2003 CUNYAC / Modell's Outdoor Track & Field

Lehman Women Run Away With Record Score.
Hunter Regains Triple Crown With First Win Since 1999
May 4th, 2003  

CUNY Women's Outdoor Track Championships
New York, NY - Lehman College women won 11 of the 18 events contested, scoring 215 points and easily outdistancing the field over second place Hunter College (87 points) to claim the CUNY Athletic Conference Outdoor Women's Track & Field Championship title. The event was held over two days at CCNY and York College for the first time.

"Our goal today was for the entire team to go out there and score points, while looking out for their health and welfare,” said Lehman head coach Lesleigh Hogg. ”We had many people in multiple events, but our emphasis was to prepare for Nationals in a couple of weeks. And we need everyone in peak condition to do that.”

The Championship Most Valuable Performer was Lehman senior Paulette Baldwin (Trenton, NJ), an 8- time All-American, who scored points in all of the seven events she competed in. She finished first in the 100 Meter Hurdles (15.06) and the Long Jump (5.49 meters), as well as anchoring the gold medal winning 4 x 100 Meter Relay (47.61).

"I am surprised to hold the record for scoring in the most events,” said Baldwin. ”It was a great competition, CUNY's are always a great time. I'm sad that this is my last one.”

Mechelle Barnwell (Brooklyn, NY), the lead leg of the gold medal 4 x 100 Meter Relay team, also took the gold in the 200 Meter Dash (24.75) and the 400 Meters (55.65). The second leg of that relay team, Alecia Watson (Bronx, NY) captured the gold in the 100 Meter Dash (12.25) and Triple Jump (11.14 meters). Also claiming first place finishes were the Lightning's Danielle Howard (Bronx, NY) who threw 38.12 meters in the Hammer, Claudeen Williams (Spring Valley, NY) who hurled the Discus 35.64 meters, Martinia Heath (Beacon, NY) who leaped 1.62 meters in the High Jump and Maria Castro (Bronx, NY) who finished the 10,000 Meters in 40:36.78.

The second place Hunter College Hawks finished the weekend with gold medals in both the 400 Meter Hurdles and the 5,000 Meter race, accumulating points in all but three events adding up to a total of 87 points with 9 medals. Freshman Shemayra Braithwaite (Brooklyn, NY) claimed the gold medal in the 400 Meter Hurdles with a time of 1:09.89 and finished second in the High Jump (1.62 meters), third in the 100 Meter Hurdles (17.25) as well as being the lead leg on Hunter's third place 4 x 100 Relay team (54.32). Junior Donna Mahoney (Staten Island, NY), another gold medalist for the Hawks, claimed the top spot in the 5,000 Meters (18:22.88).

Medgar Evers College took third with a total of 75 points while claiming two gold, three silver and four bronze medals. Amanda David (Brooklyn, NY) dominated the women's throwing events, earning the gold in both the Shot Put (12.42 m) and the Javelin Throw (31.29 m) as well as the silver medal in the women's Discus (32.32 m). Jamilla Dick finished her senior campaign by taking home four medals including a silver as part of the Cougars' 4 x 100 Relay team (48.86) and bronze in the 4 x 400 Relay team (4:05.37), High Jump (1.42 m) and 100 Meter Dash (12.65).

The only other event winner was York College's Kenya Benjamin (Richmond Hill, NY) who won the 800 Meters (2:18.73) and the 1,500 Meters (4:48.89), barely outdistancing Hunter's Mahoney (4:49.83) in one of the most exciting distance finishes in memory. Last year, York squeezed out the team tile by three points over Lehman.

CUNY Men's Outdoor Track Championships
New York, NY - Hunter College men scored 125 points, winning four events en route to the 2003 CUNY Athletic Conference Men's Outdoor Track & Field title. In winning the team's first title since 1999, the Hawks outscored the two hosts of the championship event, York College (92 points) and CCNY (86 points). With the victory, Hunter swept the three men's CUNYAC Championships, winning the triple crown (Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Championships), last achieved by their longtime head coach Ed Zarowin four years ago.

The Hawks dominated the distance events again, scoring 64 points (more than half) in the three longest events. Freshman Omri Holzman (Tel-Aviv, Israel), the 2002 CUNYAC Cross Country champion, won both ironman distance events, the 5,000 (16:36.72) and the 10,000 Meters (33:26.41, a CUNY record). Senior Ben Opare-Abetia (Accra, Ghana) participated in eight events, scoring 23 points in six of the contests.

"It's a great way to finish,” said Opare-Abetia, the silver medalist in the 800 Meters (2:02.78). "I was a freshman on that 1999 [Outdoor Track] team and to do this at the end is something I didn't expect. It's a tribute to the commitment from my teammates, as we go to school everyday, train hard for three hours and have fun as well. I just tried to make the most of college.”

Hunter's other gold medal contributions come from a pair of freshmen in Edem Tsakpoe (Akosombo, Ghana) in the Triple Jump (13.03 meters) and Chris LeGuillow-Hawkins (Norfolf, VA) in the 110 Meter Hurdles (15.72).

York College, the three-time defending champions finished second with 92 points with four different men earning the top spot in an event. Freshman Michael Song (Far Rockaway, NY) won the Hammer (26.80 meters), senior Marvin Gray (Queens, NY) won the Javelin (51.33 meters), while junior Khan Marr (Jamaica, NY) took the 400 Meter Dash (49.59) and freshman John McCollin won the 400 Meter Hurdles in 56.99.

Michael Coddett of Medgar Evers earned Men's MVP honors with wins in the Shot Put (12.01 meters) and Discus (38.70 meters) and silver medals in Javelin and Hammer. Teammates Carl Thompson (Brooklyn, NY) won the High Jump (1.82 m) and Ramion Richards (Brooklyn, NY) captured the Long Jump (5.95 m) for four Cougar individual champs, while the 4x400 Meter Relay, with Rohan Russell, Errol Layne, Thompson and Richards, took first in 3:30.15, only .16 ahead of the City Tech.

Lehman senior Nabie Fofanah (Bronx, NY), who's heading to the NCAA Championships for the last time, won the 100 (11.04) and 200 Meter Dashes (21.80). Interestingly, host CCNY's third place finish was without benefit of any gold medals.

"I'm very happy,” said Zarowin, "I'm as pleased to win as I am to see the warmth and sunshine return after the extended winter.”

2003 CUNYAC Outdoor Track and Field Results