Oct 27

Boro Champs Results Favor the Rankings
of the Curtis Girls and Top Three Boys Teams 

            The Rankings;

BOYS

1. Midwood
2. McKee SI Tech
3. Curtis
4. Tottenville
5. Clintn
6. Stuyvesant
7. Bayside
8. Bronx Science
9. Hunter
10. Port Richmond

GIRLS

1. McKee SI Tech
2. T Harris
3. Curtis
4. Tottenville
5. Boys and Girls
6. Port Richmond
7. AP Randolph
8. Hunter
9. Stuyvesant
10. Clinton

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Oct 20
            The boys from Midwood and Curtis were only far apart geographically this weekend. In ability, they are thisclose. At the Nassau County Invitational in Bethpage State Park, LI, Midwood finished their five scorers within 35 seconds of each other over 5000 meters. They convincingly won the seeded “A” race with 36 points. Curtis, competing at the same time in the second seeded “B” race of the Eastern States Championship at Van Cortlandt Park was taking a very respectable tenth place. Among the teams that finished behind them was the city’s number one ranked squad from Msgr. Farrell.
            The Tottenville and McKee SI Tech boys traveled to Rhode Island to compete in the championship section of the Brown U. Invitational. Tottenville is a team capable of running very well or very badly. This time they ran very well, losing to the higher ranked MSIT by only one place. When Tottenville’s first JV runner is inserted into the results the two teams sit virtually dead even. 
            The Bronx Science boys moved from number nine to five this week by putting nearly all five scorers under 15-minutes in the ESC. Conversely, the Clinton boys, in the ESC, mysteriously running again without their number one man, fell from number five to eight.
            The story on the girl’s side ignores McKee SI Tech, Townsend Harris and Tottenville, ranked respectively one through three. Their performances this weekend continue to justify that order. Boys and Girls and Curtis however showed some impressive growth.
            The girls from Boys and Girls, based on their work in the Fordham U. meet at VCP, jump all the way from number nine to four. This team is on the move and will be even better later, when its speedy freshmen, Adrenee Sterrett, joins the varsity. 
            Curtis HS, previously defined as essentially a great runner (Jonetta Moore) without a viable team, suddenly is a team. Results from the Fordham U. meet show all five Curtis girls finishing under 20-minutes for the first time this season. What a difference that makes in the standings. After previously hanging on at ninth place the Warriors are now firmly in the middle of the pack, at number six.

The rankings:

BOYS
1.      Midwood
2.      Curtis
3.      McKee SI Tech
4.      Tottenville
5.      Bronx Science
6.      Stuyvesant
7.      G. Washington
8.      Clinton
9.      Port Richmond
10.    Bayside 

GIRLS


Oct 13
The PSAL team results from this weekend’s Manhattan College Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx show a very different picture depending on where one looks. The talent of the ranked boys teams doesn’t vary very greatly throughout. The ranked girls teams, on the other hand, shows strength at the top and a significant drop off after that.
            Last week’s number one boys team, Midwood keeps its position, barely holding off Curtis. These two teams are essentially tied in a “virtual reality” dual meet. Midwood’s stronger back runners counter Curtis’s star Maurice Harewood. (Harewood’s 13:38.4 time was the best of the PSAL on Saturday.) The middle scorers from both teams will carry the day in a face-to-face showdown.
            Not far off these leaders are three teams that need only to “put it all together” at the right time. This week McKee SI Tech holds on to #3 while Clinton moves to #4 based on a performance that was a bit better than that of Tottenville on Saturday.
            The ranked girls teams are clearly in a class society. McKee SI Tech is the upper crust. Townsend Harris is in that strata too, but a notch below. Harris was unable to outscore Tech at Manhattan, even with the Seagulls’ number two runner not finishing. Tottenville stands alone at number three, in a class by itself, not upper crust, but not bourgeoisie either. The Pirates had a good day at Manhattan. They were actually the only PSAL school to finish teams in the top ten in three different races. Unfortunately none were on the varsity level. They are at least a year away from Harris and Tech.
            Port Richmond, Stuyvesant and AP Randolph are the middle ranked teams, in this order at numbers four, five and six. APR seems to be accelerating most among the three. The appearance of middle distance star Selina Sappleton for the first time this season, gives APR that edge. This week’s rankings: 

