CORTLAND, N.Y. and PRINCETON, N.J. – Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School) broke the school record in the hammer throw and posted one of Cortland's four national top-20 performances at the Cortland Red Dragon Open women's outdoor track and field meet on Friday.
 
Ndukwu won the hammer in a field of 24 athletes with a distance of 53.69 meters (176' 2"), breaking the school record of 53.66 meters set by teammate Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City) last year. McPeek finished second behind Ndukwu with a toss of 52.03 meters (170' 8"). Ndukwu currently ranks fourth and McPeek 10th nationally in Division III with their efforts.
 
Reilly Quinn (Morrisonville/Beekmantown) and Georgia Spuches Jwaskiewicz (Syracuse/Liverpool) each cleared 1.63 meters (5' 4.25") in the high jump. Quinn officially finished second and Spuches Jwaskiewicz placed third, and both are currently tied for 17th nationally in the event.
 
Kendall Sobczyk (Wheatfield/Niagara Wheatfield) finished third out of 40 athletes in the 100-meter dash in 12.16 seconds, while Brianna Gabbidon (Islip) finished fifth in 12.33 seconds. In the 200-meter dash, Gabbidon was third of 50 in 25.16 seconds and Sobczyk finished eighth in 25.93 seconds. The 4x100-meter relay team of Eilise Marino (West Sayville/Sayville), Gabbidon, Sophia Hotaling (Cooperstown) and Sobczyk finished third in 49.47 seconds.
 
Phoebe Peer (Saranac Lake) was third out of 34 competitors in the 1,500 meters, covering the distance in 4:47.76. Alexa Wolcott (Wyoming/Pavilion) placed seventh in 4:52.42. In the 100-meter hurdles, Lillian Swyers (Peru) finished fourth of 29 in 15.63 seconds and Gianna Boland (Centereach) placed eighth (16.14).
 
Swyers also finished third of 17 in the triple jump at 10.58 meters (34' 8.5") and eighth of 35 in the long jump at 5.01 meters (16' 5.25"). Quinn was third in long jump with a leap of 5.30 meters (17' 4.75") and Annabelle Schuck (Saratoga Springs) finished fifth at 5.22 meters (17' 1.5"). Other top-eight finishers in the triple jump, after Swyers, were Leah Schleicher (East Meadow) in sixth (10.39 meters/34' 1.25") and Boland in seventh (10.22 meters/33' 6.5")
 
Kelly Newman (Harrison) was third of 22 in the 800 meters in 2:21.33, and in the 5,000 meters Anne Barney (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) finished third (20:05.68), MaryJane Politi (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) was fourth (20:19.64), Abigail Tessier (Delhi/Delaware Academy) finished fifth (20:19.91) and Gwenivere Connelly (Port Jefferson/Earl L. Vandermeulen) finished sixth (20:27.24) to place in the top half of the 12-runner field.
 
Kayla Tretola (Levittown/Island Trees) was Cortland's top performer in the shot put and discus. She was fourth of 25 in the shot put at 11.48 meters (37' 8") and fourth of 24 in the discus at 35.58 meters (116' 9"). Ndukwu finished fifth in the shot put (11.43 meters/37' 6"), while in the discus Jess Neubert (Buffalo/Kenmore East) finished fifth (35.11 meters/115' 2"), McPeek was sixth (33.64 meters/110' 4") and Molly McMasters (Homer) was eighth (31.58 meters/103' 7").
 
In the javelin in a field of 16 competitors, Hannah Nolan (Montour Falls/Odessa-Montour) finished fourth with a throw of 23.67 meters (77' 8"). Kellee Knuschke (Red Hook) placed fifth (22.22 meters/72' 11") and Katie Ball (Smithtown/Smithtown East) was eighth (19.01 meters/62' 4"). In the 400-meter dash, Anna Miller (Cornwall-on-Hudson/Cornwall) placed sixth of 17 in 1:03.62 and Emily Pierro (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) finished eighth (1:04.17).
 
Cortland's All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifiers at the meet were: Ndukwu (Hammer), McPeek (Hammer), Quinn (High Jump), Spuches Jwaskiewicz (High Jump), Sobczyk (100-meter dash), Gabbidon (100-meter dash and 200-meter dash), Peer (1,500 meters), Swyers (100-meter hurdles), and the 4x00-meter relay (Marino, Gabbidon, Hotaling Sobczyk).
 
At Princeton's Sam Howell Invitational on Saturday, Melissa Innocent (Elmont/Valley Stream North) finished 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:52.24.

Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Steve Patrick:
 
Following Cortland Red Dragon Open:
 
Mother nature certainly cooperated today, and the team took advantage of it! Besides a brief rainstorm, we got to enjoy temperatures hovering close to 70 degrees, and a wind that was mostly beneficial over the day.
 
We had a lot of success across a wide range of events, so that certainly makes for a fun day!
 
