Hen Hud won big at the Manhattan Invitational last weekend with Sophomore Josh Weinstein winning the Sophomore Boys C Race and Sophomore Victor Delgado coming in fourth place.
The meet, one of the largest high school cross country meets in the US, boasted over 10,000 runners racing through Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. Races were held for both boys and girls, ranging from varsity, junior varsity, sophomore, freshman, and intermediate levels at a variety of different course lengths. Medals were given to the first 75 finishers in each of the 41 races held that day. The boys and girls Eastern States Championship races were both held at the meet.
Weinstein is the first athlete from Hen Hud to ever win an individual race at the Manhattan Invitational. He kept ahead of the pack with a time of 13:52.00 with Delgado close behind with a time of 14:09.80. Both now are in the top five fastest times run by Hen Hud athletes for that race.
The athletes ran the 2.5 mile course through the rain, mud, and cold.
“The experience felt rather shocking,” Weinstein stated in an interview, “I think I performed better than I thought I was capable of on the day having not so good weather conditions. I have never envisioned myself in 1st place as XC [cross country] is very competitive.”
Despite this, the pair feels the dopamine rush. As for anything they could’ve done differently,
Delgado is satisfied with his performance.
“In terms of race strategy, I should’ve kicked a little harder during the closing 800 meters, sticking with the leaders,” says Delgado.“The meet itself was ecstatic with thousands of people and the city surrounding the park.”
The meet continued to be ecstatic for Senior Hannah Quigley and Sophomore Rhylee Adviento, who both medaled in the Varsity Girls race, running a 2.5 mile course.
This cross country season has had Hen Hud medalists at every meet, with the boys team consistently placing overall. With only a month left, it seems like big things are to come from Josh Weinstein and Victor Delgado.
