Cortland Women Successfully Defend SUNYAC Outdoor Track and Field Crown
ONEONTA, N.Y. – The SUNY Cortland women's track and field team won its second straight State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) outdoor title and 15th overall at the championship meet hosted by SUNY Oneonta. The Red Dragons had also won the SUNYAC indoor title this past March.
Cortland finished with 191.5 points, easily ahead of Geneseo's second-place score of 131. Oneonta finished third with 119.5 points and Brockport fourth with 116 points. Rounding out the field were Buffalo St. (91), Plattsburgh (64), Fredonia (54) and Oswego (36).
Cortland claimed five individual and two relay league titles. Junior Nicki Schafer won the heptathlon with a new meet and facility record of 4,313 points. Senior Alyson Dalton won the 5,000-meter run (17:38.69), senior Abby Vander Veen was the 400-meter dash winner (58.75), sophomore Lexi Budd won the high jump (1.63 meters – 5' 4.25”) and sophomore Sarah Bonnell captured the long jump (5.39 meters – 17' 8.25”).
The combination of senior Jenna Evarts, senior Veronica Montrose, freshman Kiki Jones and Bonnell won the 4x100-meter relay with a facility record of 48.15 seconds, while Montrose, junior Alexis Grable, Jones and Vander Veen set a facility record in the 4x400-meter relay with their winning time of 3:54.57.
Geneseo senior Kelly Brunscheen won the 800 meters in a meet record time of 2:12.84 and teamed with first year Allison Hoh, junior Cailin Kowalewski and first year Keira Wood to place second in the 4X400 relay (3:58.19). Junior Marissa Liberati and sophomore Mary Aldridge posted wins for the Blue Knights with a 10:56.36 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and a 4:43.07 in the 1,500 meters, respectively. Wood and Kowalewski were 2-3 in the 800 meters with times of 2:13.42 and 2:14.67.
Sophomore Jazmin Dunham was the first to the finish line in three different events to lead Buffalo State. Dunham won the 100-meter hurdles (14.59), the 100-meter dash (12.48), and the 200-meter dash (25.10). Senior Jessica Walker closed out her SUNYAC career in style, winning the triple jump (11.36m).
The Brockport throwers finished 1-4 in the shot put led by junior Nicole Jones with a 12.76-meter throw. Courtney White was second, Maggie Needham was third and Kristine Hoover was fourth.
Senior Sarah Timmons led the way for Oneonta as she collected three SUNYAC titles and a total of 32 points. She broke her own school record in winning the javelin with a distance of 125'-4” and captured the hammer throw with a toss of 48.95 meters. Her personal highlight of the championship was winning the discus throw for a fourth time, making her only the fifth women's track & field athlete in SUNYAC history to capture a single event four times.
