Cardozo freshman makes mark

Cardozo’s Claudia Francis set a freshman record at the Mayor’s Cup meet at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx Saturday afternoon. She ran the 1.5-mile course in 9:39.27 for an average mile of 6:26.2. Her record-breaking time topped the 10:03.17 mark set by her sister, Phyllis, at last year’s meet. A runner for Catherine McAuley, Phyllis finished fifth in the 2.5-mile varsity championship.
“It’s exciting,” Francis told the PSAL’s website. “I ran to do my best. I expected to run like this. I’ve been practicing hard.”
“I wasn’t surprised; she’s an athlete anyway,” Cardozo Coach Gail Emmanuel said. “She comes in experienced and she has run good times before. I was pleased. We expect her to do some good things.”
In varsity competition, Newtown’s Stephany Fana was second in the 2.5-mile to Brittney Killebrew of James Madison. On the boys side, Rafal Ksepka of Grover Cleveland and Christopher Guerrero of Townsend Harris took home first and second place honors in the 2.5-mile respectively.

- Zachary Braziller