Three Red Dragon Men Compete During Day 2 of NCAA Indoor Championships
Cortland Sports Information Department
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Cortland had three athletes compete during Day 2 of the NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships. The two-day event was conducted at the Birmingham Crossplex.
In the triple jump, Amarian Hughes (Newburgh/Marlboro) finished 11th out of 20 competitors with a distance of 14.55 meters (47' 9"). Jean-Andre Sassine (Queens Village/The Lawrenceville School) finished 12th with a personal best 14.43 meters (47' 4.25"). Jonathan Wilburn of Wisconsin-Oshkosh was the national champion at 15.56 meters (51' 0.75").
Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) placed 20th in the shot put with a distance of 14.01 meters (45' 11.75"). Carthage College's Joseph White won the national title at 18.47 meters (60' 7.25"). Carthage is coached by former Cortland runner and assistant coach Josh Henry.
Cortland tied for 59th place out of 112 teams competing at the meet with two points from Zach Nyhart's (Hamburg) seventh-place finish in the pole vault on Friday. Wisconsin-La Crosse won the team title with 35 points, edging out runner-up MIT (34.5), while Geneseo and Loras tied for third, each with 32.
Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Steve Patrick:
It can be hard to keep perspective at a meet like this, since there is such a premium on earning All-American status that we can lose sight of when we've done well.
Danielle entered the meet in a tie that ran from 10th to 16th, so she finished right where she was 'supposed' to. It was hopefully a good learning experience for her that will drive some changes heading into the outdoor season.
For the guys, all three competitors today were first-timers, and the impact of that is hard to underestimate. There's a lot of self-imposed pressure, and each of the guys did well under it. Most impressive was Jean, who responded in an excellent fashion to PR in triple jump and finish well above his seed!
We're looking forward to learning the lessons we need to from this weekend and applying them into our outdoor season. For now, these folks are able to enjoy some well-deserves rest on spring break.
