The Staten Island Runner


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The Man on the Street - John Kane
Issue #6

September 27, 1999

Yes, finally another article! Between starting my new job and directing Team High Rock's first ever race, it's certainly been a busy month. This is kind of a "catch-up" article…there should be another out sometime next week.

Wagner's Acevedo: More than a "little" surprise
In her first two meets, Wagner College's Karina Acevedo has been nothing short of sensational. Starting Sept. 11th at the Wagner Invitational at Clove Lakes Park where she won the race handily by almost 40 seconds. Certainly not a bad way to start your college career. Surely though at the very competitive Monmouth Invitational at Tatem Park on the 18th, she wouldn't win again? But she did and led Wagner to a 4th place finish. A late challenge by Lisa Flood of Monmouth was not nearly enough to stop the new Seahawk machine. Karina "held on" for a 5 second victory in 19:27, (the course record is 19:09 by Erin Hayes, SJU 1998). Following her were Megan Haley in 21:05, Colleen Thompson in 21:24 and Wendy Roth (Tottenville HS) in 21:35. Anna Caccavo (Moore) of Rider ran 21:11. Coach Joe Stasi was pleased but noted that Wagner could have finished higher because team captain Jen Merschoff didn't compete due to injury and (at the time 2nd girl) Veronica Caruso mysteriously dropped out late in the race.
The Wagner men finished 8th and were led by Chris Fekete who ran a very respectable 27:57. Matt Rosselli finished 31st in 28:30 and Rider senior and THR runner Jeff McDonnell of Rider ran 28:29 finishing 30th.
Coach Joe Stasi commenting on Fekete's running was very impressed saying that breaking 28:00 on this course is not easy at all. They now look ahead to Van Cortlandt Park on October 1st for the Metropolitan meet which is the first big test for this year's team.

High Rock Race Recap
I know it's been three weeks since the race but I just wanted to thank everybody who participated and ran on Labor Day. The numerous people who volunteered shows you just how great the Staten Island running community is. I'd really like to hear your comments on the race. We have some additions for next year's race based on some of the comments I heard over the last 3 weeks. We will add a water stop after the hill for next year - I thought that was a really good suggestion. Also, I'd like to add that proceeds from this year's race are going not only to get Team High Rock up and running, but to memorial awards for next year's top high school athletes with money (at least $150) going to their program! (Did I get your attention, coaches?) More details will follow on these awards so I'll keep everybody posted. (And if anyone would like to donate to add to these memorial awards please contact me).
Due to the large race day entry, the race was very competitive and brought out some of Staten Island's best runners. I'd like to congratulate Ecliff Telford and Alma Ramos on fine performances on a tough course during a really hot, humid day. Well done to all who competed and I really hope you'll come back for next year's bigger and better race.
The official results are on this page, also, if you haven't checked. There are also pictures of the race. They are the correct ones after the phantom runner was eliminated from the scoring.
Once again, thanks.

Last Tommy Hart run set for Thursday
Due to the Man on the Street now working in Midtown and travelling to various other locales these last couple of weeks, I have not been covering the Tommy Hart series or Saturday fun runs. Attendance has dropped a bit because a lot of the scholastic runners are now full swing into their cross country seasons. But let's not forget all those Thursday nights where Tommy Hart took our times, made us laugh, fed us nuts and salad. The last run of the series is this Thursday, September 30th. Let's all try to make an extra effort to get down there and at least if not compete, at least say "Thank You" for a job well done to Tommy this summer. He said he's going to have a party following the run for the end of the series.

The Man Speaks
By the way, Clove Lakes Park is a place we as Staten Islanders, let alone runners, love to use and enjoy. The trails back there are some of the few that are left on the North Shore on Staten Island. Let's all, instead of arguing and pointing fingers, unite and try to keep the park a great place to run. Every runner on Staten Island wants or should want to keep that park clean and the trails clear. After our High Rock race, the first thing we did was clean up the caution tape on the course and the field…. the chalk washed away the next day in the rain. No runners on Staten Island would ever intentionally try to harm the park in any way, so anything that happened was most likely an accident and will not happen again.

Fans of the StreetCorner - don't worry it will be back soon! Do you want to be the next interviewee? Email me at THRKANE@AOL.COM if you are interested! See everyone hopefully on Thursday!