By Collin Bolebruch
TRACK AND FIELD
Plattsburgh’s men’s and women’s track and field participated in their second meet of the outdoor season Saturday, April 8 in the Cortland Red Dragon Open. No team scores were kept and competing schools included Plattsburgh, Cortland, Cobleskill, Finger Lakes Community College, Ithaca, Oneonta, Oswego, Potsdam and Syracuse. Four Cardinals qualified for the AARTFC Championships and 15 qualified for the SUNYAC Championships.
Regionals qualifiers include Noah Bonesteel’s 800m run in 1:56.78, Michael Brockway’s 10000m run in 32:36.36, Brexton Montville’s 100m dash in 11.02 and Janyll Barber’s 400m hurdles in 1:02.07.
Conference qualifiers include Jorge Cabrera’s hammer throw of 40.99m, Charles Cypress’ 400m dash in 50.16, Aidan Masten’s long jump of 6.34m, Cody Monnat’s 400m dash in 51.81, Aidan Tous’ shot put of 12.53m and discus throw of 39.52m, Logan Van Buren’s 800m run in 1:59.46, Jordan Williams’ 100m dash in 11.24 and 200m dash in 23.00, Kaitlyn Bjelko’s shot put of 11.44m and hammer throw of 35.37m, Rebecca Christie’s high jump of 1.45m, Ginny Lucchetti’s 1500m run in 5:09.16, Aislyn McDonough’s 800m run in 2:21.77 and 1500m run in 4:58.81, Michaela Schaffer’s long jump of 5.06m and triple jump of 10.17m, Sarah Smith’s 1500m run in 5:08.97, Morgan Thompson’s 400m dash in 1:04.55 and Deanna Zoch’s 100m dash in 13.82.
The Cardinals compete today, April 14, in the RPI Under the Lights Invitational and tomorrow, April 15, in the Southern New Hampshire Penman Relays hosted by Southern New Hampshire in Manchester, N.H. and the Larry Ellis invitational hosted by Princeton in Trenton, N.J. McDonough was named Women’s Indoor Track & Field Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year April 12.
BASEBALL
A month and a half into the season, Cardinals baseball returned to Chip Cummings Field April 7. Plattsburgh (6-14, SUNYAC 0-6) started the home season by beating the non-conference Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers (16-9-1) by a score of 13-3 — its largest margin of victory this year.
Second baseman Alex Kornblau and right fielder Conner Gonzalski led the team with two hits each and five other Cardinals recorded one. First baseman Kyle Cremin had three runs batted in, followed by Kornblau, Gonzalski, catcher Adam Wein and center fielder Jack Defayette with two. Wein and Kornblau had three runs each.
Chris Santic pitched seven innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out six on 28 batters faced. Kolby Mordecki and Matt Edwards pitched the last two innings and Santic was credited with the win. All of the Engineers’ runs came in the last four innings.
Plattsburgh then hosted the Clarkson Golden Knights (6-14) April 11, losing 6-23. The non-conference matchup included the largest margin of defeat and the most runs allowed in a game this season.
Designated hitter Christian Ott led the Cards with three hits, followed by shortstop Andrew Veit and left fielder Matt Blair with two. Ott also batted in two runs. Plattsburgh turned to eight different pitchers during the game, with none throwing for more than two innings. Mordecki faced the most batters with 15, allowing eight earned runs and earning the loss.
The Cardinals’ April 12 matchup with the Norwich Cadets in Northfield, Vt. was postponed and eventually canceled due to scheduling conflicts. Plattsburgh resumes its conference season today, April 14, taking on the New Paltz Hawks (6-15, SUNYAC 0-9) at home. The Cards then play a doubleheader with the Hawks tomorrow, April 15 with a chance to separate itself from the bottom of the SUNYAC standings.
TENNIS
Tennis kicked off its spring season Wednesday, playing the Northern Vermont University-Johnson Badgers at home in doubles and singles scrimmages. The team finished its season in the fall, and though it typically plays regular season conference games in the spring, will not this season. Having been eliminated from the playoffs, the Cardinals will not play SUNYAC teams this April.
Plattsburgh will then host NVU-Johnson and the Russell Sage Gators in a doubles tournament tomorrow, April 15, at 11 a.m. The tournament will round out their 2022-23 season and will prepare the Cardinals for its Spring Community Clinic Saturday, April 22. Session one will be for ages 5-12 and run from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and session two will be for ages 13-17 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Each session will cost $40 and those interested in attending can find the registration link at gocardinalsports.com/sports/womens-tennis.
