Baruch's Penaherrera Garners CUNYAC Women's Runner of the Year Award; Brooklyn's Mundo and Lang Named Rookie and Cross Country Coach of the Year
FLUSHING, N.Y. (Nov. 6, 2008) - The City University of New York Athletic Conference announced its year-end women's cross country award winners Tuesday, and Baruch College junior Jessica Penaherrera has earned the conference's Runner of the Year award. In addition, Brooklyn College has two first-time winners as freshman Joanne Mundo garnered Rookie of the Year accolades, while women's head coach Alex Lang received Coach of the Year praise from his peers, following the Bridges team championship.
Penaherrera (Guayaquil, Eduador/U.E.M.S.) started off the season ready to run for the individual title, finishing in second place in the Bearcats' Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park to begin the year. A three-time Player of the Week by CUNYAC, the 5-4 junior won two meets, the Hunter and Brooklyn Invitationals. Her time at the Brooklyn meet, 25:41, was her best of the season at the 6,000 meter distance. Her 2008 season ended two weeks premature, when she suffered a season-ending leg injury following the Bridges meet. A standout swimmer for the Bearcats as well, she finished second overall in the CUNYAC Championships in her first two years. Still looking to get that chance, next season now poses her last chance to claim CUNYAC Individual Cross Country Championship title.
"I am very happy and honored to be named CUNYAC Runner of the Year. It was a tough season but a fun one as well. I want to thank my Mom, my teammates and my coach Ariadne Mui for their constant support and encouragement. I love running and I am really looking forward next year."
Mundo (Brooklyn, NY/Fort Hamilton), an experienced cross country runner from high school, showed significant improvement as the 2008 season rolled on and was named the Conference Rookie of the Week twice. Two weeks prior to the CUNYAC Championships, the 5'4" frosh placed fifth at the CSI Invitational at VCP, in a personal best 5K time of 21:41. Mundo concluded the season with an impressive personal best 6,000 meter time of 26:16, to place 4th overall at the Championship meet.
"Joanne is one of the toughest competitors that I've been around in my six-plus years at Brooklyn College," said Lang, who doubles as the women's basketball coach at the Flatbush campus. "In only her freshman season, she progressed from being a middle-of-the-pack runner to finishing fourth in the CUNYAC championships."
Lang, in his second season as women's cross country coach, led the Bridges to three consecutive team meet titles to close out the season, including the 2008 CUNYAC Championship, the first for Brooklyn College. In eight weeks of competition at Van Cortlandt Park this year, Brooklyn finished in third place or higher every single Sunday. Led on the course by Mundo, the Bridges improved drastically from a sixth place finish in the 2007 CUNYAC Championships, to win by nine points over second place Staten Island.
"It's really an honor that my fellow coaches felt that I deserved this award," claimed Lang. "All the credit goes to my team, who did a remarkable job training and never stopped competing until they reached their ultimate goal of winning the CUNYAC championship."
Runner of the Year: Jessica Penaherrera (Guayaquil, Eduador/U.E.M.S.)
Rookie of the Year: Joanne Mundo (Brooklyn, NY/Fort Hamilton)
Coach of the Year: Alex Lang, Brooklyn