BOYS TEAMS

1. Midwood
2. Curtis
3. McKee SI Tech
4. Clinton
5. Tottenville
6. Stuyvesant
7. Bayside
8. G. Washington
9. Bronx Science
10. Port Richmond

GIRLS TEAMS

1. McKee SI Tech
2. T. Harris
3. Tottenville
4. Port Richmond
5. Stuyvesant
6. AP Randolph
7. Boys and Girls
8. Hunter
9. Clinton
10. Bronx Science

Oct 6 
                The PSAL’s top ranking boys and girls cross country teams seem to have locked themselves into position. As the first month of competition has come to an end, the Midwood boys and the McKee SI Tech girls are stubbornly holding on to number one slots. 
            Not so firm are the holds of the next few teams after Midwood and Tech. Will the SI boys teams, Tottenville, Curtis and McKee SI Tech,in places two through four, ever finally sort themselves out?  Tech was the early season leader, but hasn’t run as strong since. Tottenville was steadily getting better all September, until its pedestrian showing this weekend at Sunken Meadow. Is Curtis, so full of promise on paper, just a great write hope? 
             The Clinton and Washington boys were the most aggressive teams this past week, and comsequently earned their new five and six positions. The rest of the top ten showed enough consistency to remain in the top ten.
            The ledger on the girls side has a bit of a different twist. MSIT remains the class of the league, with runner-up Harris harboring realistic hopes of dethroning. Tottenville, at three, and Boys and Girls at four, each get better every outing, but can't match Tech or Harris yet.                                                                                                                 The most interesting story on the girls chart is APR. Coach Phyllis Anderson's girls were overloooked in earlier polls, but can't be ignored any longer. They are a solid number seven in their first appearencein the top ten. This team has been energized by the fine running of a cross country newcomer with a well-known name, Dana Lewis. Currently a senior, Lewis was the top runner in the PSAL as a freshman, and has only recently seems to have put behind her a series of injuries that hobbled her during her middle years of high school.

  BOYS TEAMS 

1         Midwood
2   Tottenville
3. Curtis
4. McKee SI Tech
5. Clinton
6. George Washington
7. Stuyvesant
8. Bayside
9. Jefferson
10. Bronx Science

GIRLS TEAMS

1         McKee SI Tech
2         T. Harris
3         Tottenville
4         Boys and Girls
5         Stuyvesant
6         Port Richmond
7         AP Randolph
8         Jamaica
9         Clinton
10.    Bronx Science

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Sep 30
          The twelve races at this weekend’s PSAL Invitational at Van Cortlandt, brought together, for the first time this season, the entire league. Many questions were answered, but not all of them.
           Clearly, the Midwood boys were the best team of the day, THAT DAY! Coach Sean Rice’s boys muscled out the previous poll leader in overall team average, BUT! There is room still, for debate.
          The two teams did not face each other in the same race. Tech was without their top runner. In answer, Midwood was not a fully-manned team either. Midwood was also, in the words of Rice, “training through this meet.”
          This polls’ second best team, Tottenville, which had been slowly gaining respect over the last few weeks, proved it is no mirage. The Pirates move into number two narrowly edging two fine challengers in Curtis and MSIT. The Warriors and Seagulls now sit in numbers 3 and 4 this week.
          Biggest surprise among ranked boys teams is the rise of George Washington, Bronx Science and Jefferson. Port Richmond, along with Newtown and Edison, are all no longer top ten teams.
          The team leader of the girls, MSIT, proved what all had suspected. Coach Mary Brooks’ team had too much depth and talent for their opponents in this Invitational. Winners of Varsity, JV and Frosh races they are, without debate, at this time the league’s top girls team, and program!
          The rebuilding year that the Tottenville girls team was supposed to have under rookie coach Mickey Lopez isn’t going to be. The Pirates are very close, (in slot three), behind last year’s champs, Harris. Nine of the ranked girls teams were present on the chart last week, only Hunter disappeared. Boys and Girls replaces the Hawks at number five. The tenth position on the pole was most-hard fought with Midwood finishing only slightly ahead of a fast-developing Far Rockaway team. 

