Staten Island, NY - This week, our On This Day retrospective is turning back the clock seven years again to 2013. This time, the CSI Men's Cross-Country team made history by winning their first-ever CUNYAC Championship since rebooting the program in the mid 2000's. Andrew Pate was named meet MVP, beginning a three-year run by CSI at the top of CUNYAC.
THE STAKES
CSI Cross-Country made waves all season, but a championship wasn't exactly a guarantee, as CSI needed to surpass teams like CCNY, John Jay, and Hunter, that were also in heavy contention for the title. The finest finish CSI had on the season was a pair of third place finishes, including one leading up to the championship. That set the stage for a great final, one that came right down to the wire.
WHAT HAPPENED
CSI picked the perfect day to have a great day. All five CSI scorers placed in the Top 15 overall on this day, helping CSI to a point total of 45, just narrowly getting by John Jay's count of 49. Controversy was on-hand as the top three finishers were disqualified in this one as they did not run the track properly, and that opened things up for Andrew Pate, who posted a time of 29:18, his best time by 32 seconds, good for first overall and the MVP honors of the race. The personal bests did not stop there. Freshman Justin Mills clocked in at 30:37, bettering his former best time at VCP by four seconds, while 2012 Rookie of the Year Samuel Obisanya was a few beats behind at 30:52. After the field's top 10 crossed, it was time for CSI's final two scorers to touch down. Freshman Kenneth Morella finished 12th overall with a time of 31:13, his fastest VCP time of his career, while fellow frosh Kenneth Halwani was good for 15th, clocking in at 31:48.
FINAL TALLY
CSI tallied a total of 45 points, followed by John Jay's 49, making the final one of the closest of all time. Baruch followed in third place with 67 points. Also tallying in the results was (in order): CCNY (124), York (125), Hunter (131), Brooklyn (183), Lehman (218) and Medgar Evers (225).
Game Story
