Track and Field – Finger Lakes Turns In Solid Performance At Cortland Classic

CORTLAND, NY. -- The Finger Lakes Community College men's and women's track and field team competed in the Cortland Classic Invitational (held at SUNY Cortland State College) on Friday (4/20) and Saturday (4/21). The two-day meet, which consisted of individual and team events, contained a combined 17 top ten finishes from both divisions for Finger Lakes led by the men with twelve.

The top individual performance of the weekend for Finger Lakes came from the women's division when freshman Julie Brooks (Holley, NY) placed third in the High Jump with a distance of 5' ¼". The Finger Lakes men's best individual showing came from the legs of sophomore Anthony Shuler (Liverpool, NY) in the Triple Jump. He placed fourth in the event with a distance of 40' 6 ¼".

As for team performances, the Finger Lakes women held the top finish of the meet when the foursome of Brooks, Jessica Kaiser (Ovid, NY), Leigha Tilton (Livonia, NY) and Kathryn Zebrowski (Dundee, NY) placed fourth in the 4X100 Meter Relay in their division with a time of 55.34 seconds.

The Finger Lakes men's division top team finish (5th) came in a pair of events during the two-day meet (in the 4X100 Meter Relay and 4X800 Meter Relay). In the 4X100, the team, made up of Samuel Beckwith (Ovid, NY), Damien Brown (Liverpool, NY), Shuler, and Jeremy Westerfield (Penn Yan, NY), combined to race to a time of 45.22 seconds. In the 4X800, the squad of Adam Bradley (Stanley, NY), David Herbert (Springwater, NY), Nick Pruden (Canandaigua, NY), and Jason Woodard (Manchester, NY) raced to a time of 9:40.30.

A majority of the remaining top ten finishes for Finger Lakes came via individual events (all excluding one with the exception of a top ten finish in a men's team event) for both divisions. Here is a breakdown of those top ten finishes by division:

Men -- Beckwith registered a pair solid individual performances with his sixth place showings in the 100 Meter Dash (11.69 seconds - finals) and Long Jump (NJCAA qualifying distance of 21' ½"). Beckwith placed in the top ten in the 100 Meter Dash twice over the Friday-Saturday stretch at Cortland. His other top ten finish (9th) in the event came with a time of 11.21 seconds (semi-finals).  

Shuler and Herbert both placed eighth in their respective events. Shuler's came in the 400 Meter Run, where he posted an NJCAA qualifying time of 51.48 seconds. Herbert's eighth place finish came in the 10000 Meter Run, where he raced to a time of 38:21.49.

The men's division was responsible for turning in the other remaining top ten team finish. The group of Bradley, Shuler, Joel Vollenweider (Canandaigua, NY), and Westerfield came in eighth in the 4X400 Meter Relay by running to a time of 3:39.07.

Jacob Schenk (Shortsville, NY) and Westerfield rounded out the top finishes in their divisions at the Invitational. Schenk tallied ninth (17.35 seconds – finals) and tenth (16.71 seconds – semi-finals) place showings in the 110 Meter Hurdles. Westerfield came in ninth in the Javelin Throw, where he threw to a distance of 135' 2".

Women -- Tilton was accountable for the remainder of the top ten finishes in her division for Finger Lakes. In the High Jump, she placed seventh by leaping to a distance of 4' 8 ¼". In the 110 Meter Hurdles, Tilton came in ninth with a time of 17.75 seconds (finals). Her other solid individual performance at the meet came in the 100 Meter Dash, where she placed tenth with a time of 13.19 seconds.

Upcoming Meet -- Finger Lakes will head to SUNY Delhi (Delhi, NY) to compete in the Regionals (NJCAA Region III Division III Tournament) in what will be a two-day meet, taking place on Friday (4/27) and Saturday (4/28). Days one and two of the meet will both begin at 9:00 am.