BOYS  TEAMS

1.      Midwood
2.      Tottenville
3.      Curtis
4.      McKee SI Tech
5.      Stuyvesant
6.      Bayside
7.      Jefferson
8.      Bronx Science
9.      Clinton
10.  G. Washington 

GIRLS TEAMS

1. McKee SI Tech
2. T. Harris
3. Tottenville
4. Port Richmond
5. Boys and Girls
6. Stuyvesant
7. Bronx Science
8. Clinton
9. Jamaica
10. Midwood

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Sep 16
Meet results this past weekend forced some serious rearrangement of the rankings of both the PSAL boys and girls teams, most notably at the number one positions. The previously number one-ranked Clinton boys, despite showing expected strength in their Boro Group Run, have to be moved aside for the precocious McKee SI Tech squad. Tech was just too strong against major competition at the Jim Smith Invitational on Saturday at Sunken Meadow, not to be given this kind of respect.  
            In head-to-head competition between the previous number two team, Curtis and number ten, Tottenville, the latter clearly dominated. As a result, Tottenville moves from ten to three in making the biggest jump of all ranked teams. Midwood, also present at Jim Smith also looks somewhat stronger than Curtis and assumes position number four. 
             Bayside, proved that they are the real thing in the Queens Boro Group Run and climbs from nine to six. Stuyvesant, previously considered only a potential top ten team, showed quality as well as quantity in their Boro GR and enters the top ten as number seven. 
            The girl’s new leader, Curtis, may have three of the top half dozen PSAL runners in the city. McKee SI Tech, last week’s leader cannot match this. Nor can Harris the leader at the season’s start. These three teams are not only at the top; they appear to be a class apart from the rest of the league.  
            Places four through ten present interesting teams, all with wild possibilities. Arguments could be made for revising the position of any one of these teams for any number of reasons; potential, (Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and Port Richmond), tradition, (Hunter and Tottenville) and talent, (Clinton and Truman).   

            The only new names on the girls list are those of Bronx Science and Stuyvesant.        

Sept 9

Seven PSAL teams chose to open their seasons this weekend at the Wagner College Invitational, at Clove Lake Park on Staten Island. The results only mildly shuffled the weekly rankings.

            Most significant was the performance of the McKee SI Tech girls. Coach Mary Brooks’ team managed to eke out a one point advantage over last year’s CHSAA cross country champion, St John Villa, Staten Island. Tech and Villa finished 2-3 behind winner Pearl River from Orange County. Until last week’s leader, Townsend Harris, proves it can run as well, MSIT should be considered the class of the PSAL

            Other girls teams that made debuts included Tottenville, Petrides and Port Richmond. Tottenville and Port Richmond ran about as expected, and will hold positions among the top ten.

The boy’s results showed a MSIT team a little weaker than previously considered, and a much weaker Tottenville team. Both schools ran under-manned however and promise better days.  Port Richmond, fielding a full team, showed long-shot possibilities for future top ten ranking.

Preseason
The season’s first cross country team rankings are usually interesting, always iffy and guaranteed to generate controversy.  This is perhaps more true of the first  boys’ poll than the girls’. Clinton, Curtis and McKee SI Tech each has a rightful claim at the top spot. Clinton’s experience gives them the nod over the youth and enthusiasm of Cutis and MSIT.

            The next places are also a tight trio. Like Clinton, Midwood’s experience places them slightly ahead of Jefferson and Tottenville. The rest of the top ten include a bit of the old in South Shore and Boys and Girls and two fresh faces in Bayside and Erasmus Hall.

            Other teams, though not in the top ten, which deserve consideration include AP Randolph, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and George Washington. These “ good” teams appear to be only a runner or three shy of being able to contend.

            On the girls side charting the top ten is even more subjective. At this point it seems that only Townsend Harris, Curtis and McKee SI Tech have justifiable hopes for the top spot. Harris and Curtis were only slightly diminished by graduations. MSIT,  even less than that. Someone has to beat last year’s city champion Harris before they should be dislodged from #1. A more mature Curtis team deserves the initial rankings edge over the younger MSIT girls.

            The next four places see a Port Richmond varsity, heavy with underclassmen that have had varsity experience since their freshman year vying with regrouping teams from Clinton, Tottenville and Brooklyn Tech. Clinton’s talent and Tottenville’s numbers place them a bit ahead of the others.

            The final vote-getters among the girls include Hunter, Truman and Boys and Girls. Each gave evidence of having distance strength among returnees during last season’s outdoor track campaign.

            Other girls teams, not in then top ten, that may shake dark-horse labels include AP Randolph, South Shore, Bronx Science and Hunter.