2024 Season Preview

Girls

2023 in Review

In 2023, the Hunter College Campus girls team endured a dream season, winning their first ever PSAL Championship with a record-low total 38 points and went on to finish 6th at the NYS Federation meet, the highest finish of any girls team in PSAL history. Hunter’s Ella Cohen won the Championship race, followed by LaGuardia sophomore Naomi Douglas.

The Stuyvesant Girls finished 2nd, followed by the LaGuardia girls, meaning Manhattan schools took the Top 3 spots. In fact, Manhattan schools took 6 of the top 12 spots (Beacon 6th, HSMSE 8th, and Clinton School 12th)

The Championship Race saw 28 runners dip under 22:00 for the 5k, including 4 who broke 20 minutes.

2024 Preview

The Hunter Girls graduated 3 of their top 6 and are unlikely to replace them, so it will be a tough repeat for the Hawks.

1. Brooklyn Tech – The 2021 Champs return everyone from their 5th place team, including 3rd place finish Susanna Sharp and rising sophomore Francesca Haidt, who both broke 11 minutes in the 3000m last outdoor season. With nearly 6000 students in the school, it’s likely they’ll 1-2 freshmen to put them over the top.

2. Fiorello LaGuardia – Last year’s 3rd place finish was the school’s best in history. Led by the best trio in the city, Naomi Douglas, Genevieve Backus, and Gwyneth Shupp, finding a solid 4-5 will put them atop the league come November. If they get a club kid for the 3rd year in a row, watch out!

3. Stuyvesant – The 2022 Champs return all but 2 of their top 11 runners from last year. However, unlike Tech and LaGuardia they do not have a front-runner to give them a small score up front. Their strength lies in their pack, which, if it plays out correctly, could run them back into the Winner’s Circle

4. Bronx Science – The Wolverines return 6 of their top 7 from last year’s 4th place squad and will be led yet again by senior, Rossitsa Mina Petrova.

5. Hunter College Campus – If they can find a 4th and a 5th, Ella Cohen, Noa Yirimiyahu and Emma Baltrusaitis is a trio that would be second only to LaGuardia’s.

6. High School for Math, Science and Engineering – Last year’s 9th place squad returns everyone and is led by rising Sophomore Phoebe Estep

7. Susan Wagner – Last year’s 7th place team graduated 4 of their top 7.

8. Beacon – Last year’s 6th place team graduated 4 of their top 5.

Other teams to watch…

Forest Hills, MSIT, Townsend Harris, Tottenville

Other Top Individuals to Watch not mentioned above:

Melia Murphy – The Clinton School

Emma Savonije – Stuyvesant

Eleanor Lewis Jenkins - Bard

Haley Rodriguez – HS of American Studies (Bronx)

Margaret Mumford – Forest Hills

Lelaina Madrazo – Townsend Harris

Top Freshman (that we know about)

Aisha Wajid – Dewitt Clinton – The VO2 Max product ran 2:12 in the 800 this summer and can flat out run.

Evelyn Craig – Brooklyn Tech – A product of Sunset Park MS, Craig won the Youth Millrose 800.

Boys

2023 in Review

In 2023, the Brooklyn Tech boys outran an extremely talented Hunter College Campus team, 46-55. At the Federation meet, the PSAL put not one, but two teams on the podium for the first time in history, with Tech finishing 2nd and Hunter finishing 4th. The Stuyvesant Boys were 3rd at Cities and Bronx Science was 4th.

Hunter’s Shane Murphy (Penn) and Henry Koike-Sieira (Columbia) finished 1-2 at Cities, with Murphy following that up with a 2nd place finish at Feds.

The Championship Race saw 15 runners break 17 minutes and 2 break 16 minutes.

2024 Preview

1. Brooklyn Tech – The heavy favorite to win their 4th straight PSAL Championship, despite graduating 3 of their top 4. They’ll be led by Alexander Jones.

2. Bronx Science – Last year’s 4th place finishers return everyone and will probably come the closest to dethroning Brooklyn Tech. They’ll be led by junior Ben Berman, who finished 13th at the NYS Federation meet, and Bansi Pande

3. MSIT – Last year’s 5th place finishers return their top 3, led by Simon Saffayeh and Justin Berka.

4. Stuyvesant – Last year’s 3rd place finishers return 5 of their top seven, and will be led by Raphael Ramot and James Anderson.  

5. Hunter College Campus – Tough to know who will be returning for this team. If four of their top 7 do return, they’ll certainly be a contender to qualify for the state meet.

6. Curtis – This team returns all 7 varsity runners from its 7th place finish

7. High School for Math, Science and Engineering – Lost 5 of their top 7 from last year’s 8th place squad, but you have to think that a team which seemingly places their freshmen team in the top 3 year after year will eventually qualify for states.

Other teams to watch…

Francis Lewis, HS of American Studies, Fiorello LaGuardia, John Jay Campus

Other Top Individuals to Watch not mentioned above:

Amos Pres – Brooklyn Tech

Jack McCurry – HS of American Studies

Kavi Sieg – Brooklyn Tech

Jasper Graham – Hunter College Campus

Oliver Flor – Hunter College Campus

Randy Nieva - Curtis