The boys cross-country team competed in the Queens Borough Championships at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday, October 25th. There, they ran the across and over the hills of the serpentine course and, at the end of the day, emerged victorious. The junior-varsity team took the gold in their 5k race. In the varsity 5k race, senior captain Yash Sharma earned the title of the fastest in all of Queens by placing first, and the varsity team placed second overall.
As the team warmed up before the races, junior Aidan Moran said, “I have absolute confidence in the fact that we’re going to win.”
Junior Fahim Nousad was also determined to do well saying, “I’m just trying to do the best I can. After the race, I don’t want to look back and regret not pushing myself harder.”
The varsity team took the course first, and finished with three runners placing in the top ten. Senior captain Yash Sharma led all of Queens across the finish line by placing first with a time of 17:49. The next to finish was junior Matthew Sullivan, who completed the course with a time of 18:39 and placed seventh. Sophomore Muhamed Bicic placed ninth with a time of 18:48. Additionally, junior captain Abdoulaye Diallo and junior Matthew McAndrew finished with times under twenty minutes; they placed 17th and 21st, respectively.
“I could not be more satisfied to be the captain of a team like this. Everyone ran the best that they could, and that’s exactly what I asked them to do. The varsity team tried really, really hard to win first place, but second is fantastic, too. There is nothing that I would’ve changed about my team or how they ran,” said Yash. He was also proud of his personal performance, saying, “Sometimes, in a sport like this, you work really really hard and then just don’t perform at meets, and it’s extremely demoralizing. This was not one of those times, and it’s awesome to know that all I work I’ve ever done finally paid off.”
In the junior varsity 5k race, the entire junior varsity THHS team earned medals, which led them to their first place victory. Senior Igor Portnoy finished second with a time of 20:45, and freshman Adem Musovic finished shortly thereafter by placing third with a time of 20:48. Junior Benjamin Chang and sophomore Justice Williams placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with each running times just over twenty minutes. Junior Aidan Moran clenched sixth place by passing two boys on the straightaway in an energized sprint to the finish.
Junior John Mullane, who ran in the varsity race, supported his trophy-winning teammates when they returned from the finish line saying, “Hey, everyone, bring it over here. You all did great.”
Igor was also pleased with his team’s performance. He said, “Our team did amazing today, everyone gave it their all and it showed during the race as both the Varsity and JV team obtained trophies.”
Coach Orlando Martinez, along with the rest of the team, had wanted the varsity team to place first in all of Queens. Nevertheless, he believed the entire THHS track team gave their best effort at the meet.
“I’m very happy with the varsity and junior varsity performances. I thought they gave it their all. They put in a lot of hours of training and mental preparation. I would have preferred them to place first, but sometimes things don’t work out the way you expect. They gave it their all.”
Matthew Sullivan shared his coach’s perspective saying, “I’m very proud of the way our team performed today. While we didn’t do as well as we thought we would, the best you can give is the best that you got.”
Townsend Harris alum and former cross country captain Thomas Sullivan attended the meet in support of the team. He also believed they had run their best saying, “The team is so much stronger than last year and, quite possibly, the strongest team we’ve ever had. This is a much faster, much more evolved Townsend team than it was a few years ago. The guys did really well today, and I’m proud of all of them. They had a goal in mind coming into this race and, even though they may not have achieved it, they performed better than any Townsend team ever had. I think everybody got a medal today and in my opinion, that’s the sign of a team who ran their butts off.”
The boys expect to put forth their best once more at their next big meet, PSAL City Championships, which will take place on Sunday, November 9th at Van Cortlandt Park.
