A two-year wait for Cornell track ended up as a two-win day for the school's two teams.

The Raiders had their first meet inside the boundaries of the school district since 2006 on Saturday afternoon and the results couldn't have been better, picking up "home" wins over Section 3-AA opponents Wilkinsburg and Sto-Rox at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center.

The Cornell girls had the closest of the four wins, beating Sto-Rox 56-54, along with a 67-31 victory over Wilkinsburg. The boys wins were more decisive, topping Sto-Rox, 76-60, and routing Wilkinsburg, 119-18. The 119 points are the highest point total in school history.

"It's the first time we've ever won a double-dual meet on the same day," Cornell coach Bob Burnett said. "The successes we had down there really got the kids excited."

According to Burnett, it was nearly the perfect home meet for the Raiders, with everything going Cornell's way, both on and off the track.

"It's the best weather we've had all year," he said. "The track was really fast and we had some tremendous times across the board."

"I was a bit skeptical about doing it this year, because it's a lot of work. All RMU leaves are the hurdles, so we have to haul all our own equipment down there. It's not easy, but this year I felt better about it because of the weather. I'd like to do it again."

The last "home" meet for Cornell was also held at the Island Sports Center, as the district still doesn't have a regulation-sized track of its own. But the short trip from the school to the island wasn't a problem for most Raiders fans, as parents and school officials alike were able to make it to Saturday's meet.

Those who were in attendance got to see a number of strong times, which included a handful of school records for Cornell.

In the girls events, Karissa Lee broke her own school record in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.19 and won the high jump at the meet, while Nikki Goode set a new triple jump mark of 32'7".

Both girls were also part of the 4x400 relay team, along with Charlene Sellers and Kalyca Domingo, which came just short of another record, finishing in 4:41.89 -- .99 seconds off the 4-year-old record.

"I challenged the girls go out and try to get the record, and they nearly did. They all ran well," Burnett said.

Senior Melissa Esposito was also strong for Cornell, winning the 300-meter hurdles in 50.90, as well as being part of the race-winning 4x100 relay with Lee, Goode and Domingo.

On the boys' side, no relay record was safe. The 4x400 team of Joe Faherty, Antwon Huff, Gary Sturm and Sean Hunt broke a 4-year-old standard by running 3:42.67, nearly two full seconds off the old mark.

The other two teams lowered their own records -- Paul Leitner, Ian Ashner, Jordan Singleton and Royce Tipper in the 4x100 and Faherty, Brian Whitling, Dustin Holt and Tipper in the 4x800.

Individually, Huff and Marcus Haskins now share the school's high jump record, as both cleared 5'10" on Saturday. Rob Carpenter came close to his own shot put record with a throw of 43'1".

Winning multiple events for the Cornell boys were Hunt, taking the javelin, 400- and 800-meter runs, and Whitling in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

The growing success of the Cornell program can be directly linked to its growth in participation. This year's boys team has 24 members, the highest total ever according to Burnett, and for most of them, a home meet was a new experience.

"It was nice not having to get on the bus, for once. The kids did enjoy themselves, though a lot of the younger kids didn't know what to expect," he said.

Still, for the program to continue to build, the home meets will have to be the real thing.

"The track (at the Island Sports Center) is real nice, but I'm hoping also that the community understands that's no substitute for having your own facility," Burnett said.

"I think we can have 30 or 40 boys and girls on the team if they could look over the hill and see a beautiful track down there at the school."

For the time being, Cornell will have to continue running a road-only schedule, just as some of the other teams in its section, such as OLSH and Sto-Rox.

The team has two remaining section meets -- at New Brighton this Tuesday and a four-team meet at Center on Apr. 20, which also includes OLSH and Freedom.

The rest of the schedule is made up of invitationals and championship meets, including the Union Invitational, this Friday and Saturday.