PSAL City Championship Recap

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 by Yousef Abdelhakim of Midwood in 17:27. He was followed by Marco Arrojo of Lab Museum (17:56) and Aden Thom of Columbia Secondary. All three of these boys qualified for the NYS Federation Meet.

Let’s look back at what we said in our preview:

Contenders: Yousef Abdelhakim (Midwood), Marco Arrojo (Lab Museum), Aden Thom (Columbia Secondary), Leopold Lussier (WESS), Jaisimha Dattatreyan (Lab Museum), Collin Toung (Manhattan Center), Jayron Salazar (Thomas Edison), David Kolaczko (Townsend Harris), Mason Tejada (RKA), Nicholas Allegretti (CSIHS/McCown)

Actual Results:

Yousef Abdelhakim (Midwood)          1^st

Marco Arrojo (Lab Museum)              2^nd

Aden Thom (Columbia Secondary)    3^rd

Leopold Lussier (WESS)                      5^th

Jaisimha Dattatreyan (Lab Museum) 6^th

Collin Toung (Manhattan Center)       4^th

Jayron Salazar (Thomas Edison)         7^th

David Kolaczko (Townsend Harris)     Did not run

Mason Tejada (RKA)                           9^th

Nicholas Allegretti (CSIHS/McCown) 8^th

Pretty good, no?

Girls Individual Race

Unlike the boys individual race, the girls race did not have any qualifiers for the Federation Meet, which is the exact opposite of last year. Rebecca Lin of HS of Fashion Industries won the race in 22:18. Julia Jackowska of Eleanor Roosevelt was 2^nd.

Let’s look back at what we said in our preview:

Contenders: Makayla McKenzie (Dewitt Clinton), Salimata Timite (Evander Childs), Rebecca Lin (HS of Fashion Industries), Julia Jackowska (Eleanor Roosevelt), Vesper Hume (Eleanor Roosevelt), Kylie Comas (Benjamin Cardozo), Queena Zhu (CSIHS/McCown), Bia Cialino (Curtis), Avery Taggart (Curtis)

Actual Results:

Makayla McKenzie (Dewitt Clinton)               6^th

Salimata Timite (Evander Childs)                   8^th

Rebecca Lin (HS of Fashion Industries)          1^st

Julia Jackowska (Eleanor Roosevelt)              2^nd

Vesper Hume (Eleanor Roosevelt)                 Did not run

Kylie Comas (Benjamin Cardozo)                   10^th

Queena Zhu (CSIHS/McCown)                       Did not run

Bia Cialino (Curtis)                                          Did not run

Avery Taggart (Curtis)                                     12^th

Ok, so not as good as our boys predictions.

Boys Championship Race

Bronx Science finished 2-4-12-15-20 to outrun Brooklyn Tech by 8 points. MSIT finished 12 points behind Brooklyn Tech for 3^rd. Stuyvesant took the final Feds qualifying spot with 165 points.

The following boys qualified as individuals:

Ezekiel Cohen - LaGuardia

Umed Maru – Academy of American Studies

Tristan Acevedo - Susan Wagner

Andrea Gallina - Susan Wagner

Jasper Graham – Hunter College Campus

Ramsey Hansen – Bard

Anand Maru – Academy of American Studies

Wilson Margolis - John Jay Campus

Declan Olds - HS of American Studies

Team-by-team breakdowns 

Bronx Science

Predicted Finish:        1^st                    Actual Finish:  1^st 

Benjamin Berman did not race. While we hope everything is fine with Berman, this takes the Bronx Science strategy of never racing to the extreme. Unfortunately, we won’t get to see if he would’ve broken the PSAL record. Luckily for Berman, his teammates were still able to defend their title and if he’s healthy, he’ll get a chance to race in two weeks at Feds. Senior Liam Hernandez picked up the slack with a 2^nd place finish in 16:33. Christopher Thom ran 16:38 to finish 4^th. This is the 3^rd fastest performance by a sophomore all time in the PSAL.

Brooklyn Tech

Predicted Finish:        2^nd                   Actual Finish:  2^nd 

Alexander Jones won the PSAL Championship in 16:17, but after that Bronx Science beat Tech at the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th runner to put the title away. They only had 6 boys finish the race, (Dillon Chapuli doesn’t appear in the results), so the score should have been closer. Tough to tell if the championship would have changed hands if he finishes where he should have.

MSIT

Predicted Finish:        3^rd                    Actual Finish:  3^rd

Simon Saffayeh led the way for MSIT, finishing 5^th in 16:40. Adam Zarrilli ran a phenomenal race, running 16:44 to finish 8^th, nearly a minute faster than he ran at Boroughs. It was a great overall effort by the boys from Staten Island, but 3^rd was the best they were going to finish.

