Week Five Recap

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

Girls

PSAL Marty Lewis Borough Challenge – Van Cortlandt Park

The day began with the Freshman race, won again by Beacon. Their group finished 2-5-8-10-13-14-16-17-23-26. TEN of the first 26 finishers! The race was won by LaGuardia’s June Grunden in 10:37, their third freshman to break 10:40 in the last 4 years.

Brooklyn Tech ran their varsity in the 1.5 mile novice race, and would have swept, but LaGuardia’s Gwyneth Shupp and Hunter’s Noa Yirmiyahu also ran. Tech’s Evelyn Craig ran 10:18 to win.

The Girls Varsity race was won by LaGuardia, racing without it’s 2^nd runner, with a total of 44 points. Naomi Douglas ran 18:48 to win, followed by Melia Murphy of The Clinton School in 19:12. The rest of the top 5 in the team standings were Stuyvesant, Susan Wagner, Beacon and Townsend Harris.

The Individual Race was won by Matilda Quinn of John Jay Campus, running 21:00.

Boys

Saint Anthony’s Invitational – Sunken Meadow State Park

The only PSAL boys team to leave the city this weekend were the boys from Metropolitan Campus. They finished 9^th of 17 teams in the Varsity I race of the Saint Anthony’s Invitational at Sunken Meadow. They were led by Sant Ortiz Mejia’s 31^st place finish in 19:21 over the difficult 5k course.

PSAL Marty Lewis Borough Challenge – Van Cortlandt Park

In the boys freshman race, Stuyvesant scored 45 points to record a 20 point victory over perennial freshman powerhouse Bronx Science. The Stuy boys went 5-6-8-9-24. Joseph Manzo of John Jay Campus won the race in 9:09.

Elijah Hilaire of Medgar Evers won the Novice Race in 9:42.

Umed Maru of Academy of American Studies won the race in 16:48, outkicking LaGuardia’s Ezekiel Cohen, who ran 16:49. Brooklyn Tech won the team race with 76 points, but again ran without Alexander Jones. Their top finisher was Abraham Wilchins, who finished 10^th in 17:41. Susan Wagner finished 2^nd, led by the 5-6 finish of Andrea Gallina (17:19) and freshman Tristan Acevedo (17:20). Acevedo’s time is a new PSAL freshman record, breaking the previous record held by fellow Falcon Michael Rodriguez-King. The next 5 teams in the standings were all from Manhattan: Stuyvesant, HSMSE, LaGuardia, Bard, and Hunter.

Collin Toung of Manhattan Center won the Individual Race in 19:01.

BHXC PSAL Rankings – After Week Five

Girls

1. Fiorello LaGuardia - Already 5 girls under 22 minutes, probably more to come.

2. Brooklyn Tech - Ran novice this weekend. Not much more revealed.3. Susan Wagner - Melisa Davila has consistently been their top runner, although two of her teammates have faster PRs from last season. Plenty of talent in reserve with this group.

4. Bronx Science - Only 2 of their top 7 ran this weekend. Lots of juniors probably taking SATs.

5. Stuyvesant - Finished 2^nd this weekend, but were far closer to full strength than the teams they beat.

6. Beacon - With 5 girls under 25 minutes, adding some of their talented freshmen to the mix could be a recipe for success.

7. Tottenville - Took the weekend off.

8. Townsend Harris - Finished 5^th this weekend. Will need a closer pack in order to catch the teams ahead of them.

9. Hunter - Finished 7^th this weekend missing one of their sophomores and with their top runner running novice.

10. Francis Lewis - Finished 6^th this weekend without their 5^th girl.

11. HSMSE - Finished 8^th this weekend, but only had 5 varsity runners.

12. RKA - Took the weekend off.

13. Columbia Secondary School - A new entrant on this list, they have 3 girls under 25 minutes, including this weekend’s 4^th place finisher. If 4 and 5 can improve, they’ll move even higher.

14. John Jay Campus - Matilda Quinn is a top ten runner, but they couldn’t put 5 girls on the line this weekend.

15. The Clinton School - Having the 2^nd fastest runner in the league certainly helps.

Honorable Mentions:

16. James Madison

17. WESS

18. Bard

19. HS of American Studies

20. Bayside

Boys

1. Bronx Science - ran their JV C team this weekend.

2. MSIT - Took the weekend off

3. Brooklyn Tech - Finished 1^st this weekend without their lead runner.

4. Susan Wagner - New arrival to the list, with the best freshman in PSAL history.

5. John Jay Campus - 9^th place this weekend without 3 of their top 5.

6. HSMSE - 4^th place finish this weekend, seemed like they were focused on pack running.

7. Hunter - 7^th place finish missing 2 of their top 5

8. Stuyvesant - 3^rd place finish this weekend, but probably at full strength.

9. LaGuardia - 5^th place finish this weekend, also probably at full strength.

10. Bard - 6^th place finish this weekend, will need 3-5 to run faster.

11. Francis Lewis - 11^th this weekend without their top runner.

12. HS for Construction - 8^th place finish, seems like they were at full strength.

13. Academy of American Studies - 3 under 19, 4-5 still over 24.

14. Metropolitan Campus - Solid showing at Sunken Meadow, 3 under 20, 5 under 21.

15. James Madison - Solid pack right around 20 minutes.

16. Lab Museum - With 2 runners already under 18:30, they could be looking at this program’s best-ever finish at Cities next month.

Honorable Mention:

17. HS for American Studies

18. RKA

19. CSIHS-McCown

20. WESS

21. Harry S Truman

Upcoming Meets…

Fordham Prep Developmental Meet #2 @ Van Cortlandt Park (Friday)

Currently, only Boys and Girls HS is entered.

Manhattan College Invitational @ Van Cortlandt Park

Most PSAL schools racing this weekend will compete here. We will preview it later in the week. So far: Bard, Beacon, Benjamin Cardozo, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, CSIHS/McCown, Columbia Secondary, Curtis, Dewitt Clinton, LaGuardia, Francis Lewis, HS for Construction, HSMSE, HS for Law Enforcement, Hunter, James Madison, John Jay Campus, Lab Museum, Manhattan Center, MSIT, Midwood, RKA, Stuyvesant, Susan Wagner, The Clinton School, WESS

Varsity races are before the JV races this year, so all of the PSAL teams probably won’t have to worry about being crammed into the last 2 varsity races.

The Bobcat Run at Byram Hills @ Byram Hills HS

No PSAL schools registered as of now, but Hunter has been known to compete here in the past.