Borough Championship Recap

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                                   ❌

3. Metropolitan Campus                    ❌

4. Academy of American Studies      ✅

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Francis Lewis

2. Metropolitan Campus

3. HS for Construction 

4. Academy of American Studies

Queens Varsity Girls

The closest race of the day was the first girls race of the day. After 5 runners had crossed for each team, Townsend Harris and Francis Lewis were tied. Naomi Vender-Wilson of Townsend Harris finished 12^th to break the tie and give the title to Townsend Harris. Natalia Piszczatowski of Townsend Harris won the race in 21:21.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. Townsend Harris                 ✅

2. Francis Lewis                       ✅

3. Bayside                                ✅

4. Metropolitan Campus        ✅

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Townsend Harris

2. Francis Lewis

3. Bayside

4. Metropolitan Campus

Manhattan Varsity Boys

This was also a very close race, but not as close as it could have been. HSMSE ran without its top runner and Hunter and Stuyvesant were both missing a top-3 runner. Stuyvesant still managed to outrun the other Manhattan teams, beating LaGuardia by 11 points. Ezekiel Cohen of LaGuardia won the race in 16:34.50, which was the fastest time of the day. Bard rounded out the top three teams.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. Stuyvesant              ✅

2. LaGuardia               ✅

3. HSMSE                    ❌

4. Hunter                     ✅

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Stuyvesant

2. LaGuardia

3. Bard

4. Hunter

Manhattan Varsity Girls

The girls from LaGuardia easily won their second Borough Championship in a row have there isn’t a single PSAL team even close to them. Naomi Douglas blazed her way to victory in an astonishing 18:33, which is the 2^nd fastest time at Van Cortlandt in PSAL history, behind only Nnenna Lynch of Hunter. Melia Murphy of The Clinton School ran 18:44 to finish 2^nd. Her time places her 4^th all-time in PSAL history. The Stuyvesant girls were a distant second.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. LaGuardia    ✅

2. Stuyvesant  ✅ 

3. Beacon         ❌

4. Hunter          ❌

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. LaGuardia   

2. Stuyvesant

3. Hunter

4. Beacon

Bronx Varsity Boys

The Bronx Science boys won easily, led by Liam Hernandez, who won the race in 16:48.

In our preview, we predicted that fewer than 3.5 of their top seven boys would race.

And we were right! Only 2 of them raced. Easy money.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. Bronx Science                                  ✅

2. HS of American Studies                  ✅

3. Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy   ❌

4. Harry Truman                                   ❌

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Bronx Science

2. HS of American Studies

3. Harry Truman

4. Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

Bronx Varsity Girls

Bronx Science, running without Sally Kramer, topped Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy by 7 points. Lily Rustin of RKA won the race, followed closely by her teammate, Addison Ireland.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. Bronx Science                                  ✅

2. Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academ     ✅

3. HS of American Studies                  ✅

4. DeWitt Clinton                                 ✅

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Bronx Science                                 

2. Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

3. HS of American Studies

4. Dewitt Clinton        

Staten Island Varsity Boys

The MSIT boys won easily, followed by Susan Wagner. Simon Saffeyeh ran 16:52 to capture the borough title.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. MSIT                        ✅

2. Susan Wagner         ✅

3. CSIHS/McCown      ❌

4. Curtis                       ❌

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. MSIT

2. Susan Wagner

3. Curtis

4. CSIHS/McCown

Staten Island Varsity Girls

Susan Wagner placed 4 runners in the top 5 to win with a total of 27 points. Tottenville, led by Freshman Maeve Heck’s win in 20:14, finished 2^nd.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. Susan Wagner        ✅

2. Tottenville               ✅

3. CSIHS/McCown      ❌

4. Curtis                       ❌

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Susan Wagner

2. Tottenville

3. Curtis

4. MSIT                                               

Brooklyn Varsity Boys

Brooklyn Tech put together their finest team performance of the year, and will certainly hope that this provides momentum heading into the City Championship meet. They finished 1-2-3-4-6 to win with a total of only 16 points. Alexander Jones and Aidan Fleming finished 1-2, both breaking 17 minutes. John Jay finished 7-8-9-11-12-13 to finish 2^nd. James Madison grabbed the bronze.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. Brooklyn Tech         ✅

2. John Jay Campus    ✅

3. James Madison       ✅

4. Midwood        ✅

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Brooklyn Tech

2. John Jay Campus

3. James Madison

4. Midwood

Brooklyn Varsity Girls

Brooklyn Tech won this race easily, even without one of their top 2 runners. Matilda Quinn of John Jay won the race in a quick 20:26. The James Madison girls showed up and grabbed 2^nd place.

Projected Top 4 Teams:

1. Brooklyn Tech         ✅

2. Midwood                ❌

3. John Jay Campus   ❌

4. James Madison      ❌

Actual Top 4 Teams:

1. Brooklyn Tech        

2. James Madison      

3. John Jay Campus

4. Midwood

The following Boys teams qualified for the City Championship: (16 teams)

Bronx Science

Brooklyn Tech

MSIT

Stuyvesant

Hunter College Campus

HS of Math, Science and Engineering

Academy of American Studies

John Jay Campus

HS for Construction

Bard

HS of American Studies

LaGuardia

Metropolitan Campus

Francis Lewis

James Madison

Susan Wagner

Quick Notes:

-       Brooklyn Tech closed the gap, but Bronx Science is still the favorite. In two weeks, the bulk of their varsity team will run their first serious race at Van Cortlandt this season.

-       MSIT seems a solid third - won’t catch 2^nd nor be caught by 4^th 

-       The race for the last Federation qualifier will be a tight one between a number of teams, but the three leading candidates are Susan Wagner, Stuyvesant and John Jay Campus

-       Benjamin Berman (Bronx Science) has a real shot to break the PSAL record at Van Cortlandt, which is 15:41.

-       Borough Breakdown: Manhattan (5 teams), Queens (4 teams), Brooklyn (3 teams), , Bronx (2 teams), Staten Island (2 teams)

The following Girls teams qualified for the City Championship: (21 teams)

LaGuardia

Bronx Science

Brooklyn Tech

Stuyvesant

Susan Wagner

Beacon

Townsend Harris

Bayside

James Madison

HS for Math, Science and Engineering

Francis Lewis

Tottenville

John Jay Campus

Hunter College Campus

Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

HS of American Studies

Columbia Secondary School

The Clinton School

West End Secondary

Midwood

Bard

Quick Notes:

-       In the merge, LaGuardia totals fewer than 40 points. Hunter’s record from 2023 is 38.

-       The remaining 3 Federation spots are most likely up for grabs between Susan Wagner, Hunter, Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech and Bronx Science.

-       The Clinton School qualified for the Championship Race, so we’ll get a Douglas-Murphy rematch in two weeks!

-       Borough Breakdown: Manhattan (9 teams), Brooklyn (4 teams), Bronx (3 teams), Queens (3 teams), Staten Island (2 teams)