2000 CUNYAC Cross Country Championship

York Men Dominate the Field; Hunter Women Win 4th Straight

Hunter College won their fourth straight CUNY Athletic Conference Cross Country Women's crown, while York College's Men's team won their first-ever title, easily trouncing the competition at Van Corlandt Park in the Bronx.

York's Odinga Bascom (Brooklyn, NY), a native of Guyana, has won every first place CUNYAC award since he came to the Jamaica school last winter. Today, Bascom, a 5'8" freshman added the Individual Cross Country title to his Indoor and Outdoor Most Valuable Runner trophies with a 28:55.81 finish. Right behind him, as he was all season was teammate Khari White (Beach Channel/Jamaica, NY) in 29:32.38. With the top two finishers leading the pack, the Cardinals won the team title with 23 points. Brooklyn College's Gardy Regis placed third in 31:21.28.

In the team competition, three schools, including the defending champions, Hunter, did not field full teams leaving only four schools to acquire a team score. Medgar Evers College was second with 58 points, followed by New York City Technical College (64) and John Jay College (65).

"It's great to leave the team with a championship," said Chavez-Geller, who also won the #1 doubles final Antonescu last seasons. "After four years of playing for the team, you gain confidence on and off the court."

The women's race lived up to it's billing with four women from four different schools taking the top four spots. Hana Pechakova, a Baruch College sophomore from the Czech Republic, led the women in 20:48.68, in the third fastest time ever in conference competition. Elina Alekperova (New Rochelle, NY) slotted second at 20:55.95 and Lehman College's Maria Castro (Columbus/Bronx, NY) was third with a personal best 22:13.49.

In the next seven spots were four Hunter runners leading the Hawks to the title (36 points), led by defending champion Baiba Spulgerane at 22:26.41, who has been injured and unable to run in a meet for the past three weeks.

York's women finished second in the team standings with 58 points, followed by Lehman (67), Baruch (84), Medgar Evers (101), Brooklyn (131) and NYC Tech in seventh with 171 points. Hunter, the five-time defending champs, only had four men in the race due to injuries, but placed them men in the top six.

By Gregg Cohen-CUNYAC