Senior Kaitlin Hicks, captain of the John Jay women’s cross-country team, ran her final conference race for the Bloodhounds in fine style on Sunday, Oct. 30, as she dominated a field of 80 runners to win the CUNY Athletic Conference Women’s Championship.

Hicks ran essentially unchallenged from the opening gun over the 6-kilometer course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Along with a strong supporting cast of teammates, she sprang quickly into the lead and led the field by 30 seconds after the first kilometer, nearly a minute at the one-mile marker, and roughly 90 seconds after four kilometers. Her winning time of 24:58 was 59.7 seconds faster than that of the runner-up, allowing her to cruise across the finish line with a wide smile and arms raised in victory.

Over the course of her John Jay career, Hicks has finished third in the 2013 CUNYAC championships, second in 2014, and second again in 2015. Only one spot remained for her to claim, which she did to wild cheering from family, friends and fans.

In a post-race interview, Hicks attributed her success to “a lot of training, a lot of patience, and a lot of hard work.”

As a team, the women runners finished a solid second behind the winning squad from Hunter College. In addition to Hicks, three runners — seniors Margie Perez and Maxine Eisenberg and junior Michelle Formato — turned in medal-winning performances and were named CUNYAC All-Stars.

“The women's championship meant a great deal to our program at John Jay,” said head coach Tony Phillips. “We got to see Kaitlin Hicks, the most decorated athlete in our program, go out on top.” 

The CUNYAC men’s cross-country championship was hotly contested over its entire 8-kilometer distance, and produced two medal-winning performances by John Jay runners en route to a fifth-place team finish.

Seniors Richard Brienza, the team captain and defending champion, and Jacinto Martinez won All-Star honors as they finished 9th and 14th, respectively, to anchor the men’s team on an unseasonably warm fall morning. The Bloodhounds finished with a total of 129 points, trailing race winners City College, with 47, as well as Hunter, Staten Island, and Baruch.

Click here to read more.