationally. He also finished seventh in the hammer throw (48.63 meters/159' 6"). Jason Zaita (Selden/Centereach) was third of 63 in the shot put with an AARTFC distance of 14.84 meters (48' 8.25").
 
Matthew Schaffert (Lockport), Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) and Ramel Radcliff (Syracuse/Henninger) each registered two top-15 finishes. Schaffert was eighth of 155 in the 100-meter dash (10.97) and ninth of 160 in the 200-meter dash (22.10). Zanger finished 10th of 39 in the high jump (1.83 meters/6' 0") and 15th of 46 in the 110-meter hurdles (15.61). Radcliff was 15th in both the discus (42.06 meters/138' 0") and the hammer throw (43.00 meters/141' 1").
 
Matthew Mullen (Medford/William Floyd) was sixth of 25 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:48.06). Brandon Root (Merrick/John F. Kennedy) and Declan Kennedy (Lakewood/Southwestern) finished eighth (56.34) and 13th (57.34), respectively, in the 400-meter hurdles. Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) finished 11th in the shot put (13.78 meters/45' 2.5") and Ryan Joule (Staten Island/Susan E. Wagner) placed 13th in the javelin (51.45 meters/168' 9").
 
Cortland hosts the Cortland Red Dragon Open & Multi on Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6.

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

Heading to Widener for our season opener has been a pretty good choice over the years – good facility, good level of competition, and good weather. This year was no different! This was one of the deepest meets they have hosted, and the weather was nearly perfect. Most years we have 2 weeks after spring break before this meet, but this year there was only one, and that made for a bit different of a challenge for us as compared to other years. The team really did well in handling that, which is a great way to start the season.
 
Speaking of nearly perfect, two of our events featured a 'perfect' day where all of our competitors set new PRs: first in the the 5k, with new PRs from Jewel Jones, Phoebe Peer, Bri Ostheller, and Rowan Leddy in the women's races, and Robby Davidson in the men's races; secondly in the javelin throw with a new PR from Ryan Joule and a new school record from Tommy Martin! I'm especially impressed with the efforts from Bri and Rowan who had to be very patient early to not get drawn out too fast, but then had to commit to work by themselves through a large chunk of the race.
 
Speaking of school records, Josh Jeffes set a new record in the men's 400, while Cheyenne McPeek had quite a weekend with a new school record in the hammer throw, and a new PR in the discus that also enters her into our top-five all-time list.
 
Speaking of the top-5 all-time list, the men's 4x400 relay of Evan Jensen, Zion Cheatham, Harrison Gavalas, and Josh Jeffes opened up with a time that ranks in the Cortland all-time top five.
 
Firstyears LeBron Richardson and Lassad Richards had really strong efforts in the 100 and 200 – we're quite pleased with the performances, but also know that more is there. In the 1500, Julia Benton and Mia Hannan both ran strong races to open up with new personal bests; Roland Zanger and Christian Hunter both had very strong openers in their 110 high hurdles – an event that is notoriously hard to get out well in as it is such a change from the indoor event. In the long hurdles, Brandon Root had a stellar opener for his senior campaign, while firstyear Declan Kennedy opened up his career with a strong effort and a solid time.
 
We open up at home this weekend with the Red Dragon Open – it will be great to have the chance to compete at home again!