Week Four Recap

Girls

Bowdoin XC Classic – Bowdoin Park

A number of PSAL programs traveled north to the site of the NYS Federation XC meet. Many of these teams will likely be back there in November.

In the Varsity I race, Bayside finished 15th of 18 teams and were once again led by Christina Sakellis and Natalie Niselson who finished 59th and 66th, respectively. The Bronx Science girls ran once again without enough girls to score, but Rossitsa Petrova finished 35th in 21:10 and senior Alexandra Davidescu finished 61st in 22:41, both solid efforts.

The Varsity II race featured the top 3 teams in the PSAL, although two were not at full strength. Naomi Douglas (LaGuardia) led all PSAL runners with an amazing 2nd place finish in 19:00. Her teammate, Gwyneth Shupp ran 20:39 to finish 28th. LaGuardia was without sophomore standout Genevieve Backus, who hasn’t yet appeared in any race results this season. Still, they managed a 12th place finish out of 24 teams in the race. The Stuyvesant girls finished 8th of the 24 teams, with a 1-5 spread of only 1:03. Senior Emily Li led the way with a 44th place finish in 21:40. Brooklyn Tech, running without their top two girls, finished 14th. Their top 5, who is basically their 3-7 girls, had an excellent :26 spread. John Jay Campus finished 21st, led by Freshman Matilda Quinn, who ran 21:57. This makes John Jay Campus the 8th different school to have a freshmen break 22 minutes since the Pandemic restart.

Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational – Six Flags Great Adventure

In the Varsity A race, MSIT finished 20th of 28 teams, though only had 5 girls finish the race. Senior Sahar Mollah ran 20:13 to finish 16th. In the Varsity D race, HS of American Studies finished 10th of 15 teams. Senior Haley Rodriguez ran 20:45 to finish 16th.

PSAL Group Run – Van Cortlandt Park

The girls freshman race kicked off a rainy morning at Van Cortlandt. And immediately it became obvious that whatever conflict did exist in the Staten Island USATF, is definitely over now. Susan Wagner fielded a freshman team consisting of not one, not two, not three, but four club kids, with each girl having run for either Island Express or the Waverunners or both. They claimed 4 of the top 8 spots to win easily. The race was won by Dewitt Clinton (and VO2 Max’s) Aisha Wajid. The first non-club kid, Ainsley Raha of Manhattan Center finished 7th.

The girls sophomore race was won easily by Hunter’s Noa Yirmiyahu, who covered the 4k course in 16:20. Susan Wagner completed its Frosh/Soph sweep with a 1-point victory over Townsend Harris.

The girls varsity race featured two girls under 20 minutes, Hunter’s Ella Cohen in 19:09 and Clinton School’s Melia Murphy in 19:43. HSMSE won the girls race with an impressive 4-11-12-18-28 spread. Sophomore Phoebe Estep ran 21:49 to finish 4th. Beacon finished 2nd, led by June Selib’s 6th place finish in 22:08.

Boys

Bowdoin XC Classic – Bowdoin Park

The Varsity I race featured 33 teams, including Brooklyn Tech and Bayside. Brooklyn Tech finished 7th, led by 11th and 12th place finishes by Alexander Jones and Amos Pres, respectively. Both boys ran 16:44. Bayside finished 31st, led by Nathanael Hansen’s 187th place finish.

The Varsity II race featured 32 teams, including 4 PSAL teams. Bronx Science, without 2 of their top 5, finished 11th and were led by Liam Hernandez’s 27th place finish in 17:00. Stuyvesant, also running without 2 of their top 5, finished 21st. The boys from LaGuardia finished 25th, led by Ezekiel Cohen in 17:17. John Jay Campus finished 28th, led by Oliver Eaton in 19:24.

Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational – Six Flags Great Adventure

The MSIT Boys won the Varsity A race, placing 3 runners in the top 10. Preston Kostioukov, Justin Berka and Simon Saffayeh all broke 16:20 on the fast Six Flags course. It’s a formidable Top 3 that only Bronx Science can match within the league.

HS of American Studies finished 10th of 20 teams in the Varsity D race. Senior Jack McCurry ran 16:36 to finish 8th.

PSAL Group Run – Van Cortlandt Park

The Freshmen Boys race featured 5 boys under 10 minutes, led by race victor Collin Toung of Manhattan Center. To no one’s surprise, the race was won by HSMSE, who once again has probably a quarter of the freshmen boys in their school on the team. Another perennial freshman powerhouse, Bronx Science, finished 2nd.

The boys sophomore race was won by Reed Argiropoulos of Bronx Science in 15:20. His Wolverines won the race by 4 points over Susan Wagner.

The boys varsity race was won by Bard’s Ramsey Hansen in 17:38, followed closely by Umed Maru of the Academy of American Studies (Queens). HSMSE ran away with the team race, with a very impressive :39 1-5 spread.  Bard finished second, 63 points behind.

TRT PSAL Rankings – After Week Four

Girls

1. Fiorello LaGuardia

2. Brooklyn Tech

3. Stuyvesant

4. Susan Wagner

5. Bronx Science

6. HSMSE

7. Beacon

8. Hunter

9. MSIT

10. Townsend Harris

Boys

1. Brooklyn Tech

2. Bronx Science

3. MSIT

4. HSMSE

5. Stuyvesant

6. Curtis

7. Bard

8. Hunter

9. HS for Construction

10. HS for American Studies