Competing in an event featuring some the areas top NCAA Division I & II schools, the College of Staten Island showcased nicely at Van Cortlandt Park this morning at the Fordham Fiasco, also known as the Ed Joyce Memorial Invitational.  The CSI Women posted an 11th place finish in their 5K event, while the CSI men placed 12th in the 8K race shortly after.

WOMEN’S RACE
In a race dominated by runners from Division I Harvard University and Princeton University, the Dolphins were able to place 11th overall.  Leading the way for the Dolphins on the women’s side was Tristiana Adragna, who placed a 24:23.88 finish to place 72nd overall, 57th among scoring runners.  

Racing close behind was sophomore Rachel Edmonds, who legged out a 24:56.70 finish, four places behind Adragna as CSI’s next scorer.  As promised, newcomer Patricia Corey did not disappoint landing a career debut time of 25:29.07 to land in 80th place.  Ariel Ng then became CSI’s fourth scorer, landing in 88th place with a run of 28:17.23.  Veronica Lorenzo was next in, coming in at a time of 30:07.48 to take 91st place.  

Also crossing the line for Staten Island today was Victoria DeBernardo (92nd, 31:51.90), and Jolisa Wright (94th, 32:41.41).  For Wright, her finish time was a new personal best, beating her former 5K best by four seconds.

Harvard won the race with just 22 points, followed by Princeton’s 35.  Manhattan College took the bronze overall with 105 points.  St. Thomas Aquinas was the top Division II side, coming in 7th overall with a score of an even-200.  CSI finished with 327 total points in their 2019 debut.

MEN’S RACE
Following the women’s 5K race was the men’s longer course 8K run that featured a total of 110 participants.   CSI’s top finisher was sophomore Spencer Milito, who came in with a healthy mark of 29:58.8, good for 70th overall.  For Milito, it was the second fastest 8K time of his career, and only the second time he’s completed the event in under the 30-minute mark.

Next down the shoot was freshman David Outlaw, who was making his cross-country debut today.  Outlaw posted a time of 30:49.2 to place 79th in the field, setting the bar nicely in future runs.  Muhammad Qadri made his CSI debut as well and turned in a 32:38.9 race time for 90th place, while Ahmed Khodir came in at 32:47.4, a new personal best for him, shattering his previous best by a whopping two minutes.

CSI’s final scorer was Erik Sanchez, who placed in a time of 35:28.6, and right behind him was Daniel Palmieri, who raced in at 35:40.9, the second-fastest 8K of his career.  Kevin Kidney made his CSI debut and was the final CSI runner to cross, posting an intro time of 44:23.1.

Rutgers University won the event with 59 points, followed by Princeton taking their second silver as a team with 65 points.  Penn University took the bronze.  Again, St. Thomas Aquinas was tops among the Division II competition, posting 182 points, good enough for 7th place.

Next up for both CSI teams will be a date next Saturday at the New York Tech Invitational, on the campus’ Old Westbury terrain.  Race time begins at 10 am.