New York, NY | On a historic afternoon at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory in Manhattan, the College of Staten Island men’s and women’s indoor track and field sides made their postseason debut as a varsity program, and both teams did their fair share of impressing. The CSI women soared to a fourth place finish in the showdown, while the CSI men took sixth overall.
WOMEN’S MEET
The Dolphins got off to a flying start, taking second place in the Distance Medley relay, as the team of Tristiana Adragna, Vanessa Mansur, Victoria DeBernardo and Rachel Edmonds, helped CSI to a 15:14.05 finish, behind only Hunter College to immediately start the race in second place.
Up next was the 60-meter Dash. In preliminary heats, outstanding freshman Deavion Brown was tops among the four-year runners, putting in a time of 7.93. Sarah Andes came in 11th in the race with a time of 9.17. B
Brown secured a place in the finals with her time, but before that, Kharyn Ethridge took center stage, and claimed CSI’s first-ever CUNYAC gold medal with a 5.41.66 in the One-Mile competition. Adragna was also on-hand to score, placing sixth with a time of 6:06.88. Ethridge did not wait long to prove she is one of the best on the track, as she came right back in the 400-meter Dash competition, and her time of 59.98 gave her the gold medal again.
Back to the 60-meter Dash, Brown was ready to follow up her preliminary time with a tremendous run of 7.93 in the race, winning the event to score more valuable points for the Dolphins, and giving them their third-straight gold.
CSI did not compete in the 60-meter Hurdles competition, but when they did return to the track, it was for the 800-meter, and on cue, Ethridge turned in the gold-medal hat trick, racing in at 2:27.58, winning by almost two seconds to take first-place then again.
Brown was then back, and narrowly missed her second medal, settling for the silver with a 26.19 run in the 200-meter Dash.
Up next was the 3k race, and once again, Kharyn Ethridge was on hand to dominate, putting in a time of 11:37.20, winning the event by over 13 seconds for another gold.
Wrapping up the track events, CSI was able to grab a point in the 4×400 event, as the team of Adragna, Edmonds, Mansur, and Brown finished 6th overall with a time of 4:49.44.
Despite not scoring, Stephanie Da Silva, Edmonds, and Ommiya Butt, participated in field events.
CSI totaled 69 points overall, just two behind Lehman College. CCNY won the meet outright with 117 points while Hunter College placed second with 95.
For her dominating performance, CSI’s Ethridge was named the meet’s Most Valuable Player.
MEN’S MEET
On the men’s side, CSI was able to score in a grand total of six events. The first scoring event was a 5th-place showing from freshman Jordan Thompson in the 200-meter Dash, topping out with a time of 23.31. Thompson struck again in the very next event, the 400-meter Dash. This time Thompson put up a time of 52.78, good for a 7th-place finish overall good for a pair of points.
Liam McMunn was next to strike for CSI, as he topped all CSI finishers in the 800-meter Run with a time of 2:03.16 which was good enough for fourth-place overall. McMunn was also a point-scorer in the One-Mile, putting in a 4:40.60 time for another fourth-place finish.
CSI’s other point-scoring teams were a part of relay units. In the Distance Medley Relay, David Outlaw, Jaron Thompson, Daniel Palmieri, and Ahmed Khodir put in a time of 12:32.62, good for fourth place. Finally, in the 4×400, CSI’s Jaron Thompson, Wilson Esguerra, Justin Fernandez, and Jordan Thompson put in a time of 3:46.87, enough for seventh place overall.
CSI put up a total of 26 points, good enough for sixth-place in their CUNYAC Postseason debut. Lehman College and CCNY will share the Championship, as both teams scored an identical 129 points. Hunter College took the bronze with 64 points.
