The Berkeley College New York men's cross country and New York women's tennis teams were both in action on Columbus Day weekend, as the cross country squad participated in the 2nd Annual City College of New York classic this past Sunday, while the women's tennis until traveled to Staten Island for a non-conference match with the Dolphins yesterday.
In what served as the final tune-up for the forthcoming Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships, four Berkeley College New York men's runners gave it their all at Van Cortlandt Park. With over 25 schools and 139 runners competing, Berkeley's running squad took on a very challenging, hilly 8K course and gained valuable race day experience. For a second straight week John Durandisse showed a strong outing (finishing at 38:56, 7:50/Mile) while newcomer Faiz-Ahmed Nooman debuted with an impressive running effort (43:23, 8:44/Mile). Rounding out the Berkeley finishers, Jermund Ottermo clocked in at 47:56 (9:39/Mile) while freshman runner Michael Francois crossed at 1:08:22. Following the meet, Head Coach Adam Rosen gave his thoughts.
"The 8K course at Van Cortlandt Park served as a great challenge for our runners, especially with it having to very tough hills and an incline at mile four," Rosen said. "That said, I'm very impressed by John Durandisse's continued improvements following a recent injury plus Jermund Ottermo fighting through a cold to put forth a solid performance. It was a very solid first appearance for Faiz-Ahmed, and Michael Francois continues to show a great deal of heart and dedication to a sport that is also new to him. We're all looking forward to the conference championships this Sunday."
The Knights will return to action Sunday as they compete in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships. For more information on that, keep it posted to the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference website at http://hviac.net/landing/index.
Berkeley College's women's soccer team dropped a non-conference match to the Dolphins of the College of Staten Island yesterday. With the win, the Dolphins extended their record to 8-3 on 2014 campaign while the Knights dipped to 1-3.
Due to the Knights being shorthanded yesterday, they conceded a singles and doubles flight yesterday, but with standout CSI player Nozima Toshpulatova unable to compete due to injury, she was held out of play, so only five singles sets and two doubles sets took place.
At No. 2 doubles, the Dolphins' combination of Sabrina Bragerton-Nasert and Madiha Mulla defeated the Knights' pair of Victoria Mikalsen-Sandstad and Alexandra Kadyakin by a score of 8-1. No. 3 doubles saw Staten Island's Viktoriya Volkova and Michelle Kushnir defeat Berkeley College's Marie Evje and Jigme Sangmo, 8-0.
In Singles, CSI dominated, winning flights one through five in straight-sets. All Dolphins players recorded victories by scores of 6-0, 6-0, with the exception of Aziza Jurabaeva who defeated Kadyakin, 6-3, 6-2.
The Berkeley College women's tennis team will return to action on Thursday as the Knights will face St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn at USTA. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 5:00pm.
