Complete Results

New York, NY – For the first time in the 13-year history of the CUNYAC men's outdoor track & field championship, the winner was decided by just one point and for the Hawks the chance at winning their first title since 2004 relied solely on the men's discuss and junior Israel Burns (Brooklyn, NY/South Shore) who's toss of 33.89 was enough for first place and edged out Lehman's top toss of 33.72 as Hunter earns the program's sixth CUNYAC Championship during the daylong event at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island.

Trailing by ten points heading into the final event, the Hawks knew they needed to place more individuals in the top six than Lehman and things looked to be going in the right direction when three Hawks and only one Lehman competitor advanced to the finals. Lehman had locked up fifth place and two points, while first-year thrower Patricio Harris (Brooklyn, NY/Clara Barton) earned the sixth spot for one valuable point with a best toss of 19.99 meters.

Freshman Hector Avalos (Staten Island, NY/Johannes Gutenberg) set the standard with his first toss of 33.37 meters and it would not be surpassed until the final round when Lehman senior Jase Franklyn (Tobago/Bishop's) took the lead and what many thought would be the best distance of the event, 33.72 meters. However, with everything riding on his throw, Burns finished with his toss of 33.89 meters to take first place and Avalos would finish third and freshman James Cuccio (Brooklyn, NY) in fourth to earn a total of 20 team points, which when combined with Harris' one point, put the Hawks ahead by one point overall.

Hunter won 17 medals in total on the day, six of those were gold medals including two by freshman James McArdle (Williston Park, Herricks) in the 800 meter run [2:04.53] and the 400 meter hurdles [1:05.71]. Freshman Luis Cabrera (New York, NY/Leadership) took home gold in the 5000 meter run with a time of 17:26.62 and then earned silver in the 10,000 meter run, finishing in 36:27.53.

Rounding out the top performances for the Hawks were sophomore Oscar Dotti (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) who won gold in the Hunter dominated 110 meter hurdles and freshman, Ben Chateauvert (Larchmont, NY/Mamaroneck) who earned gold in the 1500 meter run [4:28.54].

In the end, the day was summed up best by freshman Andrew Medina (Bronx, NY/South Bronx) who finished sixth in the 800 meter run, “Every single one our points today mattered …my one point in the 800…JT's four points in the 400…each point was important”.