Wajid Wins Third Straight Title; Prospect Park Wins Six Team Titles at New York Junior Olympic Championships

Results

On Sunday (12-Nov) the USATF New York Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships were held at historic Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, NY. 465 athletes ages 5 to 18 and 27 teams competed for personal bests, fun, and qualifying placings for the Region 1 Junior Olympic Championships.

Liam O'Neill (Notre Dame TC) won the 17-18 division setting a new association Van Cortlandt Park record of 16:59.2. He broke the previous record of 17:41 set in 2019 by Steven Struck.

Mariam Wajid (VO2Max Track Club), Cyrus Boschen (VO2Max Track Club), Adriana Pettinelli (Tailwind Track Club), and Sam Farjami (Prospect Park Youth Running) all claimed individual titles and, in the process, established new association top-5 all-time performances at Van Cortlandt Park.

Wajid broke the tape in in the 9-10 girls division running 12:13.1 to win by 11 seconds over teammate Abigail Riley as the the VO2Max TC swept the top four places, Her time moves her to #5 all-time. It was her third straight New York title as she won the 9-10 division last year and the 8U division in 2021.

In the 9-10 boys race Wajid's teammate Cyrus Boschen crossed the line in 11:34.4 to win by 37 seconds over George Gitt (Prospect Park Youth Running). His time is #4 all-time at Van Cortlandt Park. 

In the 13-14 girls race, Adriana Pettinelli ran to victorystopping the clock at 15:17.2 (#5 all-time). She won by 27 seconds as Aisha Wajid, Miriam's older sister, finished second running 15:44.2. Pettinelli's victory was her second straight win as she won the 11-12 division last year.

In the 13-24 boys race Sam Farjami crossed the line with a time of 14:00.9 to win by 15 seconds over Marshall Brown (Tailwind TC). Farjami's time is tied for #4 all-time.

In the youngest division, Nico Jones (Dashing Dons & Divas) and Morgan Codrington (VO2Max Track Club) were the 8 & under champions. Jones won the boys race running 7:56 to win by eight seconds over Noah Ramos (Ocean Breeze Wave Runners). In the girls race Codrington defeated Makenna Spencer (Tailwind TC) by 13 seconds as she stopped the clock at 8:15.

In the 11-12 races, Kilian MacKinnon (Westchester Wolves) won the boys race over Eytan Goldberg (Prospect Park Youth Running) and Aria Boschen, Cyrus's older sister, won the girls race over Abigail Robisky (Ocean Breeze Wave Runners). Mackinnon's time was 11:03.6 while Boschen stopped the clock at 11:51.9. Both just missed cracking into the top-5 all-time by four seconds.

In the 15-16 races, Rishi Shadaksharappa led a 1-3 sweep in the boys race by the Westchester Wolves while Maxine Paul-Emile (Prospect Park Youth Running) won the girls race. Shadaksharappa ran 17:12.9 with teammates Yuhan Cruz and Jack Sherman following closely behind at their squad won the 15-18 team title by just two points over the Propsect Park Youth Running Club.

In the 17-18 girls race, Linden Cafcules (Prospect Park Youth Running) ran 20:22.9 to win the division and move to #4 on the association all-time list. She and Paul-Emile led the their Project Park Youth RC squad to victory in the 15-18 division.

The Prospect Park Youth Running Club won six team titles (9-10 boys, 9-10 girls, 11-12 boys, 13-14 boys, 13-14 girls, and 15-18 girls). The Ocean Breeze Wave Runners won three team titles (8U boys, 8u girls, and 11-12 girls). The Westchester Wolves won the 15-18 boys title.

The athletes who finished in the top-30 and teams finishing in the top-five (5) qualified to compete in Sunday's (19-Nov) Region 1 Championships in Queensbury, NY