Week Four Recap

Whatever suspense there might have been about who will emerge on top come November was pretty much put to bed this weekend. It’s quite clear that no PSAL team will be able to challenge the Bronx Science boys or the LaGuardia girls this season.

And not many in the entire state, and certainly no one in the PSAL, is going to challenge Benjamin Berman. This weekend he covered the Bowdoin course in 15:36, which is almost certainly the fastest a PSAL runner has ever run on that course. Not only that, but he outran defending Federation Champion Ryan Sykes down the stretch.

Girls

Bowdoin XC Classic – Bowdoin Park - Wappingers Falls, NY

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

In the Varsity I race, Francis Lewis finished 8^th of 14 teams with 203 points. Daphne Lin and Emily Gao both broke 23 minutes to finish 31^st and 34^th, respectively. John Jay Campus finished 10^th and was led by sophomore Matilda Quinn’s 17^th place finish in 21:16. West End Secondary finished 11^th and were led by Jordan Citron’s 23:43 effort.

In the Varsity II race, the top PSAL team was Tottenville, who finished 10^th of 19 teams. Superfrosh Maeve Heck made her varsity debut, covering the 5k course in 20:13, which was good enough for a 15^th place finish. Bronx Science finished 13^th. Running without their top two seniors, they were led by Sally Kramer’s 57^th place finish in 22:29.

In the merge (33 teams):

15^th Tottenville

19^th Bronx Science

25^th Francis Lewis

28^th John Jay Campus

30^th West End Secondary

Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational – Six Flags Great Adventure - Jackson, NJ

Two PSAL teams ran in the Varsity C race, which featured 17 teams. Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy finished 10^th. Again, they were led by their sophomore duo of Lily Rustin (34^th, 21:23) and Addison Ireland (41^st, 21:59). MSIT finished 15^th, led by Tiffany Lu, who finished 91^st in 24:37

In the Varsity D Race, HS of American Studies finished 14^th of the 20 teams. The trio of Tishya Mackie, Elizabeth Pollack and Quinn Paterniti finished 85-86-87, respectively.

In the merge (79 teams):

38^th Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

60^th HS of American Studies

72^nd MSIT

PSAL Group Run – Van Cortlandt Park - Bronx, NY

The girls freshman race kicked off a warm morning at Van Cortlandt. The freshmen from Beacon took 3 of the top 6 places (and 5 of the top 16), including race winner Amelia Almond, who ran 11:03.

Susan Wagner won the Girls Sophomore Race, led by race winner Alisa Kiliarska, who ran the 4k course in 18:27. Missing for Susan Wagner was Malina Rodriguez-King, who hasn’t yet appeared in the results this Fall. Hunter only ran 4 girls but they placed 2-4-6-13.

Brooklyn Tech easily won the Girls Varsity and JV races. Their top duo of Francesca Haidt and Evelyn Craig finished 3-4. They were beaten to the line by the LaGuardia duo of Genevieve Backus and Virginia Begley. The Lions’ 3-4 runners didn’t join the rest of their teammates at McQuaid, but still made a statement in the Bronx.

McQuaid Invitational - Genesee Valley Park - Rochester, NY

The LaGuardia girls entered the Premier Race and finished 14^th, without their 3^rd and 4^th runners. Naomi Douglas covered the 3 mile course in 17:20 to finish 10^th overall. Melia Murphy of The Clinton School was close on her heels, finishing 13^th in 17:27.

The Stuyvesant girls finished 8^th of 33 teams in the Varsity AA race. Senior Emma Savonije ran 19:23 to finish 12^th.

In the merge (141 teams):

22^nd - LaGuardia

32^nd - Stuyvesant

Updated Fast Freshman™ List (Post-Pandemic)

School	Number of Frosh breaking 22 in 5k (VCP or Bowdoin) or 11 in 3k
Hunter College Campus	3
Brooklyn Tech	3
Fiorello LaGuardia	2
Bronx Science	2
Susan Wagner	2
HSMSE	1
Clinton School	1
Bard	1
John Jay Campus	1
Beacon	1
Dewitt Clinton	1
Tottenville	1

Boys

Bowdoin XC Classic – Bowdoin Park - Wappingers Falls, NY

The Varsity I race featured 24 teams, including Bronx Science and West End Secondary School. The Bronx Science Boys won with 78 points. We already touched on what Berman did, but the other 8 Wolverines all broke 18 minutes, including Christopher Thom (17:03) and Eliot Faith (17:13). WESS finished 23^rd and were led by Noah Katz, who finished 114^th in 19:53.

The Varsity II race featured 25 teams. Stil without Alexander Jones, Brooklyn Tech finished 16^th. They were led by Dillon Chapuli, who ran 17:45 to finish 50^th. John Jay Campus finished 21^st, putting 5 boys under 19 minutes. Gavin Ashe led the way, finishing 76^th in 18:06.

