The CUNY Athletic Conference men’s and women’s cross country championships were held today, Sunday, October 25, 2009, at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. In senior college action, Hunter College runners won both races, but as a team, the Hawks only claimed first place in the men’s division. The women’s champions came from Baruch College. In community college action, Kingsborough’s women took home first place, as did the Queensborough men. The women raced a 6k course, while the men ran an 8k race.
In the women’s senior college race, Hunter’s Liz Mahoney led the race from the early going and never trailed. At the first checkpoint, Mahoney was out in front of a jumbled pack, which included York’s Taneisha Renaud and Alexandra Nkrumah, Baruch’s Lorenna Russi and Hunter’s Sarah Mc Govern. At the second checkpoint, Russi had made her move, moving up to second place. At the third checkpoint, CSI’s Lisa Lamanna asserted herself, and was out in second place, while Brooklyn’s Joanne Mundo was up in third. Ultimately, at the finish line, Mahoney finished the course in just 24:53, claiming the gold medal. The second runner to cross the line was Lamanna of CSI (26:43), followed by Russi (26:49), Mundo (26:55) and Renaud (27:04).
“Usually the hills beat me up, but today I did well,” stated Mahoney. “Being so far in front, I needed to stay focused and pace myself.” Mahoney's time is the third fastest in the history of the CUNYAC Championships at Van Cortlandt Park at six kilometers. The fastest time was 24:31, run by Anna Plaunova in 2007. That same year, Baruch's Jessica Penaherrera ran a 24:38 as well. To date, these three are the only sub-25 minutes times run on the historic course in the championship meet. The CUNYAC switched from 5k to 6k in 2006.
The women’s team title went to Baruch, who placed five runners in the top fifteen. Baruch scored just 52 points, followed by York (56 points), Hunter (61), Brooklyn (88), John Jay (134), Lehman (145), Staten Island (172), City Tech (236) and Medgar Evers (242).
The men’s race saw far less drama. The Hunter duo of Chris Guerrero and Luis Cabrera led the pack, dueling the entire 8 kilometers. “We wanted to separate from the pack,” said Guerrero. “We went together and pushed each other.”
Push each other is exactly what they did. The two led the pack at all four checkpoints. At the stripe, Guerrero edged Cabrera, finishing in 28:42 and 28:43, respectively. Finishing in third was Brooklyn’s Timothy Mann, who completed the race in 29:43. Fourth place went to Baruch’s Hiroshi Nobuoka (29:59) while fifth was Lehman’s Oscar Kamalu (30:14).
“We have a talented group of runners, and I told them that,” said Hunter men’s and women’s head coach Ed Zarowin. “They went out there and did exactly what they had to do.”
Hunter’s team scored an astounding 34 points, with four of the top ten finishers. The Hawks were followed by Baruch (69 points), John Jay (96), Brooklyn (107), York (130), CCNY (141), City Tech (180), Lehman (185), and Medgar Evers (253).
With the community colleges, Queensborough won the women’s race, though Kingsborough’s Diane Joseph (30:31) won the race. Rounding out the top five were QCC’s Laverne Hardy (30:57), Grace Magee (31:35), Gerale Middleton (32:16) and KCC’s Deandra Nelson (32:23).
In the men’s division, Kingsborough claimed the title, led by Aleksandr Kopach, who won the race in 31:36. Yorki Munoz of QCC finished second in 32:51, followed by teammate Jean Desrosiers, who finished in 33:18. Kingsborough’s Robert Harley (33:21) and Marvin Cox (34:17) followed in fourth and fifth, while Bronx CC’s Jose-Luis Rodriguez placed sixth with a time of 34:31.
The link to the results is here.