KINGS PARK, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's University, New York (Brooklyn) cross country teams competed at the St. Joseph's (Long Island) Invitational on Saturday at Sunken Meadow State Park, with both the women's and men's squads finishing 14th overall out of 18 and 19 competing teams, respectively.
Jennifer Sarji (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced the women's side with a 30th-place finish in 24:00 flat. Jizelle Velazquez (New York, N.Y.) crossed next in 26:35.5 for 66th place, followed by Kristen Donovan (Maspeth, N.Y.) in 80th at 27:32. Mercedes Perez (San Antonio, Texas) and Meredith Vento (Wauwatosa, Wis.) rounded out the lineup with sub-30-minute performances to complete the Bears' scoring.
On the men's side, reigning Skyline Rookie of the Week Ganilo Quintos (Boston, Mass.) led the way in 32:42.6, placing 41st overall. Fellow first-year Guillermo Victorio (Corona, N.Y.) followed 63 seconds later in 53rd, while Gabriel Lopez (Forest Hills, N.Y.) placed 80th in 36:49.1 to round out the Bears inside the top 100. In his collegiate debut, Jaden Bernard-Taylor (Brooklyn, N.Y.) joined Joshua Gordon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in breaking the 45-minute mark to close out the meet.
The Bears will return to Purchase College on Sunday, October 26, for the 2025 Skyline Conference Championships beginning at 11 a.m.