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2002 Cross Country - York Women Take First Championship

Hunter Men Win For 7th Time In 8 Years
Top3WomenBronx, NY - The York College women's team and the Hunter College men's team were decisive winners of the 2002 CUNY Athletic Conference / Sprint PCS Cross Country Championships held at historic Van Cortlandt Park. In a very competitive event, the York women outdistanced second-place Hunter by a 15-point margin, while the Hunter men scored a near-perfect 17 points for a 27-point win over John Jay. Both schools also featured the respective individual champions for the fifth time in the last six years.

York placed five women in the top 18 finishers of the women's 5,000 meter race, led by newcomer Kenya Benjamin from Richmond Hill, Queens, in a time of 20:30.3.

“I was battling my nerves at the start of the race," said Benjamin (August Martin HS), who clocked the second fastest time in championship history. “I caught [Maria] Castro earlier than I expected to and kept a safe distance between us for the remainder of the race. It's a great feeling to win a championship my first time out."

Lehman senior Maria Castro (Bronx, NY), the top runner all season long, was fighting a sprained ankle and managed a 21:00.0 time in her final CUNY Championship. Hunter's Amy Sass (Medford, NY) placed third in 21:10.5, while Baruch's Hana Pechackova (Tábor, Czech Republic), the 2000 CUNY winner, slotted fourth in 21:24.8.

“We don't run the mileage during the week that the rest of the CUNY schools do," said York head coach Tom Pope upon winning the school's first-ever women's championship. “So it makes me very proud to see this young team come through in this manner. I knew it would be a close call and without our two freshmen and a returning veteran, we definitely wouldn't finish first."

Pope, the long-time coach of the Cardinals, was referring to Benjamin, freshman Toulope Ojo (Queens Villiage, NY) and sophomore Sanilisiwe Nkala (East Elmhurst, NY), who took fifth and eighth in 21:25.3 and 22:46.7, respectively.

The rest of the women's scoring was as follows: Hunter (59), Baruch (66), Lehman (75), Medgar Evers (103), John Jay (144), City Tech (194) and Brooklyn (224).

The men's competition was a slam dunk for the Hawks, as they triumphed for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, taking five of the first six scoring slots in the 8,000 meter race.
Another rookie, Hunter's Omri Holzman (Tel-Aviv, Israel) was the only runner to crack 29 minutes, as his time of 28:55.4 was 35 seconds ahead of teammate Kamal Dahib. (29:30.6).

“I knew after my first race that I would be near the top in CUNY," said the six-year veteran of the Israeli army. “It's been a great experience so far at Hunter and I'm truly enjoying running competitively."
Hunter's Dahib (Casablanca, Morocco), Junior Pierre (Jamaica, NY) and Ben Opare-Abetia (Accra, Ghana) finished second, third (30:10.1) and fifth (31:31.6), with freshman Nick Montelione (Stony Point, NY) completing the scoring for the Hawks.

“Omri is a perfect example of Hunter College. He's a star and we didn't even know about him until he came out for the team, said 19th year head coach Ed Zarowin."

Vidal Smiley's (Brooklyn, NY) fourth place finish (31:21.5) led John Jay to the silver trophy (44 points), 23 points ahead of City Tech (67) and Brooklyn (102).

For the Community Colleges, Queensborough CC had the school's best finish ever, placing six men among the top 17 overall finishers. The Tigers were led by freshman William Marshall (Queens, NY) in 29:56.4 and sophomores Chris Yepez (Queens, NY) and Izzi Henriquez (Great Neck, NY) in 30:16.2 and 30.58.5 respectively. On the women's side, BCC freshman Keisha Maxwell (Bronx, NY) was the top junior college finisher, clocking in at 25:33.0. The Tigers, however, edged the Broncos in the community college scoring, 27-28.

  2002-2003 CUNYAC CROSS COUNTRY YEAR IN REVIEW
 2002 CUNYAC Cross Country Championships

