CHESTER, PA. – Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) won the shot put to highlight Cortland's performances at the Widener University Danny Curran Invitational men's outdoor track and field meet Friday and Saturday.
 
Brunache placed first in a field of 76 athletes in the shot put with a distance of 16.74 meters (54' 11.25"), which currently ranks eighth nationally in Division III. In the hammer throw, Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) finished seventh at 54.39 meters (178' 5") and Brunache placed eighth at 53.74 meters (176' 4") - Collette presently ranks 12th nationally in the event and Brunache 16th.
 
In addition to Brunache's win in the shot put, Elliott Supley (Peru) placed fifth at 15.40 meters (50' 6.25"), Cabe Hogue (Corning/Corning Painted Post) was 11th (13.96 meters/45' 9.75"), Collette finished 14th (13.81 meters/45' 3.75") and Lucas Chamberlain (Copake/Taconic Hills) was 17th (13.69 meters/44' 11"). Hogue finished 10th in the hammer throw (49.87 meters/163' 7") and Sean Keane (Riverhead) was 14th (47.43 meters/155' 7"). Supley led Cortland's performers in the discus with a fourth-place toss of 43.54 meters (142' 10"). Hogue finished fifth (43.30 meters/142' 1"), Chamberlain was 14th (38.67 meters/126' 10") and Keane placed 17th (38.51 meters/126' 4").
 
Jonathan Slick (Beekmantown) turned in a third-place finish out of 22 runners in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, covering the distance in 9:45.10. Anthony Rizzo (Rochester/Irondequoit) was eighth (10:14.17) and Daniel Patrick (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) finished 12th (10:48.17).
 
The 4x100-meter relay team of Joshua Bishop (Highland), LeBron Richardson (Pelham/Pelham Memorial), Zion Cheatham (Lockport) and Deontae Bennett (Riverdale, GA/Greenwich (NY)) finished third in a field of nine schools in 42.44 seconds. Bennett also placed fourth out of 55 competitors in the long jump (6.66 meters/21' 10.25"), followed by Brady Melious (Tribes Hill/Fonda-Fultonville) in eighth (6.43 meters/21' 1.25"), Manuel Sepulveda (East Rochester) in 11th (6.34 meters/20' 9.75") and Richardson in 14th (6.20 meters/20' 4.25").
 
Carter Naginey (Groton) finished in fifth place out of 154 runners in the 800 meters in 1:56.42, and Cheatham was ninth of 131 in the 400-meter dash in 49.43 seconds. Daniel Kahler (Centereach) was 18th (50.15) and Ny'Jeme Radcliff (Utica/Thomas R. Proctor) placed 22nd (50.37) in the 400 meters. Naginey also finished 14th of 144 in the 1,500 meters (4:04.16).
 
Daaron Harrell (Albany) registered an 11th-place finish out of 171 competitors in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.15 seconds. Marcello Mastrocco (West Islip) placed 14th out of 151 sprinters in the 100-meter dash and Richardson finished 15th, both officially in 11.04 seconds. Wyatt Fifield (Salem), John Anderson (Ithaca) and Vegas Petersen (Bardonia/Clarkstown South) each cleared 3.95 meters (12' 11.5") in the pole vault. Fifield officially finished eighth, Anderson was 10th and Petersen 11th.
 
Travis Iwuagwu (Suffern) finished 11th (15.75) and Evan Cruz (Pearl River) was 12th (15.81) in the 110-meter hurdles. Andrew Farnsworth (Rotterdam/Mohonasen) finished 15th in the high jump (1.86 meters/6' 1.25"), and Taoig Cypher (Irvington) was 16th in the high jump (1.81 meters/5' 11.25") and 15th in the triple jump (12.75 meters/41' 10").
 
Cortland's All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifiers at the meet were: Brunache (shot put and hammer throw), Supley (shot put), Slick (steeplechase), Collette (hammer throw), and the 4x100-meter relay team (Bishop, Richardson, Cheatham, Bennett).

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

We didn't get the exceptional weather we normally get at this meet, but we were fortunate to be dry and about 15 degrees warmer than the options for meets in Upstate NY. We can't control the weather, but we can control our actions, and efforts, and our attitude, and for the most part we were quite successful with working on this over the past two days. Being mindful of this on the less-than-ideal days is what allows us to be really able to compete at a high level when it counts!
 
With that being said, we had some performances that really deserve to be highlighted! Starting in the field, Cabe Hogue had a weekend – with good throws and better focus across all three of his events; 2 were lifetime bests and one nearly his best! Leah Schleicher had a big breakthrough in triple jump to move well past the 10-meter mark! On the track, Jon Slick and Anthony Rizzo opened up with excellent efforts in the steeplechase (and the water was cold when they ran!); Eilise Marino, Travis Iwuagwu, and Evan Cruz had very strong openers in the high hurdles, and CK Khamani and Drew Miller made great debuts in the 400 hurdles. Any hurdling event – which steeplechase is a part of – is pretty tough at the first outdoor meet when we've had very limited practice opportunities, so these folks are to be commended.
 
We had so many strong performances on the track from both the sprint squad and the distance squads. In the 5k, Declan Butler, Landon Fracasse, Phoebe Peer, Bri Ostheller, and Jade Hornick really ran quite exceptionally. All showed patience early, and pretty remarkable work in the later half of the race to set big PRs. Carter Naginey had quite the double in the 800 and 1500, as did Kelly Newman in the same events! Kendall Sobczyk and Bri Gabbidon led the way for the women's sprints with a near-PR in the 100 for Kendall, and an excellent 400 for Bri; Daaron Harrell had a very good 400 and a lifetime best 200, while fellow firstyear Daniel Kahler had a lifetime best in both races!
 
Up next is the Red Dragon Open (which we are workshopping a new name for: The Friday Fun Frolic) on Friday, April 3rd; a select few folks will make the trip down to compete at Princeton at the Sam Howell Invitational on Saturday, April 4th.