Cheyenne McPeek All-American After Breaking School Hammer Record; Sepulveda and Collette Men's Second Teamers
Cortland Sports Information Department
La CROSSE, WIS. – Cortland junior Cheyenne McPeek (Johnson City) broke the school record in the hammer throw to finish sixth nationally and earn first-team All-America honors during the final day of competition of the 2026 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. On the men's side, Red Dragon juniors Manuel Sepulveda (East Rochester) and Evan Collette (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) each earned second-team All-America honors during the final day, with Sepuvelda placing 12th in the triple jump and Collette 13th in the hammer throw.
The three-day championship events were hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Cortland's women tied for 53rd place out of 129 schools in the final team standings with 4.5 points, with McPeek scoring three points in the hammer and senior Reilly Quinn (Morrisonville/Beekmantown) picking up 1.5 points with her tie for seventh in the high jump Friday. The Red Dragon men tied for 68th place out of 116 schools with one point, which was scored by senior Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) with his eighth-place finish Thursday in the discus.
McPeek finished 21st nationally in the hammer last spring and entered this year's nationals as the 21st seed out of 22 competitors at 53.25 meters, but on her first attempt she unleashed a school-record throw of 54.68 meters (179' 5"). She broke the school mark of 53.69 meters set earlier this year by senior Jennifer Ndukwu (Queens/Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School).
McPeek was in sixth place after three attempts to earn a spot in the nine-competitor finals, and she remained in sixth place after the final three rotations. Ndukwu, making her first nationals appearance, finished 20th with a distance of 49.41 meters (162' 1"). Erika Ezumba of Johns Hopkins won the national title with a heave of 60.11 meters (197' 2").
Sepulveda placed 12th of 22 in the triple jump with a distance of 14.76 meters (48' 5.25"), which he accomplished on his first attempt. He was third after the first rotation, but dropped to sixth after the second rotation and ended up 12th, missing the finals. Aryan Shrivastava of Chicago won the title at 15.50 meters (50' 10.25").
Sepulveda earned second-team All-America honors, which are awarded to places 9-16. He's an All-American for the third time; he was a first teamer in the triple jump indoors this past March with an eighth-place finish, as well as in the triple jump indoors in 2025 while competing for St. John Fisher with a seventh-place showing.
Collette finished 13th of 22 in the hammer throw with a distance of 56.65 meters (185' 10"). He reached that mark on his first attempt to briefly sit in eighth place, but he dropped to 11th and then 13th and didn't make the finals. Owen Fremeau of Olivet won the title at 63.85 meters (209' 5").
Collette is an All-American for the second time; he was a first-team honoree in the weight throw during the indoor season with a seventh-place finish. Collette competed in the hammer throw during last year's outdoor nationals but did not place.
Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Steve Patrick:
Having three different people earn All American honors on the same day is pretty special!
We started out today with Jennifer Ndukwu and Cheyenne McPeek in the women's hammer throw - more on Cheyenne in a bit.
Jennifer competed well for her first experience at NCAA's. All three of her throws were solid, but that's how small the margins are at this meet. Jen leaves us as the school record holder in the weight throw, and as the #2 all-time performer in the hammer throw.
Evan Collette greatly improved on last year with his 13th place finish and 2nd team All American honors. He had a pretty solid series but just came up a bit short on the day.
Manuel Sepulveda started off strong with his first attempt, and unfortunately fouled his best jump of the day (his second attempt). When considering that this was his first outdoor championships and that he only qualified 9 days ago with his jump at the AARTFC meet, that wraps up quite a successful campaign for his first year at Cortland.
Cheyenne had a great performance to start off the day! It was certainly a great time to hit a big PR and set a new school record! To do that on the first throw is certainly something special. Throws coach Mitch Makowski should get a special shout out as well: originally Cheyenne's throw was called a foul by the official; Coach Mitch challenged the call and the video review indicated it was a fair throw, so the mark stood. This obviously was importantly as it was her best throw of the day!
It's a bit strange to be finished for the year. We again thank our seniors for the time and effort they have dedicated to the program, and wish them the best as they move on to more exciting endeavors!
Before you know it alumni weekend will be upon us in July; we are once again having an event for XC/TF alums on Saturday; and then cross country is right around the corner!
