LEWISBURG, PA. and UTICA, N.Y. – Hannah McMasters (Homer) tied the school record in the hammer throw during Cortland's competition Sunday at the Utica Pioneer Spring Invitational women's outdoor track and field meet. Cortland also sent competitors to the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Utica Highlights:
 
McMasters won the hammer throw with a distance of 50.48 meters (165' 7") that ties the school record set earlier this season by Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City). The mark is a Utica facility record and ranks 23rd nationally in Division III. McMasters also won the shot put (11.95 meters/39' 2.5") and placed sixth in the discus (31.42 meters/103' 1").
 
McPeek finished second in the discus (36.64 meters/120' 2"), third in the hammer (44.64 meters/146' 5") and fourth in the shot put (10.90 meters/35' 9.25"). Kayla Tretola (Levittown/Island Trees) was third in the discus (35.25 meters/115' 7"), third in the shot put (11.03 meters/36' 2.25") and eighth in the hammer (39.15 meters/128' 5"). Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School) finished fourth in the discus (34.36 meters/112' 9"), Jess Neubert (Buffalo/Kenmore East) was seventh in the hammer (39.28 meters/128' 10") and Molly McMasters (Homer) finished eighth in the discus (30.49 meters/100' 0").
 
AnJalyna Talmadge (Pine Bush) was the winner in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.08 seconds and Gabby Collins (East Northport/Elwood-John Glenn) was sixth in 17.71 seconds. Cortland took four of the top spots in the 400-meter dash - Abby Hardy (Johnson City) won in 1:02.75, Izzie Bosko (Hillsdale/Taconic Hills) was third in 1:03.30, Faith Nelson (Rensselaer/Columbia) finished fourth in 1:03.97 and Emily Pierro (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) was fifth in 1:05.15. In the
 
Claiming the top three spots in the 10,000 meters were Julia Benton (Addison) in 41:09.68, Jade Hornick (Valley Stream/Valley Stream South) in 41:20.91 and Phoebe Peer (Saranac Lake) in 41:24.87. Reilly Quinn (Morrisonville/Beekmantown) tied for second in the high jump (1.48 meters/4' 10.25") and Ryan Stark (Schuylerville) placed third in the pole vault (3.35 meters/10' 11.75").
 
Gianna Motto (East Islip) finished fourth in the 200-meter dash (26.97), followed by Nelson in fifth (27.16) and Bosko in sixth (27.30). Yasmine Peralta (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) was fourth in the 100-meter dash (13.12), followed by Motto in fifth (13.17).
 
Talmadge finished sixth in the long jump (5.08 meters/16' 8") and Grace Reed (South Windsor, CT) was eighth (4.92 meters/16' 1.75"). In the triple jump, Caitlin Maher (Hartsdale/Ardsley) finished sixth (9.89 meters/32' 5.5") and Lexi Clark (Chazy/Chazy Central Rural School) placed eighth (9.70 meters/31' 10").
 
Cortland's All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifiers at the meet were McMasters (hammer) and Stark (pole vault).
 
Bucknell Highlights:
 
Seven Red Dragons earned AARTFC qualifying marks at Bucknell, led by Autumn Pittman (Spring Valley/Ramapo) who finished 12th of 102 in the 200-meter dash (24.84) and 12th of 92 in the 100-meter dash (12.14).
 
Lillian Swyers (Peru) finished 43rd in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.59 seconds. Cortland's other four AARTFC marks came in the 3,000-meter steeplechase - Alexa Wolcott (Wyoming/Pavilion) finished 34th (11:26.73), Jewel Jones (Long Beach) was 43rd (11:38.03), Deirdre Sullivan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) was 45th (11:41.61) and Melissa Innocent (Elmont/Valley Stream North) finished 48th (11:46.85).

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

We're really fortunate to have the support to be able to split up the team on weekends like this. If we were limited to only one of these meets, it would definitely limit our development as a program.

Bucknell had a number of really strong performances! From Saturday, I'm quite pleased with the steps all three of our long jumpers (Lillian Swyers, Amarian Hughes, and Roland Zanger) took even though we didn't quite have the distances we wanted. Jordan Wingert ran an excellent 800, while Jewel Jones and Deirdre Sullivan ran their first steeplechase of the season in a very strong fashion. Our two guys in the 5k did great; Brandon Mulholland in particular excelled; he took over the lead at 3k and kept the pace honest for the field. While he couldn't quite break away, that was a strong move to make and he still finished with his fastest 1k of the race!

On Sunday at Bucknell, the performances of note that strongly stood out would be Amarian Hughes in the triple jump, Swyers in the high hurdles, Matthew Schaffert and LeBron Richardson in the 100 - where Matt now enters the all-time top 5 for Cortland, and Autumn Pittman in the 200. Both of the men's relays put together good efforts, but unfortunately the conditions weren't very ideal for either to perform at a very high level.

One of the biggest values of the Bucknell meet is for folks to have the experience of competing in a high-caliber, stressful environment. While we didn't always overcome that challenge, we did more often then not and it is a very good learning experience for all.

With Utica, I'd like to commend the student -athletes we had goi v there just for their flexibility at being able to adjust late in the week. Last-minute changes (even when it was much better weather today) to the schedule can be a huge stressor.

From a perusal of the results, obviously the throws squad put up some big performances, led by Isaiah Brunache and Hannah McMasters! Ramel Radcliff had a strong discus, and we saw some great progress from Kayla Tretola, Jess Neubert, and Hannah McMasters, particularly in the hammer throw.

We saw some solid results in the jumps, especially from AnJalyna Talmadge and Grace Reed in the long jump, Brady Melious in the triple jump, and Gavin Franco on both long and triple!

Abby Hardy ran a tremendous 400 today, which was great to see after a year that has been plagued with injury; Yasmine Peralta had a very strong day in the 200, as did Lassad Richards.

But in many ways the first track event of the day may have been the most successful, as our women's distance squad went out and rolled to some nice performances in the 10k. Our goal was to use the day as a workout for some, with the hope that we could pull some other team members to a performance that would qualify them for the SUNYAC Championships. I was very impressed by how well this group (Anne Barney, Julia Benton, Jade Hornick, Rowan Leddy, Bri Ostheller, and Phoebe Peer) worked together and committed to the race to go far beyond that goal!

We're excited to return home for the Cortland Classic this upcoming Friday and Saturday!