GENEVA, OHIO – Cortland junior Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) finished as national runner-up in the shot put for the second time in three years, breaking his own school record in the process, and senior Evan Jensen (Red Hook) and graduate student Josh Jeffes (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) qualified for the finals in the 400-meter dash, during the second day of competition at the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The three-day event concludes Saturday at the SPIRE Institute.
 
Brunache recorded a distance of 18.21 meters (59' 9") on his last attempt of the prelims, and third attempt overall. He broke his previous school and SUNYAC record of 17.81 meters (58' 5.25"), which he set in a meet at St. John Fisher on May 11 and had him tied for fifth in the seeding at nationals.
 
Brunache was 17th out of 22 after two rounds after distances of 15.97 and 15.96 meters before busting out for his school record in the third round to skyrocket into second place. Brunache officially fouled on all three of his attempts in the nine-person finals, but no one was able to pass him. Adam Strouf of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the national title with a heave of 18.50 meters (60' 8.5"), which he accomplished on his first attempt.
 
With his effort, Brunache earned eight team points for the Red Dragons and is a first-team All-American by virtue of a top-eight finish. Now a four-time All-American, Brunache was the shot put outdoor national runner-up in 2023 with a distance of 17.02 meters (55' 10.25") and he's been an indoor All-American twice, finishing seventh in the weight throw and eighth in the shot put this past March. He finished 20th in the shot put at last year's outdoor meet.
 
In the 400 meters, Jensen and Jeffes are among the nine runners in the 22-competitor field moving to Saturday's finals. The prelims were conducted in three heats, with each heat winner and the next six fastest times advancing. Jensen, seeded 12th, finished fourth in the second heat in 47.55 seconds and Jeffes, seeded eighth, was second in the third heat in 47.88 seconds. Jensen finished with the third-best time among non-heat winners and Jeffes grabbed the last qualifying spot as the sixth-fastest time among non-winners, despite placing higher in his heat than Jensen did in his.
 
Jensen moves into his first individual national final; he finished 19th in the 400 meters during the indoor nationals this year. Jeffes qualified for the outdoor 400-meter finals for the second time in his career; he finished fifth nationally in the event last year when running for SUNY Delhi. Jeffes was an All-American in the indoor 400 meters for Cortland this past March with a sixth-place finish.
 
Cortland concludes action on Saturday with graduate student Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) competing in the triple jump at 11 a.m., sophomore Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) competing in the hammer throw at 1:45 p.m., and Jensen and Jeffes in the 400-meter dash finals at 2:10 p.m. Hughes was the indoor national champion in the triple jump this past March. Also, on the women's side, Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City) will compete in the hammer throw at 11 a.m.

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

What a throw from Isaiah! He showed great emotional control to launch that third attempt out way past the 18-meter mark! The pressure on him as the final thrower of the preliminaries, sitting in 17th, was tremendous, and he absolutely crushed it!

It's almost funny that his throw from just two years ago that put him into the national runner-up spot then would not have even made finals today. Astute fans will note that he shattered his own school and conference record today; in the finals he did what you should do: chase the big one, so the fouls weren't a bad thing by any measure.

For the guys in the 400, the wind was swirling and different for each heat. It was brutal, and played havoc on the entire field as it was drastically different for all three heats. Evan was up first, and he went for it! It was easily the fastest first 200 he ever ran, and it wasn't a bad decision, as it is what he needed to do to be in the race, and he held on to make it back.

Josh was the opposite: he was out slow, and thankfully had the strength and toughness to drive down the final straight to secure the spot to advance. We are proud of those two for getting it done! It's been nerve-wracking day especially after last night, so to survive and advance is phenomenal!