Results

RIVERDALE, NY -- It was a miserable day weather-wise, but even a steady downpour wasn't going to stand between the City College of New York men's cross country team and a fourth consecutive CUNY Athletic Conference crown.  The Beavers placed five runners in the top 12, led by individual winner Merlin Padilla Jr. (New York, NY), at the CUNYAC Championships on Sunday morning in Van Cortlandt Park to become the first program to win four straight conference titles since Hunter from 2009-12.

Padilla had a dominant performance.  His winning time of 28:58.7 was 50 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, Max Dell-Thibodeau of Lehman.  He becomes the first back-to-back CUNY individual champion since Hunter's Chris Guerrero won three straight from 2009-11.  As the individual winner, Padilla was named MVP of the Championships.

Muhammed Qadri (Staten Island, NY) finished fifth overall after running 8000 meters in 30:11.3, while Jules Day (Brooklyn, NY) placed eighth in 30:56.7.  Octavio Diaz (New York, NY) also had a top-10 showing, posting a time of 30:57.9 to secure 10th place.  Simeon Kleinsasser (Brooklyn,  NY) then locked up the team title with his 12th-place finish.  Kleinsasser's time was 31:19.9.

CCNY ended up with 36 points, 12 clear of second-place Hunter.  Baruch completed the podium after compiling 67 points as a team.

The Beavers will now have a week off before the ECAC Championships, which will take place in Milton, NY on Nov. 9.