By Dylan Butler
The York women’s cross country team captured its first ever CUNY title at Van Cortlandt Park Saturday as the Cardinals outdistanced second-place Hunter by 15 points, while the Queensborough College men’s team had the school’s second-best finisher ever, with six runners among the top 10 finishers.
York placed five women in the top 18 finishers, including individual winner Kenja Benjamin, a Richmond Hill resident who clocked the second-fastest time in championship history by finishing in 20:30.3.
“I was battling my nerves at the start of the race,” said the August Martin graduate. “I caught [Lehman’s Maria] Castro earlier than I expected to and kept a safe distance between us for the remainder of the race. It’s a great feeling to win a championship my first time out.”
Castro, fighting a sprained ankle, placed second in 21:00 while Hunter’s Amy Sass took third place in 21:24.8.
In addition to Benjamin, freshman Toulope Ojo (21:25.3) from Queens Village and East Elmhurst resident Sanilisiew Nkala (22.46.7) placed fifth and eighth, respectively.
“We don’t run the mileage during the week that the rest of the CUNY schools do,” said York coach Tom Pope. “So it makes me very proud to see this young team come through in this manner. I knew it would be a close call and without our two freshmen and a returning veteran, we definitely wouldn’t finish first.”
Leading Queensborough in the men’s race were freshman William Marshall (29:56.4) and sophomores Chris Yepez (30:16.2) and Izzi Henriquez (30:58.5).
Take me home, country roads
OK, so maybe no one on the St. John’s women’s soccer team knows the famous John Denver song saluting his home state of West Virginia, but the Red Storm will have a few days to acquaint itself with the unofficial anthem of the Mountaineer State.
St. John’s punched its ticket to the Big East tournament for a second straight year with a 2-1 overtime win over Virginia Tech Friday at Belson Stadium.
The Red Storm, which secured fourth place in the Northeast Division, will face the Atlantic Division’s top-seed, West Virginia, Sunday at 2 p.m. in Morgantown.
Courtney Rett netted the game-winner for St. John’s (9-4-4, 3-3) 17 seconds into overtime from the top of the 18-yard box. Joanna Dawson, who returned to action after missing a pair of games with a knee injury, and Kaitlin Schmidt assisted on Rett’s fourth goal of the year.
The Red Storm went ahead, 1-0 in the 15th minute, when Schmidt shed a pair of Virginia Tech defenders and slipped her 10th goal of the year over Hokies’ keeper Natasha Dirda from the lower corner of the box. Dominica Reina and Erin Henderson assisted on the goal.
Virginia Tech (5-9-1, 2-2) tied the game at 1 in the 61st minute on Kathy Holdsworth’s penalty kick.
Moments later Reina, who also hit the post later in the second half, had a penalty shot for St. John’s, but Dirda made the save.
Georgetown 1, St. John’s 0. Two days after a critical win, St. John’s missed what may have been an excellent opportunity to get an NCAA at-large bid with a crushing 1-0 overtime loss to Georgetown Sunday at Belson Stadium in the Red Storm’s regular season finale.
Tina Fogg made eight saves for the Red Storm, but couldn’t stop Elizabeth Roberti from scoring the golden goal 1:23 into overtime for the Hoyas.
Ending the Snide in Style
Matt Millheiser (16-for-32, 245 yards) connected with Alicio Metellus on touchdown passes of 10 and 21 yards, and Matt McGuire (23 rushes for 110 yards) scored a pair of touchdowns on runs of 29 and 3 yards to lead the Red Storm to a wild 34-24 win over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival St. Peter’s at DaSilva Memorial Field Saturday afternoon.
The win, over the No. 4 Division I-AA mid-major team in the country in Dopke.com’s college football poll, improves St. John’s record to 2-5, 2-3, and puts an end to a five-game losing streak.
Trailing 24-23 in the fourth quarter, Millheiser hit Metellus for a 21-yard touchdown pass, capping a 10-play, 80-yard drive. He then passed to Brett Henry for the successful two-point conversion.
Tom Gavenonis kicked his second 35-yard field goal of the game to give the Red Storm a 34-24 cushion with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter.
St. Peter’s (5-4, 4-2) was led by Derek Clayton, who rushed 27 times for 216 yards and one 70-yard touchdown. Quarterback Andre Harris (9-for-19, 116 yards) threw for a pair of scores, an 8-yard pass to Pat DeFrancesco and a 68-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Wood, and James Galea added a 26-yard field goal for the Peacocks.
Matt May also had nine receptions for 159 yards for St. John’s, which heads to Albany to take on Siena Saturday at 1 p.m.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
