The first two weekends of the season are in the books. We are still not sure of the best way to cover the indoor season since it lacks real team aspect. So here goes.     Boys 600 Meter Run  - City Auto (and Secondary) Qualifying Standard: 1:29.14 (1:29.91)   At the Gobbler Classic, the Freshman race was won by Alexander Riley of JFK Campus. Hardly a rookie (VO2 Max), Riley ran 1:33.41   In the Varsity race, three boys hit the auto standard. Lavell Irving  (Thomas Jefferson)

As the PSAL season moves indoors for the winter, we decided to try to provide some coverage. We’ll see how it goes.   As we began, we decided to give a look over the distance events for the last 10 years of PSAL Championships and see which boroughs and/or schools tend to do well in each distance event. We analyzed how many different  runners each school had medal at City Championships since 2015. We think that’s a better sign of dominance than how many total medals, since one

The 2025 PSAL Cross Country season is over, but it’s never too early to look ahead to next fall. So here is a way-too-early preview for the next fall season based mostly  on merging this year’s top times at VCP for each runner and just getting rid of the seniors.   Borough Favorites   Boys : Staten Island:  MSIT                                                    Tristan Acevedo (Susan Wagner) Brooklyn:         Brooklyn Tech                                     Abraham Wilchins

Another cross country season has come and gone. We saw both Individual Champions defend their titles and a new girls program rise to the top. And we predicted both Team Champions!   Boys   Met or Exceeded Program Expectations Bronx Science  - the boys from the Bronx defended their title, even without their top runner. At Feds, they finished 4 th  and brought home some team hardware for the first time in program history. Benjamin Berman established himself as the fastest runne

The top PSAL teams and individuals took on the top runners from all over New York state this past weekend at Bowdoin Park. The meet is a combination of the NYS Federation Championships and Nike Cross Regionals, so the top teams and individuals also earn a trip to Oregon. At the end of the day, the PSAL had six All-Federation runners.   Boys Federation Race The Bronx Science  boys started hot for the 2 nd straight year. They were in 3 rd  place at the halfway point and just 1

We are back with even more follow up after receiving more information from our readers. Thank you so much for reaching out and helping us fill in the gaps. We appreciate and encourage your input and contributions.   First, we’d like to correct a mistake we made about Columbia Secondary School. Not realizing they were a 6-12 school, we miscalculated their HS enrollment. They are a school of approximately 200 girls, not over 300 as we originally reported.   Second, a few reader

We said that we’d be back later in the week to discuss some comments overheard at the awards/finish line area.   But first, our readers were nice enough to point out that Ben Berman of Bronx Science likely did not race because of a PSAL rule requiring athletes to have run at least one PSAL meet during the regular season in order to be eligible to race at the City Championship. This seems like a pretty reasonable rule as long as they aren’t forcing athletes to race through inj

This past Saturday at Van Cortlandt felt more like September than it did November. That was appropriate since the best teams coming into the season emerged as the best teams at the end of the season.  The Bronx Science  boys defended their title and the LaGuardia  girls got the banner that eluded them last fall. The day began with the individual races, for athletes on teams that did not qualify for the Championship race.   Boys Individual Race The boys individual race was won

This Saturday is for all the marbles. The best 21 girls teams and 16 boys teams will toe the line for the chance to bring home the banner and be crowned City Champions.   The Bronx Science  boys will seek to defend their title and enter the race as a solid favorite. The LaGuardia  girls have dominated all year long and look to secure their first ever PSAL title.   Boys Championship Race – 10 AM   Predicted Finish :   1. Bronx Science  – Getting to compete for a championship o

The PSAL’s underclassmen were in the spotlight this weekend as the city held its Freshman and Sophomore City Championship meet.   Freshman Boys The first race of the day provided the biggest surprise. Brooklyn Tech  didn’t win this race for the first time since 2018, and they didn’t even hit the podium. Admittedly, this was a swing and a miss for us, as well. The MSIT  freshman hadn’t run at Van Cortlandt all season and it’s tough to compare times from Ocean Breeze. Susan Wa

As we were previewing the Borough Championships, we were trying to predict the teams that would qualify for the City Championship race. In doing so, we were surprised to see so many teams from Manhattan, a borough that has historically been one of the weaker boroughs in PSAL cross country. Using the Pandemic as a dividing line in PSAL history, it can be argued that Manhattan came back strongest after the restart.   That’s not to say that Manhattan has had zero success. The gi

The underclassmen will take center stage at Van Cortlandt this weekend at the PSAL Freshman and Sophomore City Championships. Earlier this month these championships were held for each borough, but now everyone will come together to crown a city champion for each grade.   The Freshman championship is always interesting because 95% of these freshmen have only been running for 2 months. It’s really just a good indicator of which schools have gotten the most talent infused into t

Queens Varsity Boys The Maru brothers of Academy of American Studies  once again finished 1-2. Umed ran 16:52 and Anand ran 17:12. Unfortunately, Giuseppe Gambino did not race for HS for Construction  and that had a big impact on the team race. Francis Lewis  claimed the title with a 6 point win over Metropolitan Campus . This was the closest boys race of the day.   Projected Top 4 Teams : 1. HS for Construction                        ❌ 2. Francis Lewis                       

Queens Varsity Boys – 9:20 AM The Queens boys race is always one of the most difficult to predict. This one looks like a two-team race between #12   HS for Construction  and #11 Francis Lewis . #14 Metropolitan Campus and #15 Academy   of American Studies  will battle for third. It’s been a particularly disappointing season for American Studies because two of their returning top 5 runners never made it off of the inactive list.   Projected Top 4 Teams : 1. HS for Constructio

With Borough Championships next week, this past weekend was a pretty light week for the PSAL. During the week at different courses across the city, the PSAL held the Borough Championships for freshmen and sophomores. Freshman/Sophomore Borough Championships - Various Courses around NYC   Staten Island  - Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex   Freshman Boys Team Champ: MSIT Individual Champ: Tristan Acevedo (Susan Wagner)   Sophomore Boys Team Champ: MSIT Individual Champ: Scott Kel

This past weekend, most PSAL teams who raced did so at the prestigious Manhattan Invitational. But we’ll start with those who did not.   Fordham Developmental #2 The Townsend Harris  girls won the Fordham Developmental Varsity race on Friday evening. Junior Natalia Piszczatowski won the race in 17:15. The Bayside  girls were 2 nd , led by the 2 nd place finish of Jessica Ryan in 17:30. Boys and Girls  finished 7 th .   The Boys and Girls  boys finished 5 th , led by Justin T

The prestigious Manhattan College Cross Country Invitational will be held this Saturday, October 11 th . It’s a day of non-stop racing...

Unlike most weekends, all but one PSAL team remained in the city for a meet at Van Cortlandt.   Girls   PSAL Marty Lewis Borough...

Whatever suspense there might have been about who will emerge on top come November was pretty much put to bed this weekend. It’s quite...

Girls Bob Pratt Invitational – Sunken Meadow State Park In the Varsity Red Race, Bronx Science  finished 8 th and Riverdale/Kingsbridge...