Lehman Women & York Men Repeat as Champions

Jamaica, NY – After 37 individual events, the results came up the same as a year ago with Lehman’s women and York’s men defending their CUNY Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field titles in impressive fashion. The Cardinal men (163 points) outdistanced the Medgar Evers Cougars by 40 points, while the Lightning women (203 points) outscored the host Lady Cardinals by 33.

It’s our goal every year to win the CUNY Championship,” said York coach Tom Pope. “Our athletes are starting to come into their own, especially Uriah George and O’Neil Smiley, who showed it today.”

George earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Performer award with three gold medals, a silver and a bronze - just ahead of Smiley, who took home four golds (400m in record 48.13, 800m, 4x100 in record 43.47 and 4x400). George set a new conference mark in javelin throw (51.96) while teammate Khari White continued to dominate the distance events by nabbing the 1500, 5000 and 10,000 (34:28.94) meter races.

I am very tired and very injured, but extremely proud to get this trophy,” said George, a native of the tiny island nation of Dominica in the West Indies. “Seeing that I can do this at York in my first semester makes me realize how much farther my team and I can go.”

The women’s title was a two-team race all day long with the Lightning pulling away thanks to Paulette Baldwin’s seven medals on the day (4 gold, 3 silver), good enough to collect the women’s Most Valuable Performer award. She earned golds in the javelin, 100 hurdles (record 15.63), long jump and 4x100 relay. Lehman teammate Danielle Howard captured three more golds (hammer throw of record 31.55 and discus of 30.84 and shot put). York’s Candace Mussenden also had an outstanding day with 3 gold and 4 silver medals to keep her team in second place while Hunter’s Donna Mahoney won three distance events (800m, 1500, 3000m).

I was actually shooting for five gold medals but, nevertheless, I had a strong all-around day and it’s excellent to have some of my teammates step up and give our team the win,” said Baldwin. She has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships after earning All-American honors during the Indoor season.

Medgar Evers College also had a fine showing with a second place men’s finish (123 points) and a third place women’s finish (100 points). Emeka Mbadiwa won the high jump with a record leap of 1.89m, while Jamilla Dick paced the women with victories in the 100 (12.41) and 200 (25.95) dashes. Other performances of note include Marvin Cousins of Hunter taking the men’s 100 (10.84) and 200 (21.94) dashes, the second in record time, for the third place Hawks (112 points). Overall, 13 outdoor records were broken on the day.

CUNYAC