PITTSFORD, N.Y. and SHIPPENSBURG, PA. – In the final meets prior to the SUNYAC Championships, the Cortland women's outdoor track and field team sent competitors to both the St. John Fisher Cardinal Classic and the Shippensburg University Paul Kaiser Classic on Saturday.
 
St. John Fisher Highlights:
 
Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City) registered an All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifying mark with her second-place hammer throw of 49.15 meters (161' 3"). Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School) finished sixth in the 33-competitor field at 43.85 meters (143' 10"). McPeek also placed second of 22 in the shot put (11.26 meters/36' 11.5") and fifth of 25 in the discus (33.06 meters/108' 5"). Ndukwu was fifth in the shot put (10.98 meters/36' 0.25"), while Kayla Tretola (Levittown/Island Trees) finished seventh in both the shot put (10.45 meters/34' 3.5") and the discus (31.30 meters/102' 8").
 
Leah Schleicher (East Meadow) won the triple jump after covering 10.47 meters (34' 4.25"), and she was eighth of 24 in the long jump at 4.75 meters (15' 7"). Caitlin Maher (Hartsdale/Ardsley) was third in the triple jump (10.14 meters/33' 3.25") and 11th in the long jump (4.50 meters/14' 9.25"), and Hannah Nolan (Montour Falls/Odessa-Montour) placed 12th in the long jump (4.48 meters/14' 8.5").
 
Reilly Quinn (Morrisonville/Beekmantown) finished third in the high jump at 1.55 meters (5' 1"). In the javelin throw, Kellee Knuschke (Red Hook) finished third of 17 at 26.15 meters (85' 9") and Nolan was seventh at 21.67 meters (71' 1"). Gianna Motto (East Islip) earned a 12th-place finish out of 40 competitors in the 200-meter dash (27.34) and a 17th-place finish out of 38 sprinters in the 100-meter dash (13.40).
 
Shippensburg Highlights:
 
Four Red Dragons posted AARTFC qualifying marks at Shippensburg. Three of those came in the 1,500 meters, where Melissa Innocent (Elmont/Valley Stream North) finished first out of 60 runners in 4:46.09, Phoebe Peer (Saranac Lake) placed fourth in 4:49.23 and Alexa Wolcott (Wyoming/Pavilion) was fifth in 4:49.87. The other AARTFC mark was notched by Georgia Spuches Jwaskiewicz (Syracuse/Liverpool), who finished second out of 17 in the high jump at 1.60 meters (5' 3").
 
Kelly Newman (Harrison) finished second of 59 in the 800 meters in 2:20.26, and in the long jump Annabelle Schuck (Saratoga Springs) was second of 41 at 5.11 meters (16' 9.25") and Lillian Swyers (Peru) finished fourth at 5.08 meters (16' 8").
 
Brianna Gabbidon (Islip) finished third of 41 in the 200-meter dash (25.96) and third of 25 in the 400-meter dash (1:00.97). Sophia Hotaling (Cooperstown) was eighth in the 200 meters (26.84) and sixth in the 400 meters (1:01.57), Abby Hardy (Johnson City) was eighth in the 400 meters (1:02.60), and Schuck was 19th in the 200 meters (27.69).
 
Gabriella Raymond (Sayville) placed third of 25 in the triple jump at 10.27 meters (33' 8.5"). Eilise Marino (West Sayville/Sayville) and Gianna Boland (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) each covered 10.04 meters (32' 11.25") in the event, with Marino officially finishing fourth and Boland fifth.
 
Kendall Sobczyk (Wheatfield/Niagara Wheatfield) was fifth of 49 in the 100-meter dash in 12.74 seconds (12.72 prelims). Dahiana Martinez (Bronx/Bronx School of Law, Govt. & Justice) was 20th in the 100 meters (13.43) and sixth of 17 in the 400-meter hurdles (1:09.51).
 
Katie Ball (Smithtown/Smithtown East) finished eighth in the high jump (1.40 meters/4' 7"), Marino was 13th of 26 in the 100-meter hurdles (16.26), and Anne Barney (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) was 19th in the 1,500 meters (5:15.19). The combination of Marino, Gabbidon, Hotaling and Sobczyk finished sixth in the 4x100-meter relay (50.32).

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

After weeks of pretty favorable weather on meet days, we ran into a doozy this weekend both in Shippensburg and in Rochester. That can make things tough! The real challenge – and the real learning opportunity – is to stay focused and committed despite less than ideal circumstances. For a lot of the team this was a good learning experience about why that is important, but we certainly had some folks that excelled at that through the weekend!
 
At Shippensburg, Evan Curz led off with a good day in the high hurdles, Kendall Sobczyk followed closely behind with her efforts across the 100 and 4x100 relay. Brady Melious and LeBron Richardson both put in strong days across multiple events; the 400 went fairly well with Abby Hardy, Noah Stack, and Christian Kahrs all posting season bests! Middle distance efforts were generally positive for the group (the conditions were pretty good), with kudos to Kelly Newman and Alexa Wolcott for setting new bests in the 800 and 1500 respectively, and Carter Naginey, Daniel Dunn, and Anthony Rizzo doing the same (all in the men's 1500). CK Khamani had an impressive finish to post a new best in the 400 hurdles! Georgia Spuches Jwaskiewicz had a fantastic day in women's high jump, with Lillian Swyers and Annabelle Schuck put together strong efforts in women's long jump.
 
At St. John Fisher, the rain was harder and the temperature about 10 degrees colder, which created a bit more of an issue (excepting the pole vault, which was allowed inside – something Skylar McFarling took advantage of with a new best)! Amelia Konstanty was a star on the day with a strong performance in the 400 hurdles. John Genova had a strong effort in javelin, as did Kellee Knuschke; in the rest of the throws the notable efforts were from Cheyenne McPeek in discus and hammer, Kayla Tretola in discus, and Isaiah Brunache in discus. Leah Schleicher jumped her season best in the triple jump – which was quite an achievement; Hayden Erick had a strong day in the same event.
 
SUNYACs is this upcoming weekend! We're proud to host, and excited for the opportunity to show the program off at home!