‘M-E-C! M-E-C! M-E-C!’ Medgar men defend conference title, while college takes home two MVP awards and multiple meet records

By Nick Masuda | nicholas.masuda31@mec.cuny.edu

“I didn’t know I was winning or else I would’ve taken off the Breathe Right strip.”

If there was ever a moment that personified the humble, driven and never-take-for-granted mentality of the Medgar Evers College outdoor track teams, the authentic and emotional celebration of Chrisnel Nicolas securing the Most Valuable Player award at the CUNYAC Championships on Saturday gave you that perspective.

Nicolas, a senior, was absolutely exhausted after participating in 11 events in the blistering heat on Randalls Island, scoring points for his team in eight of them.

For those that can barely finish a lap like this writer, this is the definition of a Herculean effort.

But instead of basking in his own glory and joining others in an “MVP!” chant, Nicolas instead broke into his own: “M-E-C! M-E-C! M-E-C!”

And it was a banner day for Nicolas and his male teammates, as the Medgar Evers College outdoor track team successfully defended their conference title in a landslide, scoring a meet-record 273 points and distancing themselves from second-place Hunter College by 107 points.

Even the stoic and never-satisfied-until-it’s-over Hugh Reid, a coach with more than 25 conference titles under his belt, couldn’t help but flash a huge smile.

“We did it.”

Just moments earlier, an equally exhausted Rinnah Brown was nowhere to be found as her name was announced as the meet’s MVP after she completed 10 events, also scoring team points in eight of them, including three gold medals.

It was an appropriate absence though, as it allowed her to take a proverbial victory lap as she made her way down from the sea of blue seats at Icahn Stadium, greeted by cheers from not only her teammates, but even some of her opponents.

Always shy of the spotlight, Brown’s freshman star rose on this Saturday afternoon, helping keep the Cougars in the team competition, a battle that came down to the final event of a 22-event day. Medgar would come up just short of their long-time rivals at Hunter College, 227-213, to take runner-up status for the second consecutive year.

But the likes of Toshel Goffe, Tia Thompson and Shaniya Chung — all young Cougar stars that have spent the past nine months taking on cross country, indoor track and outdoor track — watched as the Hawks celebrated with their pre-printed “Conference Champions” shirts already adorned on their backs.

“We’ll remember.”

They know that there will be all summer to worry about that, and that Saturday was one for the Cougar history books — for both the men and women.

There was Reco Griffith — whom we wrote about earlier this season when he was “Fastest Man Alive” — and the stadium announcer that called him “Wrecko” all afternoon. It was poignant though, as he did wreck the competition, individually setting two meet records in the 100 meters (10.67 seconds) and 200 meters (21.71 seconds). He was also the second leg (and, man, was it impressive) in the 4×100 relay that saw the Cougars finish at 42.54 seconds, another meet record. The electric connection between “Wrecko” and his teammates Jahiem Johnson, Zion Young and Omari Hinds should worry everyone in the conference and region — they are all freshmen and sophomores.

Griffith would come back to end the meet and earn his fourth gold medal, running the second leg of the team’s 4×400 relay, a race the Cougars won by more than 10 seconds. Freshman Joshua Felix — filling in for an injured Johnson — got the team off to a blistering start, with “Wrecko” extending the lead, Adeolu Adeyemi maintaining that impressive lead and senior Rupert Luard-Charles appropriately bringing it home. Normally a quiet and reserved athlete, Luard-Charles (who also won the 400 individual competition) even spread his arms as he crossed the finish line with no opposing runners in sight, celebrating the team’s all-day demolition.

“We all ran for second place,” an opponent said nearby.

There were inspiring moments all day long, such as senior Jada Clayton medaling in her final three events as a collegiate athlete (hammer throw, shot put and discus). Her bestie, senior Dontay Washington, made sure to bring home gold as he surged over the final 25 meters to win the 110-meter hurdles.

There was sophomore Nia Butler exulting, “I just set a new PR! Did you get photos?!” after winning the discus competition. Sadly, this photographer did not.

There was Kayshaun Higgs, our Student Government Association president, finally seeing “all-star” status in the conference championship, finishing second in the hammer throw in his final meet as a Cougar. Hugs abounded. His push? Teammate Michael Ortega, a freshman, told Higgs at the outset of the year that he intended to break every school record. Ortega would take home the hammer throw title, but the brotherhood between the two was more evident by the very loud support of one another.

Cougars for life, no doubt.

There was Nana Samake quite literally running out of a cab to the starting line of the day’s first event, the 10,000 meters. Still putting on her shoes as the officials put the gun into the air to get things started, Samake would distance herself from the field by 102 seconds, setting a new personal record and taking home the gold. The Cougars would score 19 points in that initial race, with Saviah Williams (having only recently returned from an injury she endured in the fall) finishing second and Maritza Argueta also setting a PR as she came in sixth at 57:24.35.

There was Kenia Irish-Bramble and her nine events, never seemingly coming off the track. She scored points in seven of those events, including four third-place finishes. And when you crunch the numbers, she competed at the highest of levels over 6.7 miles (not to mention the walking around the gigantic venue).

There were two converted men’s basketball players that have only been training for weeks, with Zachary Bussey finishing fifth in the 10,000 meters and sixth in the 5,000 meters to score three points. Meanwhile, Ahmed Toure laced it up in the 1,500 meters, just weeks removed from getting clearance to run after an injury suffered during hoops season. Jennifer Metra, a women’s basketball star, also finished in the top 10 of the women’s shot put.

The basketball connection runs deep at Medgar, as Omari Hinds split time between teams during the indoor season (where he was a regional qualifier), and has continued to blossom in outdoor, winning the high jump and triple jump on Saturday.

There was Raine Williams scoring in three field events (javelin, hammer and discus), while Kinnik Timothy received raucous support down the home stretch in the impossible 3,000-meter steeplechase that includes jumping into a massive puddle and multiple hurdles on each of your eight laps. Freshman Jose Janvier followed suit on the men’s side, a test of his mettle after joining the team full-time a bit late due to commitments to the men’s volleyball program at Medgar.

There was Daniel Forbes, who spent half the day taking photos of his teammates before stepping into the 400-meter hurdles, an event he had never done before a few weeks ago.

There was also Tia Thompson winning the 200 and 400 meters, while also taking the key second leg in both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays, which the Cougars won in landslides. 

In that 4×400 relay, Shaniya Chung (also second in the 100-meter dash) set the tone with a blistering opening lap, a product of a pep talk from Coach Reid.

“We needed that. She delivered. That’s the Shaniya I’ve always known.”

Chung wasn’t the only one, as Reid had to sub in Jada Lambert due to injury, and Lambert maintained the sizable lead that Chung and Thompson had earned.

“Jada stepped up and did her thing.”

And, of course, Brown appropriately brought it home.

And home — aka the Carroll Street building — is where that men’s conference title trophy will stay until next May, sitting alongside the two indoor track team trophies that came from a Medgar sweep in March.

You can now seemingly call Medgar Evers College “Runners Row,” a place where records are broken and titles are won.

Now, can anyone say three-peat?

“M-E-C! M-E-C! M-E-C!”