BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Cortland senior Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) and junior Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) both earned first-team All-America honors in the weight throw with fifth and seventh-place finishes, respectively, during the opening day of the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships. The two-day event is being held at the Birmingham Crossplex.
 
Brunache finished in fifth place out of 20 competitors with a throw of 18.82 meters (61' 9"). He was actually tied with Bryce Hale of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for the fifth-best throw, but he officially finished fifth based on having the better second-longest throw (18.78 meters compared to 18.72 meters).
 
Brunache posted the 18.82-meter effort on his first attempt of the day. He moved into the nine-athlete finals in sixth place but shifted into fifth with his tiebreaking 18.78-meter toss on his first of three finals attempts.
 
Brunache earned his fifth All-America honor - three indoors and two outdoors. He finished seventh in the weight throw and eighth in the shot put at last year's indoor nationals, and he was the outdoor national runner-up in the shot put in both 2023 and 2025.
 
Collette entered nationals as the 18th seed out of 20 competitors before surging to his seventh-place finish. Competing in the first of two flights, he registered a throw of 18.57 meters on his second attempt, and he improved to 18.69 meters (61' 4") on his third toss. After the second flight finished, Collette was in seventh place overall to earn one of the nine finals spots and three more attempts. He did not improve his distance in the finals, but he was still able to hold on to the seventh-place slot.
 
Collette is an All-American for the first time. He competed in the hammer throw at last year's outdoor nationals but did not place.
 
The top eight finishers earn first-team All-America honors, while spots 9-16 are second-team All-Americans.
 
Gavin Fritsch of Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the national title with a distance of 20.78 meters (68' 2.25"), which he achieved on his first attempt.
 
On Saturday, Brunache will compete in the shot put and junior Manuel Sepulveda (East Rochester) will compete in the triple jump, both at 11 a.m. Central (noon Eastern).

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

Two First Team All-Americans in the same event is something to behold! That's a pretty rare occurrence, and one we're quite proud of. Normally in the field events we like to have a rule that if you throw (or jump) the distance that got you into the meet, you will be on the podium. Today, that wasn't the case – most of the field was performing under their seed. NCAA Championships can be like that – some years people are launching PRs left and right, and some years it is a bit tighter. A huge amount of credit to Isaiah for staying mentally focused in the competition and battling to move up to 5th in the finals (and to earn his 5th career All-American honor), and for Evan for the massive jump on his seed (from 18th to finishing 7th) with the second-best throw of his career!

Melissa had a great effort in the mile today – the field was going to be fast (it took 4:51 to make the finals); she made the right moves to put herself into contention with 400 to go. Her heat was so tight that all 10 competitors were with a second at the 1200 mark from a fairly fast pace, which is pretty unusual! She clearly fought through to the finish, but sometimes you can do the right things and still come up a little short. That's frustrating for her, but not for the coaches – we're quite proud with what she did over the season to get here as well as how she handled herself today through all the aspects of the meet.

Tomorrow we get the return of Isaiah in the shot put, along with Manuel Sepulveda on the runway for Triple Jump.