High jump went quite well for us, with both of the women entered (Reilly Quinn and Georgia Spuches Jwaskiewicz) jumping big bars; Andrew Farnsworth and Taoig Cypher had strong performances on the men's side as well. Taoig was a frequently flyer on the day, with a good effort in the javelin throw and in the triple jump!
 
The one event where the wind created some havoc was the men's pole vault. While a tail wind is good, it was a bit strong, and was creating issues keeping the bar on. Vegas Petersen was our star for the day in that jump, with a new PR under unusual conditions. It was also nice to see Joffre Proano make his return to competing.
 
Speaking of a return to competition, this was the first meet for Declan Kennedy since May of 2025 – he opened his season with a good effort in the 400 hurdles, as well as a strong run to anchor one of our 'workout' 4x400 relays. He led teammates Drew Miller and CK Khamani to new season bests in the 400 hurdles as well.
 
On the women's side, Amelia Konstanty impressed with her effort in the 400 hurdles, while newcomer Ava Negrino posted a nice first effort for her first time ever in the event.
 
Hurdling was pretty solid overall, highlighted by all three men (Travis Iwuagwu, Evan Cruz, and Rowan Fox) in the high hurdles, and by Gianna Boland, Katie Ball, and Annabelle Schuck in particular in the women's high hurdles.
 
We saw a lot of great depth in the throws today, obviously led by Jennifer Ndukwu's new school record in the hammer throw! The squad had a very solid day all the way around, with a great deal of depth on display especially in the discus and hammer. This is extra fun as both are only outdoor events, so being able to perform well early is a testament to a good level of mental focus. I'll especially commend Molly McMasters, Jess Neubert, Luke Chamberlain, and Jason Zaita for having double-PR days in those events!
 
Moving back to the track, we saw some great performances today! In the shortest event, Kendall Sobczyk and Brianna Gabbidon came up big to post great times; Kendall's big PR in the 100 is now tied for 4th all-time at Cortland, while Bri's speedy 200 has overtaken the 5th spot on the all-time list. On the men's side, Marcello Mastrocco was great with PRs in both events; Daniel Cruz followed up his solid opener in the 100 with a new 200 PR, and Lassad Richards came back for a lifetime best in the 200 after improving on his best 400 of the season.
 
The distance runners were more focused on mid-distance events this weekend (including some 400 hurdles for the steeplechase squad, which is always fun); the men's squad had good efforts but a lot of missed opportunities. The shorter races need quick recognition of what is happening, and we came up a bit short on that today – but that's how we learn. We were generally good at working and fighting – the real hard part – and we made smart decisions early; we just need a bit more experience to have the performances we know they are capable of. I want to highlight Kyle Friedel who aggressively went after his heat of the 800, leading nearly the whole thing and pushing the pace to a new PR. The women's squad showed a similar level of toughness, but was a bit more on top of the decisions made in-race for the most part. I'd like to highlight Alexa Wolcott, Jade Hornick, and Phoebe Peer for the impressive performances in the 1500 (Phoebe 'only' had a 22-second PR), along with Mia Hannan who took charge in her heat of the 800 and ran a solo last 400 to a new PR! Finally, we had a small group in the women's 5k; MJ Politi paced a nice effort in her first time at that distance on the track, and fellow firstyear Abi Tessier really took advantage of having her out there, running a huge new PR in the event by 68 seconds – that's over 5 seconds a lap better than her last 5k in February!
 
I'm writing this from our hotel room in New Jersey – besides hosting yesterday, we have a small group travelling down to Princeton for the Sam Howell Invitational. It's been a few years since we were at this meet, so it's exciting, and a great opportunity for us. We're quite fortunate to have the level of support from our administration and our alumni base to make opportunities like this happen!
 
Following Princeton Sam Howell Invitational:
 
We consider ourselves fortunate to have the financial support to bring a select group down to the Sam Howell Invitational at Princeton.

We had quite a successful meet with our sprints group! Deontae Bennett led us off with a new outdoor PR in the long jump, and then took to the track anchor the 4x100 to a very fast performance - our third fastest time ever! We're confident that we have some things we can clean up to hopefully go faster.

Third leg Zion Cheatham came back later in the day with a great new PR in the 400, along with a stellar leg in the 4x4 relay later in the day.

LeBron Richardson returned later in the day to run his second best 200 ever; Daaron Harrell finished the day with new college PRs in both his 200 and 400.

Of course it's definitely worth highlighting Kyler Alston, who had a strong anchor in the 4x4 relay after his excellent opener in the 400 hurdles. It's exciting to consider where there's room for improvement in his step pattern moving forward; he's already claimed the #2 all-time spot at Cortland.

We're splitting the squad at the end of this upcoming week, with most of the squad heading to Cornell, and a smaller contingent heading to the Bucknell Bison Open.