Cornell men’s track and field began its outdoor season at the UCF Knights Invite on March 28, highlighted by a victory in the 110-meter hurdles and strong performances across several events.
The event marked an important start to Cornell’s spring campaign, giving athletes a chance to test their form early in the season. Head coach Adrian Durant said, “It was a good overall meet, with strong season openers and some personal-best performances.” Durant also pointed out the triple jump as a standout event for Cornell: “The men’s triple jump stood out, with Des jumping 15 meters.”
In field events, Desmond Whitley finished fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 15.00 meters, followed by Kameron Coleman in fifth place at 14.61 meters. Freshman Joe Seib threw for sixth place in discus at 48.35 meters while Benjamin Shabino placed twelfth with a mark of 44.01 meters.
On the track, Michael Mazero led Cornell’s efforts in the 400 meters by finishing eleventh (48.29 seconds). Teammates Seamus Finn (nineteenth), Adam Kaufman (twentieth), and Neil Chowdhurry (twenty-second) followed closely behind.
Ryder King delivered Cornell’s top result of the day by winning the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 13.99 seconds. Durant said, “Ryder King had a great meet overall, following up his 400 hurdles on Friday with a 13.99 in the 110 hurdles for the win.” In addition to King’s success, Panashe Nhenga led Big Red sprinters in the 100 meters by placing fourteenth (10.61 seconds), just ahead of Ricardo Lagares Jr., who finished fifteenth (10.62 seconds), and Mamadou Diallo who came twenty-sixth (10.80 seconds).
The team concluded its appearance at UCF with second place in the competitive 4×400-meter relay featuring King, Finn, Meza and Mazero.
Looking ahead after this opening meet, Cornell plans to continue building momentum as it prepares for its next competition at Bucknell Bison Invite on April 10.
