CORTLAND, N.Y - The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team won its 15th State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) championship and first since 2017 at the 12-team conference championship meet Friday and Saturday. Cortland hosted the event.
 
Cortland finished with 246.5 points, easily ahead of second-place Penn State Behrend (138). Oneonta finished third (113), Plattsburgh fourth (71) and Delhi fifth (69.5). The field included eight SUNYAC core member schools along with four associate members, Penn St. Behrend, Delhi, Alfred State and Cobleskill.
 
Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) earned Most Valuable Performer honors at the meet for the second straight year. The award is giving to the athlete who scores the most team points. Brunache earned 23 team points by virtue of his win in the shot put (meet-record 17.47 meters/57' 3.75"), runner-up finish in the discus (48.46 meters) and fourth-place effort in the hammer throw (52.65 meters/172' 9").
 
Josh Jeffes (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) won two events, highlighted by a victory in the 400-meter dash in 47.13 seconds to break the meet record and his own school record. His other title came in the 200-meter dash in 21.64 seconds. His 400-meter performance currently ranks sixth nationally in Division III.
 
In all, Cortland earned nine conference titles. John Anderson (Ithaca) won the decathlon (5,299 points), Jordan Wingert (Verona/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) was the 800-meter champ (1:55.12), Matthew Mullen (Medford/William Floyd) won the 1,500 meters (4:00.32) and Declan Kennedy (Lakewood/Southwestern) captured the title in the 400-meter hurdles (55.98, 55.00 prelims). Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) won the triple jump (14.35 meters/47' 1") and Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) was victorious in the hammer throw.
 
Cortland's runner-up finishes, in addition to Brunache in the discus, came from Matthew Schaffert (Lockport) in the 100-meter dash (10.96, 10.60 prelims), Evan Jensen (Red Hook) in the 400-meter dash (47.31), Brandon Mulholland (Syracuse/Westhill) in the 5,000 meters (15:35.41) and the 4x100-meter relay team of Daniel Cruz (Bronx/Saint Raymond for Boys), Aidan Garafola (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point), Lassad Richards (Wheatley Heights/Half Hollow Hills West) and Mitch Diamond (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills West) (42.60).
 
Roland Zanger (Port Jervis) placed third in both the 110-meter hurdles (15.28, 15.08 prelims) and the high jump (1.90 meters/6' 2.75") and Nick Kaires (St. James/Smithtown East) was third in both the discus (47.04 meters/154' 4") and the hammer throw (53.90 meters/176' 10"). Diamond placed third in the triple jump (14.07 meters/46' 2"), Ryan Joule finished third in the javelin (50.07 meters/164' 3"), and the 4x400-meter relay unit of Richards, Aidan Aguirre (Hicksville), Kennedy and Garafola placed third in 3:21.99.
 
The top three finishers in each event earn All-SUNYAC honors – winners are first team, runners-up are second team and third-place finishers are third team, with their official all-league designation from the conference based on their best placement.

Numerous Cortland performances in addition to those above ranked in the top eight to score points at the meet. Those performances included:
 
4th place:
Zion Cheatham (Lockport), 200-meter dash, 22.10
Harrison Gavalas (Southampton), 400-meter dash, 48.50, 47.98 prelims
Carter Naginey (Groton), 800 meters, 1:56.80, 1:56.68 prelims
Andrew Farnsworth (Rotterdam/Mohonasen), High Jump, 1.90 meters (6' 2.75")
Matthew Breslin (Islip), Pole Vault, 3.80 meters (12' 5.5")
 
5th place:
Diamond, 100-meter dash, 11.23, 10.75 prelims
LeBron Richardson (Pelham/Pelham Memorial), 200-meter dash, 22.15
Cheatham, 400-meter dash, 49.00
Travis Iwuagwu (Suffern), 110-meter hurdles, 15.86, 15.44 prelims
Hughes, Long Jump, 6.77 meters (22' 2.5")
Sean Keane (Riverhead), Shot Put, 13.86 meters (45' 5.75")
Travis Firkins (Hilton), Hammer Throw, 51.93 meters (170' 4")
 
6th place:
Alvarez, 800 meters, 2:04.87, 1:57.94 prelims
Collette, Shot Put, 13.68 meters (44' 10.75")
(tie) Taoig Cypher (Irvington), High Jump, 1.85 meters (6' 0.75")
 
