ITHACA, N.Y. and BOSTON, MASS. – The Cortland women's indoor track and field team posted two wins and 13 total All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifying performances at a pair of road meets. Almost the entire team competed at the two-day Ithaca College Invitational Saturday and Sunday, and three athletes ran in the 3,000 meters Friday at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic.
 
At Ithaca, Reilly Quinn (Morrisonville/Beekmantown) finished first out of 36 competitors in the long jump at 5.50 meters (18' 0.5") and was third of 21 in the high jump at 1.62 meters (5' 3.75"). Georgia Spuches Jwaskiewicz (Syracuse/Liverpool) also cleared 1.62 meters (5' 3.75") in the high jump and officially finished a spot ahead of Quinn in second place due to the number of misses at the final successful height.
 
Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School) was first of 47 competitors in the weight throw with a toss of 16.08 meters (52' 9.25"). Hannah McMasters (Homer) finished fourth (15.05 meters/49' 4.5") and Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City) placed eighth (14.59 meters/47' 10.5"). In the shot put, McMasters was sixth of 47 at 12.20 meters (40' 0.5"), followed by McPeek in eighth (11.52 meters/37' 9.5"), Ndukwu in 10th (11.13 meters/36' 6.25") and Kayla Tretola (Levittown/Island Trees) in 11th (11.02 metes/36' 2").
 
Kendall Sobczyk (Wheatfield/Niagara Wheatfield) finished second of 45 in the 60-meter dash in 7.88 seconds (7.86 prelims) and was seventh of 59 in the 200-meter dash (27.20). Lillian Swyers (Peru) was third of 30 in the triple jump (10.77 meters/35' 4") and fourth of 35 in the 60-meter hurdles (9.45). Eilise Marino (West Sayville/Sayville) placed ninth in the triple jump (10.39 meters/34' 1.25") and fifth in the 60-meter hurdles (9.59).
 
Three Red Dragons earned top-eight finishes in the 5,000 meters. Alexa Wolcott (Wyoming/Pavilion) was third in 18:21.51, Bri Ostheller (Penfield) finished fifth in 18:49.43 and Jade Hornick (Valley Stream/Valley Stream South) was eighth in 19:41.65. In the 400-meter dash, Brianna Gabbidon (Islip) finished fifth of 47 in 1:01.58. Abby Hardy (Johnson City) was seventh in the event in 1:02.44 and Sophia Hotaling (Cooperstown) was eighth in 1:02.67. The quartet of Gabbidon, Hotaling, Dahiana Martinez (Bronx/Bronx School of Law, Govt. & Justice) and Hardy finished sixth in the 4x400-meter relay (4:11.36).
 
Katie Ball (Smithtown/Smithtown East) turned in a seventh-place finish in a field of 20 in the pentathlon with a score of 2,654 points. Faith Hoyt (Pittsford/Pittsford Mendon) was seventh of 19 in the pole vault (3.17 meters/10' 4.75"), Cassidy Wendt (Seaford) finished 10th of 64 in the mile (5:28.59), and Annabelle Schuck (Saratoga Springs) was 11th in the long jump (5.01 meters/16' 5.25").
 
At Boston University, Melissa Innocent (Elmont/Valley Stream North) placed first in her heat at 78th overall out of 148 runners in the 3,000 meters in 10:01.56. Jewel Jones (Long Beach) finished 109th in 10:24.99 and Phoebe Peer (Saranac Lake) was 128th in 10:33.99.
 
Cortland's All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifiers included Quinn (long jump and high jump), Spuches Jwaskiewicz (high jump), McMasters (shot put), Ndukwu (weight throw), Sobczyk (60-meter dash), Wolcott (5,000 meters), Ostheller (5,000 meters), Swyers (60-meter hurdles), Ball (pentahlon) and the three 3,000-meter run competitors at Boston University (Innocent, Jones and Peer).

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

We had a pretty exciting three days of track and field!
 
The three ladies that ran at Boston University on Friday evening (Melissa Innocent, Jewel Jones, and Phoebe Peer) were exceptional! All three ran pretty significant PRs, but more important, all three handles the stress and pressure of the trip and the big-time meet atmosphere with aplomb. It really set the tone for the weekend!
 
The women's distance squad was pretty impressive in their efforts at Ithaca on Saturday. In particular Alexa Wolcott ran a great 5k in terms of tactics and toughness to just barely miss her PR, Cassidy Wendt had stellar efforts in the mile and 800, and Bri Ostheller had a pretty tremendous PR in the 500.
 
Continuing with the distance squad, milers Vinny Smaldone, Hunter Rautenstrauch, and Kyle Friedel all had really strong efforts to execute the race plan – being smart early and tough when it counted – to run PRs; Brandon Mulholland and Declan Butler followed suit later in the day during the 3000-meter race. Across the board we had a number of strong distance performances (and performers) for both the women and men, but those folks stood out the most.
 
For the jumps, Reilly Quinn was clearly a star on the day, as she had a massive PR in the long jump (7 inches), and her best high jump of the season. More impressive, both events were happening at the same time on opposite ends of the facility. Firstyear Georgia Spuches Jwaskiewicz also had a strong day, moving up her collegiate best in the high jump. Faith Hoyt cleared her season's best in the pole vault, while the men's squad of vaulters showed some improvement with Andrew Klammer and Vegas Petersen improving their marks to a 4-way tie for 5th in the conference with teammates John Anderson and Wyatt Fifield.
 
We got to see a lot of progress in the throws group! For the ladies, four set season's bests in the shot put (Hannah McMasters, Cheyenne McPeek, Giuliana Rosario, and Grace Boland) while four had season's best in the weight throw (Jennifer Ndukwu, Cheyenne McPeek, Jess Neubert, and Giuliana Rosario) – for those reading closely, you might see that Cheyenne and Giuliana had their best day of the season in both events!
 
For the men, Elliott Supley broke the 16 meter barrier in the weight throw for the first time, while Evan Collette broke the 15 meter barrier for the first time in the shot put (as opposed to earlier in the week, when he simply broke one of our weight during practice).
 
The sprints and hurdles on the track had a number of positive performances! Objectively, the men's 4x200 relay entering the all-time top 5 list along with LeBron Richardson entering the all-time top 5 list for the 60 meters are both quite an achievement. Also in the short sprint, Kendall Sobczyk had a wonderful 60m to dip back under 7.90 seconds in both the trials and finals. Evan Cruz had a great day, running PRs in both the 60 high hurdles and in the 200! We saw a lot of great depth in the men's 200 and the women's 400, where Brianna Gabbidon and Sophia Hotaling in particular both had big breakthroughs.  Finally, the 4x400s that closed out the day were good efforts across the board; an all firstyear relay on the men's side of Daaron Harrell, Daniel Kahler, Noah Stack, and Ny'Jeme Radcliff dropped a strong time – narrowly missing the regional time – and the women's top relay (where Dahiana Martinez and Abby Hardy joined Gabbidon and Hotaling) to run an impressive time!
 
Finally, we closed out the weekend with day 2 of the heptathlon for the men and with the pentathlon for the women. Katie Ball led the women's squad with a strong overall effort; Ava Schiff had a nice improvement on season's best for the multi. John Anderson had a strong PR overall, while firstyears Nick Malette and Brett Condos stayed strong through their first foray into the event.
 
We will have a hectic weekend ahead, with competition at the Ocean Breeze complex in New York City and at the dome at Utica College.