Cortland 4x100-Meter Relay Earns Second-Team All-America Honors During NCAA Opening Day
Cortland Sports Information Department
GENEVA, OHIO – The Cortland 4x100-meter relay team of firstyear LeBron Richardson (Pelham/Pelham Memorial), junior Harrison Gavalas (Southampton), sophomore Zion Cheatham (Lockport) and junior Matthew Schaffert (Lockport) earned second-team All-America honors with a 10th-place finish during the first day of competition at the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The three-day event runs through Saturday at the SPIRE Institute.
Cortland finished fourth in the first of two heats in 41.10 seconds. Wisconsin-La Crosse won the heat in 39.77 seconds. Six teams in the second heat finished faster than Cortland. The two two teams in each heat, plus the next five fastest teams, advance to Saturday's finals, with the Red Dragons the first team out. Cortland earns second-team All-America honors, which go to places 9-12 in the 16-team field in relays at the outdoor national meet.
Later on Thursday the 4x400-meter relay unit of Cheatham, senior Evan Jensen (Red Hook), Gavalas and graduate student Josh Jeffes (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) failed to advance to the finals after being disqualified in the prelims. The Red Dragons actually posted the seventh-best time in 3:11.88, but were DQ'd due to a lane violation. The Cortland quartet entered the meet seeded sixth and were the indoor national champions this past March.
Cortland returns to action Friday with junior Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) in the shot put prelims/finals at 11:30 a.m. and Jeffes and Jensen in the 400-meter dash prelims at 3 p.m.
Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Steve Patrick:
The guys in the 4x100 deserve a lot of credit; when we woke up 8 days ago we weren't even in the meet, so to walk away as All-Americans and being 10th in the country is a great accomplishment! It's a great sign, especially for those that are returning, that they are not yet satisfied. A little bit of hunger can go all long ways to help stay focused through summer training!
Obviously the disqualification from the (4x400) relay is painful. It's not how we wanted the season to end! But the rules are there for a reason, and we wouldn't want to see anybody advance with a violation, even if it was us. The sun will rise tomorrow, and we'll move on. It's frustrating, but I'm really proud of the resilience and maturity these four men showed tonight.
LeBron Richardson during the opening leg of the 4x100-meter relay (Erin Locascio/EDL Photography)