7th place:
Joffre Proano (Hampton Bays), Pole Vault, 3.65 meters (11' 11.75")
Lucas Chamberlain (Copake/Taconic Hills), Shot Put, 13.36 meters (43' 10")
 
8th place:
Schaffert, 200-meter dash, 22.33
Vegan Petersen (Bardonia/Clarkstown South), Pole Vault, 3.50 meters (11' 5.75")
Brady Melious (Tribes Hill/Fonda-Fultonville), Triple Jump, 13.08 meters (42' 11")
Cabe Hogue (Corning/Corning Painted Post), Discus, 41.24 meters (135' 4")
 
Cortland will potentially compete at "Last Chance" meets over the next week, and the Red Dragons will compete at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Outdoor Championships May 14-15 at Williams College in Massachusetts. Cortland's AARTFC qualifiers during the SUNYAC Championships were:
 
Anderson, Decathlon (if ranked in top 16; currently 24th)
Brunache, Shot Put, Discus and Hammer Throw
Cheatham, 400 meters
Collette, Hammer Throw
Diamond, Triple Jump and 100 meters (prelims)
Firkins, Hammer Throw
Gavalas, 400 meters
Hughes, Triple Jump
Iwuagwu, 110-meter hurdles (prelims)
Jeffes, 200 meters and 400 meters
Jensen, 400 meters
Kaires, Discus and Hammer Throw
Keane, Hammer Throw (9th place, 49.22 meters/161' 6")
Richardson, 100 meters (9th place, 10.86)
Schaffert, 100 meters (prelims)
Wingert, 800 meters
Zanger, 110-meter hurdles
 
4x100-meter relay
4x400-meter relay

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

It was a pretty strong finish to the season for the bulk of our program!
 
I need to start off by thanking our folks that make this happen behind the scenes: athletic training staff, facilities folks, event management, etc. Hosting any meet is a challenge; hosting the conference championships – especially with lightning delays, a suspension of competition due to weather, and just a generally unpleasant day on Saturday with continuous rain and cool conditions are not the most enjoyable and stress-free weekend. We had a number of folks in the program that were instrumental in making the meet run as smoothly as it could given the challenges; people who competed on Friday and then helped Saturday, as well as some folks who were out with injury. Their willingness to help is incredibly important to make things happen.
 
Of course our coaching staff is crucial to make this happen as well. It is a long couple of days out there even under the best of circumstances, and they definitely put the time and effort in over the weekend!
 
We're very pleased with the effort, focus, and competitiveness that the teams showed over the weekend. When looking over the meet results of course two new school records, 15 individual conference titles, and 25 additional all-conference awards are quite impressive! Especially considering some of the conditions that we dealt with. In looking at some specific performances, a few things that stand out besides those would be Mitch Diamond, who set PRs in the 100, triple jump, and ran a fantastic anchor leg of the 4x100 relay (earning all-conference in two of those events); Ryan Joule, who battled through injury and the suspension of his event to earn all-conference in the javelin in some of the best throws of his career! When we resumed competition on Saturday, Ryan 'won the day' with the farthest throws of any competitors, only being beaten on throws from the previous evening.
 
Abby Hardy ran a tremendous PR on Friday in the 400, and the followed it up with the second fastest time of her career on Saturday and a great lead-off leg of the 4x400 relay. Our women's 10k squad opened up our day on Saturday with tremendous efforts, led by Julia Benton breaking the 40-minute barrier in her runner-up effort.
 
Grace Reed – a relative newcomer to the sport – produced great efforts, scoring in both the long jump and the high jump, which were great additions to the overall team effort.
 
Besides the win by firstyear Jordan Wingert, teammates Carter Naginey, Mike Alvarez, and Zach Arria all set PRs; Mike and Zach both by over 2 seconds to close our their seasons!
 
And while it doesn't jump off the page when you look at the results, sophomore Sean Keane had three PRs over the weekend (hammer throw, shot put, and discus)! If that isn't an example of peaking when it counts, I don't know what is!
 
There are many more individual victories through the weekend! It's a good problem to have when there are too many to mention here. Of course we're happy to get the wins on both sides again, but the way in which we went about our business of the weekend was a real pleasure to be a part of. It's also a bit of a sad moment, as we say goodbye to folks who have finished their eligibility and those that are graduating early! We appreciate the time and effort they have put in to be with the program, and will miss having them with us!
 
We have the potential for a number of upcoming 'final qualifier' meets this upcoming weekend, along with the AARTFC Championships meet next week before the NCAA Championships at the end of the month.