The Ithaca College track and field teams hosted rival SUNY Cortland on Dec. 8. The men’s team fell to Cortland 67—60, while the women defeated the Red Dragons 94—33.
Graduate student Katherine Pitman pole–vaulted her way to a victory with a fault of 4.15 meters. Meghan Burd clinched a victory in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.11.
Senior Amber Edwards clinched the 60–meter hurdle victory with a time of 9.12. Senior Denise Ibarra got the gold in the one–mile race with a time of 5:15.62, which was a personal best for Ibarra.
Ibarra said that this meet against Cortland is a great starting point for the season.
“It feels really good to get the win,” Ibarra said. “We are just starting the season, so I think seeing everyone do well is a really good baseline, and we can only go up from here.”
In the field events, freshman Samantha Healy had a throw of 11.54 meters, which earned her a victory in the shot put. Freshman Sydney Strelec earned a first–place finish in the triple jump with a jump of 10.64 meters.
Sophomore Estelle Yedynak brought home first place for the Blue and Gold in the high jump with a final jump of 1.63 meters.
Senior Christina Rucinski won the women’s 3000-meter run by almost six seconds with a final time of 11:19.49.
The men’s team had a strong outing as well. Junior Elliott Place ran a 7.15 60-meter dash, which gave him a first place finish.
Junior Lee Matthews earned a first–place finish in the shot put with a throw of 14.11 meters. Matthews said the coaches played a huge role in his success at the meet.
“The coaches are great at what they do, and they always are pushing us to do our best,” Matthews said.
Sophomore Harrison Buttrick got the Bombers a first place finish in the 35–pound weight throw with a throw of 13.94 meters.
Sophomore Dan Harden-Marshall brought home first place in the men’s 200-meter dash to add 5 points to the Bombers’ total, while freshman Chris Singer secured first place in the men’s 3000–meter run with a time of 9:13.17.
Both teams return to action Jan. 6 for the Ithaca Track & Field Alumni Celebration at 3:30 p.m. in the A&E Center.
