Manhattan Invitational Preview

The prestigious Manhattan College Cross Country Invitational will be held this Sunday, October 13th. It’s a day of non-stop racing from the first race at 9:03 AM to the last race at 4:08 PM. Schools from all of the northeast and beyond will descend on Van Cortlandt Park for a day of racing they won’t soon forget. Of course, the Ghosts are here to help you navigate the schedule to find your favorite PSAL (and MSAL) schools.

The day opens with the 1.5 mile USATF NY Club race, which was installed as a way to keep clubs from entering the Intermediate Races with the identity of a fake middle school.

From there, the Freshman run, then the sophomores, then the Junior Varsity and finally the Varsity. The Freshmen and Intermediates run 1.5 miles and all other races run 2.5 miles. The 2.5 mile course starts in front of the tennis courts and ends at the Broadway finish.

Here’s how to find your favorite team:

9:10  - Boys Freshman A – HSMSE, Bard, Manhattan Center

9:16 – Girls Freshman A – HSMSE, Manhattan Center, Stuyvesant

9:23 – Boys Freshman B – Brooklyn Tech, RKA, Bronx Science

9:29 – Girls Freshman B – RKA, Brooklyn Tech

9:42 – Girls Freshman C – Bard

9:55 – Girls Freshman D – LaGuardia

10:02 – Boys Freshman E – LaGuardia

10:28 – Boys Sophomore A – Bronx Science, LaGuardia

10:41 – Girls Sophomore A – Hunter College, Stuyvesant, Clinton School

10:54 – Boys Sophomore B – Brooklyn Tech, HSMSE

11:07 – Girls Sophomore B – Brooklyn Tech

11:20 – Boys Sophomore C – Stuyvesant

11:44 – Girls JV A – Stuyvesant

11:56 – Boys JV B – Stuyvesant

12:08 – Girls JV B – Bronx Science, John Jay Campus

12:32 – Girls JV C – LaGuardia

12:44 – Boys JV D – Brooklyn Tech, John Jay Campus

12:56 – Girls JV D – Brooklyn Tech, Francis Lewis

1:08 – Boys JV E – HSMSE

Varsity Races

Last year, the PSAL enjoyed a lot of success in the varsity races. The Hunter girls won their letter race and the boys from Brooklyn Tech, Hunter and Stuyvesant all won their respective letter races. Several PSAL teams will contend in their letter races, so we’ll see if this success can be duplicated.

Naturally, the first three varsity races for both boys and girls feature almost no PSAL teams. The Clinton School boys run in Varsity A at 1:32, which was obviously an oversight by the meet directors who love to keep the PSAL coaches at the park as long as possible.

The Girls Varsity D races goes off at 2:32 and features PSAL favorite LaGuardia and superstar Naomi Douglas, who is favored to win the race. The LaGuardia girls will have an outside shot to walk away with a trophy. The HSMSE girls and their tenacious pack running are also entered in this race.

The Girls Eastern States Championship is next 2:56. This race features Hunter College Campus. Hunter hasn’t really shown the ability to even field a varsity team of 5 this season, so this is no doubt to showcase Ella Cohen, who obviously deserves it. But this is a very high-profile race, so you never know who might show up on the line in the Hunter purple and yellow.

The Varsity Boys D race fires off at 3:08 and features Bard and LaGuardia. This will be a nice test for their top runners, Ramsey Hansen (Bard) and Ezekiel Cohen (LaGuardia).

Next up is the Varsity Boys E race at 3:20. This race features four PSAL teams: John Jay Campus, Stuyvesant, Manhattan Center and HSMSE. This race could be a good preview of the Manhattan Borough Championship two weeks from now.

The Girls Varsity E race at 3:32 will feature two of the top 3 PSAL teams: Brooklyn Tech and Stuyvesant. Brooklyn Tech looks like they’ll contend for the win here. Bard rounds out the trio of PSAL schools in this race.

The Bronx Science Boys are the lone PSAL team in the Boys Varsity F race at 3:44. If they run everyone (which is a big if, since they rarely do), they could take home the team title.

The meet directors threw the rest of the PSAL girls teams in the Varsity Girls F race at 3:56. This includes Manhattan Center, Beacon, Bronx Science, John Jay Campus, Francis Lewis, and RKA.  Yes, SIX PSAL teams in one invitational race.

The final race of the day is the Boys Varsity G race at 4:08. It features PSAL favorite Brooklyn Tech, Benjamin Cardozo and Beacon. Tech’s Alexander Jones will contend for the individual win in this race and his team should contend for the team title.

PSAL Future Stars?

The Intermediate Races feature 5 schools from the Middle School Athletic League (MSAL). These schools are reigning outdoor track champ MS 67Q Louis Pasteur, reigning boys cross country champion The Computer School and reigning girls cross country champion Sunset Park. Manhattan’s Robert Wagner MS and the Bronx’s MS 343 Academy of Applied Mathematics and Technology round out the field.

In last year’s race, current Brooklyn Tech freshman Evelyn Craig finished 2nd and current John Jay Campus freshman Hollis Albaeck finished 17th for Sunset Park. Manhattan Center freshman Collin Toung finished 12th for Success Academy (non-MSAL).