Cross Country championships

Last Saturday under miserable weather conditions, including rain throughout the day, the Catholic High Schools Athletic Association conducted its Interscholastic Intersectional Cross Country championships, comprising some 35 teams from Westchester County, New York City, and Long Island.
With proper training during the school season starting in September, the boys are able to cover the 2.5-mile course without any problems. In addition, they certainly had to do it in the championship race held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, where all the big meets are contested.
The weather did not bother Carlos David Roa, a junior at St. Francis Prep High School. He braved the wet, slippery conditions and covered the tough course in 13:36.37 to become the first finisher from this borough.
Roa thus qualified for the State Federation meet to be run this Saturday in Bowdoin Park in upstate New York.
“I ran a very good race,” said the Jamaica resident who finished overall 15th in a field of 202 harriers. “I’m very happy with my time and place.”
“The conditions were hard coming into the back hills. After everyone went through the woods it was really packed and the (huge amount of) leaves were very slippery, especially going into the down hills, which were dangerous.”
Roa’s time marked a personal best for him; for he passed his old mark of 13:40, set at the Manhattan College-sponsored Interscholastic Meet in October.
Roa started the cross-country season barely breaking 14 minutes. However, he gradually improved on his time. Then he became happy with the season after last week’s meet.
“This meet was a good conclusion for the cross-country season this year,” Roa continued.
During the indoor or winter program, his specialty will be the 5000 meters. Moreover, he will soon start training for this distance.
He certainly improved himself and dropped his times during his three-year career on the cross-country team. He started out as a freshman when he ran a 14:16 for the 2.5 miles.
“We had the fastest Queens runner,” St. Francis Prep Coach Mike Hernandez said. “Ron ran a great race. He is a junior, definitely moving up in the league, and has a shot to be among the top runners in the league next year. He has trained hard and is talented. He should have a good (senior) cross-country year.”
While the individual champion was Paul Gilhooley of Bishop Ford in 12:59.59, the second Queens finisher was Max Gazzaro, a senior at St. Francis Prep. He was timed in 13:51.99 for 28th place overall. The top team from Queens to finish was Archbishop Molloy, who scored 397 points for 14th place.
The Stanners were led by its top finisher in Devin Chowske, who covered the course in 14:20.38 for 62nd place.
Sean Collins (14:34.68), Joe Mayer (14:38.67), Dan Acosta (14:50.97) and Tyler Bay (14:56.62), also paved the way for Molloy’s finish.
In the Boys’ PSAL championship team varsity race, the first two Queens finishers were Townsend Harris’ Chris Guerrero, who recorded a 17:01.43 for sixth place, and Francis Lewis’ David Johnson, who was clocked in 17:26.68 for 15th place.
The PSAL athletes compete on a longer 5K or 3.1 mile course also at the same park.
Francis Lewis’ 237 points earned them eighth place and was the first team from Queens to score.