Complete Results
BRONX, N.Y. - Plenty of purple could be seen in mass celebration Sunday morning at Van Cortlandt Park, as the Hunter College men's and women's cross country teams both emerged victorious at the 2010 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) / OAI Cross Country Championships. Head coach Ed Zarowin's Hawks, behind a gutsy and emotional performance from repeat individual champion and sophomore Chris Guerrero, crossed the finish line in the first four positions en route to their 13th CUNYAC men's title, while Hunter placed four of the first five senior college finishers on the women's side to capture its league-leading 10th conference crown by the third-largest margin in race history.
“I guess that over the years, our teams at Hunter have been more successful than any other school in cross country,” said Hunter head coach Ed Zarowin, who earned his 13th men’s and 10th women’s title in the 20-year history of the championship event. “But I get a tremendous sense of pride in being able to see new students get to hold the top prize and enjoy their accomplishments.”
Guerrero, last year's individual winner and running with a heavy heart in memory of his father -- who passed away late last week -- led a quartet of Hawks who registered sub-29-minute circuits on the Van Cortlandt course with his mark of 27:55. Teammate Joseph Papa finished 13 seconds behind Mahoney, while Alexander Arslan (28:13) and Jose Miranda (28:47) helped pace Hunter (36 points) to outdistance second-place Baruch (57) and third-place John Jay (83).
“I dedicated this race to my father,” claimed Guerrero with a heavy heart. “But we won the title as a team this year. We train together all season and this team has the goal in sight. I can smile today as we ran a great race, from beginning to end.”
Baruch's Hiroshi Nobuoka placed fifth with a time of 29:07, while other sub-30-minute finishers included: Kenny Jacquet of York (sixth; 29:19); Oscar Kamalu (seventh; 29:27); Matthew Agard (Kingsborough C.C. - eighth; 29:33); Lehman's Irfan Anwar (ninth; 29:39); and the Baruch duo of Omar Griffin (29:40) and Gilbert Marte (29:54).
“The wonderful part about this team is that we don’t lose anyone going into next season,” said the youthful coach, already looking ahead to his 60th season as a head coach, 27 of which have been at Hunter. “All of our top men’s runners, including our 6th, 7th and 8th guys are all underclassmen.”
Hunter also cemented its team name into the record books by scoring 21 points -- 50 points ahead of second-place Baruch (71), and well ahead of both CCNY and Brooklyn (98 points each; CCNY had the highest-finishing No. 6 runner to break the CUNYAC tie for third). Lizzy Mahoney (24:56), Jacklyn Henderson (25:16) and Jennifer Arozamena (25:48) all crossed the finish line ahead of the rest of the senior-college pack, with Brooklyn rookie standout Sabrina Washington finishing fifth overall (fourth among senior colleges) with a time of 26:19.
“I’ve had a particularly hard season,” said Mahoney, who had missed two races this season. “I’ve dealt with bronchitis and back spasms this year, but this is the best I felt since the summer. I feel that I am at my strongest right now. Even though I’m running a little slower than last season, I am excited about the next couple of weeks with NCAA Regionals coming.”
In total, 12 harriers achieved a time of 27:30 or greater. Joanna Keilwitz of Hunter (26:32) crossed the line behind Washington, while CCNY's Jhanna Moore crossed seventh overall (sixth, senior colleges) with a 26:36. Non-scoring Hawks standout Stephie-Anne Duliepre was the last runner to break the 27-minute plateau (26:51), with Baruch mainstays Tracy Dimaculangan (ninth overall, 27:11) and Sara Soto (10th overall, 27:15) not far behind.
“I’ve never been on a winning team before, so this is a new experience,” continued Mahoney, who’s Hawks were third in the 2009 championship. “It makes this experience special, to see my teammates run their personal best today and win a title.”
-- CUNYAthletics.com --