Stuyvesant

Predicted Finish:        4^th                    Actual Finish:  4^th

Stuyvesant’s front-runner, junior Raphael Ramot finished 10^th in 17:02. Their 2-5 runners finished 24-37-44-50 to give them a 165 point tally, nipping Susan Wagner by 6 points for the final Federations qualifying spot.

John Jay Campus

Predicted Finish:        5^th                    Actual Finish:  10^th 

Wilson Margolis finished 27^th in 17:59 to qualify as an individual for Feds. Only six boys finished the race for John Jay. It seems like Henry Bissell was the missing link. If he finishes near Margolis like he did at Boroughs, their team score would have dropped around 60 points, placing them 6^th. Tough break for a young and up-and-coming squad.

LaGuardia

Predicted Finish:        6^th                    Actual Finish:  9^th 

Ezekiel Cohen’s fantastic senior season continued with a 3^rd place finish in 16:34. After that there was a substantial drop-off. A few of their boys couldn’t quite match what they’d been running all season.

Susan Wagner

Predicted Finish:        7^th                    Actual Finish:   5^th

The fastest freshman in PSAL history, Tristan Acevedo, ran 16:42 to finish 7^th overall. Andrea Gallina finished 11^th in 17:12. Those two front-runners offset having a 5^th man barely under 20 minutes and this squad managed to just miss qualifying for states.

HS for Math, Science and Engineering

Predicted Finish:        8^th                    Actual Finish:  6^th

A vintage HSMSE performance, with less than a minute spread between their 1^st and 5^th runners. Wren Hansen, who we think was probably running at less than 100%, could only muster a 32^nd place finish in 18:15. Still, for a team with no medalists, this is a great finish.

Hunter

Predicted Finish:        9^th                    Actual Finish:  7^th

Jasper Graham finished 14^th in 17:28, a little slower than he ran as a sophomore. Lowen Zuo ran a personal best 18:20 to finish 35^th.

Bard

Predicted Finish:        10^th                  Actual Finish:  8^th 

Ramsey Hansen ran 17:45 to finish 21^st, down a little from last year’s place and time. He did manage to qualify for the Federation meet, though. After that, a solid pack with 4 boys between 18:32 and 19:14 helped them finish in the top ten for the second straight year. Their top 3 boys are graduating, so next year they’ll need to rebuild. Sophomore Lennox Harrell and Freshman Leo Brody will be a solid duo to build around. And you can bet the girls coaches in the league are anxious to see where Weston Macari’s PPYRC sister will land.

Academy of American Studies

Predicted Finish:        11^th                  Actual Finish:  11^th 

The Maru brothers, Umed (6^th, 16:42) and Anand (17^th, 17:34) both qualified for Feds. Unfortunately, the tough part about being a small school is building around talent like this. Only one of their teammates could run under 20 minutes. Alexander Charles finished 42^nd in 18:34.

Francis Lewis

Predicted Finish:        12^th                  Actual Finish:  15^th 

Eric Lin finished 56^th in 19:09 and they had a solid 1-5 spread of just over a minute. Unfortunately, only one of their top 5 could muster a faster time than Boroughs.

Metropolitan Campus

Predicted Finish:        13^th                  Actual Finish:  12^th 

Amrit Singh ran a PR of 18:18 to finish 33^rd. Enough of their boys ran faster than they did at Boroughs, so they were able to beat their predicted finish of 13^th.

HS of American Studies

Predicted Finish:        14^th                  Actual Finish:  13^th 

Declan Olds ran 18:03 to finish 28^th and qualify for states. 2^nd finisher Aidan Engel ran a Van Cortlandt PR to help them beat their predicted finish of 14^th.

James Madison

Predicted Finish:        15^th                  Actual Finish:  16^th 

Only top finisher Dylan Lugo (57^th in 19:11) ran faster than he did at Boroughs, hence the last place finish.

HS for Construction

Predicted Finish:        16^th                  Actual Finish:  14^th 

Without their top runner, Giuseppe Gambino, we predicted this squad to finish last. But thanks to some solid running by their 4^th and 5^th runners, they were able to finish ahead of two other teams.

Girls Championship Race

LaGuardia did not have their A game, but it didn’t matter as they won by nearly 40 points. Susan Wagner was 2^nd with 84 points, Stuyvesant 3^rd with 100 points and Brooklyn Tech grabbed the final Federation qualifying spot with 119 points. Then there was a nearly 100 point drop off to 5^th place.

This year’s impact of freshman on the girls side: Take a look at the top six teams this season and how many current or former Fast Freshman™ they ran in the race… and then compare that to teams 7-12.

