Head Coach Robert Russo took home CUNYAC Coach of the Year honors while teammates Luke Jackson, Liam McMunn, and Kenneth Morella all earned All-Star status as the City University of New York Athletic Conference unveiled its year-end awards to finalize the season. It marked a pointed end to the season which saw the Dolphins place third at this year’s CUNYAC Championship.
Balancing an incomplete team to start the season, the Dolphins were able to right the ship and get themselves into a nice groove by the end of the season. That, coupled with a fantastic home meet on October 9 which saw them extend their course at Clove Lakes Park merited Russo Coach of the Year honors yet again this season, a feat he turned on two other occasions.
On the course itself, it was hard to deny CSI’s trifecta of talent in Jackson, McMunn and Morella. Jackson joined the team late but was a force at the top of the table, winning two meets outright while placing seventh at the CUNYAC Championship at Van Cortlandt Park. He posted three of CSI’s top five times in 8k races this year, a mark that included a 28:47.5 run in the CSI Invitational, a meet that he won first place in.
McMunn was a mainstay all season, and put up CSI’s best 8k time all season with a stellar 28:08 performance at the Bard College Invitational. He also had CSI’s fourth highest 8k time achieved at the CSI Invitational and held CSI’s second-fastest 5k time as well at the St. John’s University Fall Festival. He also placed 10th overall at the Championship Meet.
Senior Kenneth Morella doubled as an all-star and as a member of the CUNYAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Morella’s finest race was at the Bard Invitational, when he posted CSI’s 10th best 8k time of 30:59. He had a fine race performance at the CUNYAC Championship, posting a time of 32:01.5. More importantly, however, was the selection to the All-Sportsmanship Team. Morella was cited by the conference coaches as being an ambassador of the sport through positive play and attention to sportsmanship.
The Dolphins posted a third place finish in three different races this season, and posted a first place finish in the NYC Quad Meet at Van Cortlandt Park on October 23.