CUNY Conference Championship
Women's 5,000 Meter Run

# Name School Time Score
1 Benjamin, Kenya, FR York 20:30.3 1
2 Castro, Maria, SO Lehman 21:00.0 2
3 Saas, Amy, SO Hunter 21:10.5 3
4 echackova, Hana, JR Baruch 21:24.8 4
5 Ojo, Toulope, FR York 21:25.3 5
6 Barrett, Cynthia, SO Hunter 21:56.2 6
7 Philbert, Godlyn, SO M.Evers 22:35.4 7
8 Nkala, Sanelisiwe, SR York 22:46.7 8
9 Cherubin, Fayella, SR Baruch 22:52.7 9
10 Lushpenko, Liz, FR Baruch22:53.1 10
11 Allen, Lamarah, SR Lehman 22:56.4 11
12 Thomas, Shakima, SO York 23:09.9 12
13 Bukowski, Krystal, SO John Jay 23:18.3 13
14 Samuel, Wendy, FR Hunter 23:20.3 14
15 Lucero, Citlalli, SO Hunter 23:26.9 15
16 Cuevas, Su-Elene, SO Lehman 24:27.5 16
17 Davis, Precious, JR M.Evers 24:49.9 17
18 Andrews, Shamieka, SO York 25:10.9 18
19 Liriano, Jennifer, FR Baruch 25:25.2 19
20 Maxwell, Keisha, FR Bronx CC 25:33.0 --
21 Baldwin, Paulette, SR Lehman 25:40.1 20
22 Guerra, Ann Marie, FR Hunter 25:42.2 21
23 King, Doshia, SO M.Evers 25:45.2 22
24 Harris, Kristin, JR John Jay 25:46.6 23
25 Kolbar, Lital, SR Baruch 25:57.1 24
26 Brown, Tiffany, SO York 25:58.2 25
27 xWilson, Daphine, SR York 26:08.5 Exh
28 Holmberg, Victoria, SR Lehman 26:08.7 26
29 Castillo, Nathalie, FR QCC 26:10.6 --
30 Kridis, Dorra, FR QCC 26:17.8 --
31 Dick, Jamilla, SR M.Evers 26:25.5 27
32 Guity, Santa, SO John Jay 26:46.1 28
33 George, Valerie, SR Baruch 26:46.4 29
34 Francis, Erica, FR QCC 26:53.3 --
35 Bennett, Keisha, FR M.Evers 26:54.0 30
36 Iyasere, Joy, SO Lehman 27:01.7 31
37 xDavies, Mariama, SO York 27:02.1 Exh
38 Charles, Amy-Louis, JR York 27:03.8 32
39 Alvarez, Julissa, SO Lehman 27:14.2 33
40 Hall, Nicola, FR NYCCT 27:27.1 34
41 Hutchinson, Latisha FR NYCCT 27:30.2 35
42 Noel, Melodie, SO NYCCT 27:51.1 36
43 Clarke, Tiffanie, SO Hunter 27:59.8 37
44 Chavez, Nitza, FR Bronx CC 28:03.8 --
45 Christian, Karen, JR Baruch 28:10.2 38
46 xScorza, Cris, SR Baruch 28:20.5 Exh
47 Kauri, Patii, FR Bronx CC 28:28.2 --
48 Escobar, Jenny, SO John Jay 29:27.9 39
49 Ortiz, Grimaldy, SO NYCCT 30:06.6 40
50 Schalk, Shannon, SO John Jay 30:16.3 41
51 Bennett, Shameka, FR Bronx CC 30:32.3 --
52 Desapio, Jaime, SO John Jay 31:04.5 42
53 Mclean, Kimberly, FR QCC 31:20.5 --
54 Drummond, Yanique FR Bronx CC 31:25.6 --
55 xFrias, Paulina, FR Hunter 31:59.3 Exh
56 Washington, Sha-r,i FR Brooklyn 32:32.9 43
57 Colin, Carla, FR NYCCT 32:43.5 44
58 Felix, Deena, FR NYCCT 32:45.5 45
59 Mitchel, Michelle, FR QCC 33:40.2  
60 Luciano, Marilyn, FR Brooklyn 33:42.1 46
61 Altifois, Tracy, SO Brooklyn 34:01.7 47
62 Thongs, Josanne, FR Brooklyn 34:13.0 48
63 McKuhe, Keba, FR QCC 34:13.4 --
64 Benjamin, Alicia, FR NYCCT 35:35.0 49
65 xFrancis, Princilla, FR NYCCT 41:30.5 Exh
66 Caicedo, Kenisha, SR Brooklyn 43:14.8 50
67 Assebian, Tenah, FR Brooklyn 43:18.0 51

Event 1 - Women's 5,000 Meter Run
Team Scores
# College Total 1 2 3 4 5 +6 +7 +8 +9
1 York 44 1 5 8 12 18 25 32 -- --
2 Hunter 59 3 6 14 15 21 37 -- -- --
3Baruch 66 4 9 10 19 24 29 38 -- --
4Lehman 75 2 11 16 20 26 31 33 -- --
5M.Evers 103 7 17 22 27 30 -- -- -- --
6John Jay 144 13 23 28 39 41 42 -- -- --
7City Tech 194 34 35 36 44 45 49 -- -- --
8Brooklyn 224 40 43 46 47 48 50 51 -- --

NCAA ATLANTIC REGIONALS
@ Washington Cross Park,
Titusville, NJ (8K)
(CUNY Finishers Only)

88. Amy Saas Hunter So. 26:16
96. Hana Pechackova Baruch Jr. 26:28
174. Wendy Samuel Hunter Fr. 29:20
176. Citlalli Lucero Hunter So. 29:22
187. Fayella Cherubin Baruch Sr. 30:20
191. Liz Lushpenko Baruch Fr. 30:48
203. Joy Iyasere Lehman So. 32:42
204. Su-elene Cuevas Lehman So. 32:43
205. Jennifer Liriano Baruch Fr. 33:23
206. Karen Christian Baruch Jr. 33:56
207. Lital Kolbar Baruch Sr. 34:17
208. Julissa Alvarez Lehman So. 35:47

Team Results
29. Baruch College 837 points
Hunter & Lehman Colleges no team score

ECAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
@ Williamstown, Mass. (8K)
(CUNY Finishers Only)

51. Amy Saas Hunter So. 25:55
151. Wendy Samuel Hunter Fr. 28:28
153. Citlalli Lucero Hunter So. 28:33

Team Results
Hunter College no team score

CUNY Conference Championship
Men's 8,000 Meter Run

# Name School Time Score
1 Holzman, Omri, FR Hunter 28:55.4 1
2 Dahib, Kamal, SO Hunter 29:30.6 2
3 xMarshall, William, FR QCC 29:56.4 Exh
4 Pierre, Junior, SR Hunter 30:10.1 3
5 Yepez, Chris, SO QCC 30:16.2 --
6 Henriquez, Izzi, SO QCC 30:58.5 --
7 Smiley, Vidal, FR John Jay 31:21.5 4
8 Opare-Abetia, Ben, SR Hunter 31:31.6 5
9 Montelione, Nick, FR Hunter 31:32.5 6
10 Leo, Roque, SRNYCCT31:40.6 7
11 Pichardo, Sandy, JR John Jay 32:39.7 8
12 Gonzalez, Tommy, SOQCC32:41.4 --
13 Hess, Aaron, SR John Jay 32:50.1 9
14 Dmitriev, Yugin, FR Hunter 32:59.7 10
15 Rodriguez, Migue,l FR John Jay 33:21.1 11
16 Promax, Mark, FR QCC 33:34.1 --
17 Urbano, Michae,l F QCC 34:06.8 --
18 Vilain, Dexter, JR John Jay 34:42.9 12
19 Redhead, Roger, JR NYCCT 34:52.4 13
20 Hartley, Omar, SO NYCCT 35:15.2 14
21 Joris, Tristan, FR NYCCT 35:15.8 15
22 Knights, Rogelio, FR M.Evers 35:32.2 --
23 Richards, Raymion, FR M.Evers 35:32.5 --
24 Agosto, Bill, FR Lehman 35:36.1 --
25 Edlund, Nicolai, FR Brooklyn 35:44.4 16
26 Anderson, Derrick, SR Brooklyn 35:57.9 17
27 Barnett, Roberto, SR NYCCT 36:18.4 18
28 Watson, Marciano, SR York 36:20.9 --
29 Barker, Stephen, FR M.Evers 37:09.7 --
30 Sopoti, Arjan, FR Hunter 37:11.3 19
31 Wilson, Ryan, SO Brooklyn 37:28.4 20
32 xRosales, Jorge, SO John Jay 37:29.6 Exh
33 Davis, Jeffery, FR Lehman 37:38.6 --
34 Thorpe, Richard, FR NYCCT 38:02.8 21
35 Czaja, Michael, SO John Jay 38:06.4 22
36 Waite, James, JR York 38:25.5 --
37 Marr, Khan, JR York 39:11.3 --
38 Porr, Chris, FR QCC 39:41.0 --
39 Onyekwere, Victor, SO Lehman 40:02.2 --
40 Sequeira, Carlos, SR York 40:03.0 --
41 Adebisi, Hammed, FR NYCCT 44:42.4 23
42 Davidson, Earl, FR Brooklyn 46:59.3 24
43 Jean-Baptiste,Jeffrey FR Brooklyn 46:59.7 25
44 Ruiz, Robert, JR John Jay 47:45.9 26
45 Turner, Clifford, FR Lehman 50:01.0 --

Event 2 - Men's 8,000 Meter Run
Team Scores
# College Total 1 2 3 4 5 +6 +7 +8 +9
1 Hunter 17 1 2 3 5 6 10 19 -- --
2 John Jay 44 4 8 9 11 12 22 26 -- --
3City Tech 67 7 13 14 15 18 21 23 -- --
4Brooklyn 102 16 17 20 24 25 -- -- -- --

NCAA ATLANTIC REGIONALS @ Washington Cross Park, Titusville, NJ (8K) (CUNY Finishers Only)

123. Omri Holzman Hunter Fr. 29:08
162. Junior Pierre Hunter Sr. 30:39
164. Kamal Dahlib Hunter Jr. 30:42
191. Ben Opare-Abetia Hunter Sr. 32:35
208. Nick Montelione Hunter Fr. 34:19
212. Bill Agosto Lehman Fr. 36:08
219. Victor Onyekwere Lehman So. 40:07

Team Results
28. Hunter College 847 points
Lehman Colleges no team score

ECAC CHAMPIONSHIPS @ Williamstown, Mass. (8K) (CUNY Finishers Only)

46. Omri Holzman Hunter Fr. 28:25
122. Junior Pierre Hunter Sr. 30:07
132. Kamal Dahlib Hunter Jr. 30:24
191. Ben Opare-Abetia Hunter Sr. 31:07
208. Yugin Dmitriev Hunter Fr. 33:39

Team Results
21. Hunter College 650 points
2002 Results: Final-Report  Oct.21  Oct.15  Oct.7  Sept.24

2000 Championship 2001 Championship 2003 Championship
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