In the merge (49 teams):

4^th Bronx Science

23^rd Brooklyn Tech

31^st John Jay Campus

48^th West End Secondary

Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational – Six Flags Great Adventure - Jackson, NJ

The MSIT Boys finished a close 2^nd in the Varsity C Race. That race also featured Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, who finished 16^th. MSIT’s Simon Saffayeh won the race, covering the fast Six Flags 5K course in 15:31. RKA was led by Mason Tejada, who ran 18:50 to finish 75^th.

HS of American Studies finished 16^th of 25 teams in the Varsity D race. They were led by Aidan Engel’s 71^st place finish in 19:10. Their fastest runner on the day ran in the JV race. Declan Olds ran 17:53 to place 5^th in the JV C Race.

In the merge (90 teams):

3^rd - MSIT

66^th - HS of American Studies

68^th - Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy

PSAL Group Run – Van Cortlandt Park - Bronx, NY

Tristan Acevedo of Susan Wagner (a club kid at Susan Wagner? No way) dominated the freshman race in a time of 8:22. Best we can tell, this is the fastest time run by a freshman boy at Van Cortlandt in more than 15 years. He won by 1:27. After that, Manhattan freshmen took 12 of the next 13 places. The Stuyvesant boys nipped HSMSE 48-51.

The Stuyvesant boys also won the Sophomore race, topping HSMSE 33-43. Alexander Draves and James Lu went 1-2 for Stuy.

HSMSE won the Boys Varsity race, led by Wren Hansen’s win in 17:02. They beat Susan Wagner by 2 points. Wagner was led by Andrea Gallina’s 5^th place finish in 17:53. LaGuardia’s Ezekiel Cohen finished 2^nd in 17:07.

BHXC PSAL Rankings – After Week Four

Girls

1. Fiorello LaGuardia - It seems like the only suspense left this season will be whether they can break Hunter’s scoring record from 2023.

2. Brooklyn Tech - Solid top 2. Unsurprisingly, they had 2 freshmen in the top 4 of the freshmen race. Lots of talent to rely on, they only need a few to make a jump.3. Susan Wagner - Top runners have not yet matched last year’s form. Still missing a big piece.

4. Bronx Science - OK showing at Bowdoin, nothing overly impressive - certainly not yet at full strength

5. Stuyvesant - Results at McQuaid reveal a deeper squad than the teams just below them.

6. Beacon - Adding some of their talented freshmen to their Top 3 pack could prove a successful pairing.

7. Tottenville - Maeve Heck gives them a front runner, but still searching for 3-5.

8. Townsend Harris - Were missing a number of their top runners this weekend, still managed a 3^rd place finish

9. Hunter - A young team impressed in the sophomore race and their top returner made her debut this weekend.

10. Francis Lewis - Decent effort at Bowdoin

11. HSMSE - Unimpressive at Group Run - definitely more potential than they’ve shown so far.

12. RKA - Another solid showing with two sophomores leading the way. 3-5 runners closing that gap.

13. John Jay Campus - If they can find a 5^th runner, they’ll jump way up this list.

14. Bard - Will move up if 4-5 runners continue to improve.

15. Dewitt Clinton - Patiently waiting for the rest of the VO2 Max team to join the squad.

Honorable Mentions: James Madison, Bayside, MSIT

Boys

1. Bronx Science - dominating performance at Bowdoin. Large gap down to 2^nd place.

2. MSIT - Ran well at Great Adventure, really good efforts from their top guys.

3. Brooklyn Tech - Still missing their lead runner. Hard to believe they won’t find 4 more boys to run fast in a school of more than 3,300 boys.

4. John Jay Campus - 5 boys under 19 at Bowdoin shows that this team could be formidable at VCP.

5. HSMSE - Won the Group Run, but an uncharacteristically large spread between 1 and 5.

6. Hunter - solid pack 1-4, 5^th man ran under 20 minutes this weekend. That’s a good start.

7. Bard - Put in a solid effort at Xavier. Very good up front, will need help on the back end.

8. Stuyvesant - Seems like a chunk of their varsity team ran in the sophomore race. Yet to put together a solid team effort.

9. LaGuardia - Strong 1-2, 3 and 4 have now broken 20 minutes.

10. Francis Lewis - 1 under 19, 2 more under 20, 2 more under 21.  7^th at Group Run

11. HS for Construction - finally had a scoring team. Finished 9^th at Group Run.

12. HS for American Studies - Their top runner ran JV, which led to a lower finish in the merge this weekend.

13. Academy of American Studies - Not sure where their team from last season is

14. RKA - This team has shown improvement each week

15. James Madison - 10^th at Group Run

Honorable Mention: Metropolitan Campus, CSIHS/McCown, Thomas Jefferson, Forest Hills

Upcoming Meets…

PSAL Marty Lewis Borough Challenge @ Van Cortlandt Park

Not many options this weekend besides this one.

Saint Anthony’s Invitational @ Sunken Meadow State Park

Metropolitan Campus is the only PSAL school entered so far.