1. LaGuardia                3          (Douglas, Backus, Grunden)

2. Susan Wagner         2          (Rodriguez-King, Jackson)

3. Stuyvesant              1          (Brody)

4. Brooklyn Tech         2          (Haidt, Craig)

5. Bronx Science          1          (McDonough)

6. Hunter                     1          (Yirmiyahu)

_______________________________

7. RKA                         0

8. Townsend Harris     0

9. Tottenville               1          (Heck)

10. Beacon                  0

11. Francis Lewis         0

12. HSMSE                  1          (Estep)

The following girls qualified as individuals in this race:

Melia Murphy - The Clinton School

Maeve Heck - Tottenville

Eva Marmolejos - Columbia Secondary

Noa Yirmiyahu – Hunter College Campus

Addison Ireland - Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

Phoebe Estep - HS for Math, Science and Engineering

Natalia Piszczatowski - Townsend Harris

Aiko Fitzgerald - HS for Math, Science and Engineering

Saraya Vichaidith - Bronx Science

Lily Rustin - Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

Jessica Ryan - Bayside

Milani Modeste - James Madison

Team-by-team breakdowns

LaGuardia

Predicted Finish:        1^st                    Actual Finish:  1^st 

Naomi Douglas defended her title in 18:43. Genevieve Backus ran probably the best race of the day, running a huge PR of 20:09 to finish 3^rd overall. That more than made up for Gwyneth Shupp and Virginia Begley not having their best day. Fast Freshman™ June Grunden ran a PR of 21:19 to finish 12^th overall. If you take her out of the race, it’s likely they do not win. The last five PSAL team champions have had a freshman in their top five.

Susan Wagner

Predicted Finish:        2^nd                   Actual Finish:  2^nd 

Only one of their top five, Malina Rodriguez King ran faster than she did at Boroughs, but it was still enough to hold off the hard-charging Stuyvesant girls for 2^nd place overall. This team doesn’t graduate anyone, so they’ll be a force to reckon with next season, too.

Brooklyn Tech

Predicted Finish:        3^rd                    Actual Finish:  4^th 

Francesca Haidt finished 5^th place in 20:38 and Tatiana O’Neal ran a PR of 21:06 to finish 9^th overall. However, four Stuy girls finished before Evelyn Craig, which dropped them to 4^th place. This squad ‘s top eight runners from Saturday all return next year, so they’ll be another team that will challenge for a title next year.

Stuyvesant

Predicted Finish:        4^th                    Actual Finish:  3^rd

Their first four finishers crossed the line within 32 seconds, which is not something we had seen from them this season. Senior Jiya Patel ran 21:25 to finish 14^th overall and Fast Freshman™ Eliam Brody finished 16^th in 21:35. That helped make up for the fact that their usual top 2 runners didn’t have their best days. Their 5^th finisher didn’t cross the line until 45^th place and that’s what enabled Susan Wagner to hold them off.

Hunter College Campus

Predicted Finish:        5^th                    Actual Finish:  6^th 

Junior Noa Yirmiyahu finished 13^th in 21:23. Their 2-5 runners are two Freshmen and two Sophomores and their 2-7 spread was less than a minute so the future is bright for the Hawks.

Bronx Science

Predicted Finish:        6^th                    Actual Finish:  5^th

Top runner Sally Kramer hasn’t raced since Columbus Day weekend, but without her this 5^th place finish was probably the best they could do. Saranya Vichaidith ran 21:52 to finish 25^th and qualify for the Federation Meet. Gretchen Kamm and Hazel Lyons-Baum finished 34^th and 35^th, which helped them hold off Hunter. They lose a few to graduation, so they’ll have to find some younger talent to fill those holes.

Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

Predicted Finish:        7^th                    Actual Finish:  7^th

One of our favorite teams throughout the season, this small squad jumped from off of the radar into the top ten thanks to hard work of sophomores Lily Rustin and Addison Ireland, both of whom qualified for the Federation Meet. Ofelia Villanueva ran a VCP PR of 22:15 to finish 31^st, just outside the medals.

Beacon

Predicted Finish:        8^th                    Actual Finish:  10^th

Senior Ada Franco was the only one to run faster than she did at Boroughs, running 22:20 to finish 33^rd. Normal top runner Ilsa Gitt had an off day, but this squad had the fastest group of freshmen in the city this year, so it will be interesting to see how this program builds off of that.

Townsend Harris

Predicted Finish:        9^th                    Actual Finish:  8^th 

Natalia Piszczatowski ran 21:46 to finish 21^st and qualify for the Federation meet. Missing their 3^rd finisher from Boroughs, their 2-5 runners finished with just less than a 90-second spread to finish in the top ten yet again.  

