ROCHESTER, N.Y. and ITHACA, N.Y. – A school record-breaking performance by Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School) in the weight throw highlighted Cortland's performances in weekend women's indoor track and field meets hosted by Nazareth University and Cornell University.
 
Nazareth Highlights:
 
At Friday's Nazareth Conference Tune-Up meet, Ndukwu finished first out of 17 competitors with her school-record distance of 17.03 meters (55' 10.5"). The effort currently ranks 18th nationally in Division III, and it breaks the previous school mark of 16.89 meters (55' 5") achieved by Harley Buczkowski in February 2019.
 
Hannah McMasters (Homer) finished third in the weight throw at 15.38 meters (50' 5.5") and Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City) was sixth at 14.58 meters (47' 10"). In the shot put, Kayla Tretola (Levittown/Island Trees) finished fourth of 17 at 12.17 meters (39' 11.25"). Ndukwu finished fifth (11.90 meters/39' 0.5") and McMasters was sixth (11.67 meters/38' 3.5").
 
Cortland's All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifiers were Ndukwu (weight throw), McMasters (weight throw) and Tretola (shot put).
 
Cornell Highlights:
 
At Cornell's Marc Deneault Invitational, Reilly Quinn (Morrisonville/Beekmantown) tied for second of 13 in the high jump with a height of 1.63 meters (5' 4.25"), and Georgia Spuches Jwaskiewicz (Syracuse/Liverpool) cleared 1.60 meters (5' 3") to finish fifth.
 
Kendall Sobczyk (Wheatfield/Niagara Wheatfield) finished sixth in a field of 37 sprinters in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.79 seconds. Lillian Swyers (Peru) finished 14th of 42 in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.34 seconds and fifth of 25 in the long jump at 5.29 meters (17' 4.25"). Quinn ended up seventh in the long jump (5.20 meters/17' 0.75").
 
Jewel Jones (Long Beach) was fifth of 24 in the 800 meters (2:21.70), while Kelly Newman (Harrison) finished eighth (2:22.78). Brianna Gabbidon (Islip) finished second in the 300 meters in 41.53 seconds and Sophia Hotaling (Cooperstown) was fifth in 43.45 seconds. The combo of Gabbidon, Dahiana Martinez (Bronx/Bronx School of Law, Govt. & Justice), Anna Miller (Cornwall-on-Hudson/Cornwall) and Hotaling finished second in the 4x400-meter relay (4:11.35). Martinez also was 10th of 34 in the 400 meters in 1:01.68.
 
Alexa Wolcott (Wyoming/Pavilion) placed 12th of 34 in the mile (5:19.63), and in the triple jump Gianna Boland (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) finished eighth (10.85 meters/35' 7.25") and Annabelle Schuck (Saratoga Springs) finished ninth (10.75 meters/35' 3.25") in a field of 20 athletes. Cortland had the lone two runners in the 5,000 meters, with Lizzie Young (Arkport) winning in 21:23.90.
 
Cortland's AARTFC qualifiers at the meet were: Swyers (60-meter hurdles), Sobczyk (60-meter dash), Jones (800 meters), Newman (800 meters), Quinn (high jump), and Spuches Jwaskiewicz (high jump).

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

Obviously the two new school records in the weight throw from Friday night are quite exciting! Evan Collette having a huge shot put PR Friday night to climb up in the top 5 list is pretty great as well and brings a lot of excitement to the throws squad!

Any entrant into the top 5 list here is quite an achievement so to see Bri Gabbidon move to tie for second in the 300 (barely missing the record by .01) is quite an achievement; having both Kyler Alston and Zion Cheatham claim #2 and #3 on the men's 300 list is quite an achievement as well. For the sprints group I'd also like to highlight strong races from Sophia Hotaling (300), Aidan Garafola and Ny'Jeme Radcliff (both in the 300), Dahiana Martinez (400) and Daniel Kahler (also in the 400).

Evan Cruz ran a huge PR in the 60 high hurdles, as did Gianna Boland; both climbed up the conference charts.

In the 800, Jordan Wingert and Jacob Sandak had great efforts to improve in their seeds for the conference meet, while Jewel Jones ran a great race helping to pull Kelly Newman to a great time; Mia Hannan dropped a new best time in the event as well.

Many years this meet is especially rough as folks strain to hit a conference mark. We had so many great performances this weekend that demonstrate a great level of focus by the team, which we're especially proud of!

We will know our officially accepted entries to the SUNYAC championships by Tuesday night; we are looking forward to our squad performing at the championships next weekend!