Alphonso Polina of Jamaica captured the first of three summer series 5K races conducted by the College Point Road Runners Track Club Friday.
Polina, 40, covered the two-loop course in Flushing Meadow Park in 16:31, ahead of Samir Halihovic of Ridgewood and Jason Corley of Jamaica. Halihovic was timed in at 16:42, 28 seconds faster than Corley. The former is on the cross country team at Vassar College.
Debbie Pantano, 45, of Oakland Gardens was the women’s winner in 27:02.
Originally from Colombia, Polina went out fast, was timed in at 5:02 for the first mile and 10:30 at the two-mile mark despite inclement weather conditions, which cut the number of entries.
“The course was flat, and my time was good,” Polina said.
The next race in the series will be Friday, July 18, when the gun goes off at 7 p.m.