Francis Lewis

Predicted Finish:        10^th                  Actual Finish:  11^th

5^th finisher Selena Li ran 30 seconds faster than she did at Boroughs, but the absence of top runner Daphne Lin was too much to overcome. As a result, they dropped out of the top ten. Emily Gao finished 30^th in 22:07 to grab the final medal.

Columbia Secondary

Predicted Finish:        11^th                  Actual Finish:  13^th 

Eva Marmolejos ran 21:09 to finish 10^th and qualify for the Federation meet. Bella Tappan and Ilona Shneerson improved since Boroughs, but sophomore Diana Wieder was unable to repeat her excellent race from Sophomore championships, so this squad fell to 13^th. Still impressive considering we didn’t know who they were to start the year.

HS for Math, Science and Engineering

Predicted Finish:        12^th                  Actual Finish:  12^th 

Phoebe Estep (19^th in 21:41) and Aiko Fitzgerald (24^th in 21:50) both qualified for states. A strong race from Daphne Bieker (74^th in 23:58), helped make up for the fact that they were missing their top freshman Cameron Hetherington.

Tottenville

Predicted Finish:        13^th                  Actual Finish:  9^th

For the second straight year we disrespected the girls from Staten Island. Led by Fast Freshman™ Maeve Heck’s 4^th place finish in 20:10, they jumped into the top ten when their 3-6 runners finished within 30 seconds of one another.

James Madison

Predicted Finish:        14^th                  Actual Finish:  17^th

Milani Modeste ran 22:06 to finish 29^th and grab the final individual qualifier for the Federation meet. However, all seven of their girls failed to repeat their performances from Boroughs and they fell to 17^th place overall.

John Jay

Predicted Finish:        15^th                  Actual Finish:  20^th

Matilda Quinn did not finish the race, which added nearly 120 points to their score and dropped them all the way to 20^th place. She had a wonderful year and it’s sad to see it end like this.

The Clinton School

Predicted Finish:        16^th                  Actual Finish:  14^th

Melia Murphy ran 18:53 to finish runner-up to Naomi Douglas for the 2^nd time in 3 weeks. 2^nd runner Ella Jenson ran 22:57 to finish 48^th, which is about 40 seconds faster than her time at Boroughs, which placed her 48^th, about 30 places higher than she was in the Borough merge. Both girls return next year, so it’s something to build around.

West End Secondary

Predicted Finish:        17^th                  Actual Finish:  18^th

Charlotte Widensky ran a PR of 22:27 to finish 36^th overall. Too many of her teammates couldn’t duplicate their borough performances and made it difficult to rise further up the standings.

Bard

Predicted Finish:        18^th                  Actual Finish:  16^th

Eleanor Lewis-Jenkins finished 32^nd in 22:15 and Kylie Chan finished off a fantastic sophomore campaign with a 40^th place finish in 22:34. This team’s entire top five returns next season and Lewis-Jenkins has run faster before, so there’s a lot of promise here, especially if the Weston’s sister ends up here.

Midwood

Predicted Finish:        19^th                  Actual Finish:  15^th

Despite an off race by Niera Eugene, stellar performances by Maya Sullivan and Aya Zaher helped them jump up the team standings to 15^th. Noelle Barone led the way, running 22:45 to finish 44^th overall.

Bayside

Predicted Finish:        20^th                  Actual Finish:  19^th

Jessica Ryan ran 22:00 to finish 28^th and qualify for states. They were never going to duplicate last year’s 6^th place finish, but this is a tough follow up.

HS of American Studies

Predicted Finish:        21^st                  Actual Finish:  21^st

Well, we were right about this one. Each of their girls ran slower than boroughs. That isn’t a recipe for success at Cities.

Boys JV Race

Unsurprisingly, the top 4 teams in the varsity race were also the top 4 in the JV race. Bronx Science won with 27 points, led by a victory by Reed Argiropoulos in 17:46. MSIT went 6-8-10-12-13 to grab 2^nd place over Brooklyn Tech. Like in the Varsity race, the Stuyvesant boys finished 4^th.

Girls JV Race

Brooklyn Tech finished 2-4-5-7-8 to run away with the JV race. LaGuardia finished 2^nd, led by River Duerr’s victory in 22:48. Stuyvesant was 3^rd, followed by Bronx Science.

Overall, it was probably a slower day due to the surprisingly warm and humid weather for November. If you hung out near the finish line and award ceremonies you got to see the elation of the winning teams, but also some interesting interactions between coaches. And you might have even heard some interesting commentary from one of the girls coaches during an awards ceremony that caught some people off guard. We’ll explore that in a separate post later in the week.