The College of Staten Island Cross-Country program enters its second season under Head Coach Akil St. Louis this week as they open their 2024 campaign at the Adelphi Panthers XC Invite on Friday. The trip to Bethpage will open a five-meet schedule for the program that will span seven weeks through the end of October at the ECC Cross-Country Championship. There is also the potential for a trip to NCAA Regionals two weeks later on November 9th should the Dolphins participate. Below, you can find a meet-by-meet breakdown of the 2024 slate along with a closer look at the current program record-holders. Finally, our preview of the 2024 season concludes with a look at three separate episodes of The Dolphin Pod which feature the Cross-Country / Track & Field program.
2024 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
SEPTEMBER 6, 2024 - ADELPHI PANTHERS XC INVITE
Friday will see the Dolphins compete in the Adelphi Panthers XC Invite for the third time in program history. It will be the same site where the program opened the 2022 season, their most recent outing in the meet. That season, six Dolphins registered times in the meet, three men and three women. The lone returner among that group is Matthew Amato, but the Dolphins are sure to arrive with greater numbers when they return to the Bethpage Polo at the Park this season.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2024 - FRED PAVLICH INVITATIONAL
The Dolphins have participated in the Fred Pavlich Invitational every season since 2018 and have experienced much success in this particular meet. As a Division III program in 2018, the CSI men finished 11th in the field of 18. The following season, their first as a Division II program, they finished 14th in the field of 20. The Dolphins moved near the top of the standings in the 8K in 2021 as they finished 2nd. In 2022, they finished 8th in the field of 11 teams, and last year they finished 13th in a field of 15. The women have also competed in this event every season since 2018. First, they took 12th in a field of 14 back in 2018. Next was an 18th place finish in a field of 20 the following year. Since this meet was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the women competed in each of the last three seasons as individuals.
OCTOBER 12, 2024 - NJIT HIGHLANDER INVITATIONAL
The CSI men have competed in the Highlander Invitational every year since 2018 while the women have participated every year since 2017. The first time the men competed was in 2018 when they finished 16th in the field of 31 teams. Since moving to Division II in 2019, the men have finished 18th out of 31 teams in 2019, 15th out of 27 teams in 2021, and 19th out of 26 teams in 2022. The history of the women competing in this event goes back even further, as they finished 13th out of 17 teams in 2017. In their last year as a Division III program the following season, they placed 16th out of 29 teams. In 2019 they placed 20th out of 29 and in 2021 the women's side of the meet was highlighted by four Dolphins achieving the best times of their collegiate careers to that point. Like the men, the women also placed 19th out of 26 teams in 2022. However, the Dolphins would put forth a record-setting effort on both the men's and women's side last year. Wayne Stephenson, Elizabeth Nicotra, and Angelina Guerriero all posted times in the top-10 in program history for their respective race. This was the first of multiple top-25 times in program history for each of those runners last season.
OCTOBER 19, 2024 - SJLI INVITATIONAL
The Dolphins have a brief history in the SJLI Invitational having competed in the meet as recently as the last two seasons. The women did not qualify for placement as a team two years ago, but they did compete individually with a squad of four runners in the 5K. The men did compete as a unit and finished in 13th place out of the 20 participating teams in the 8K. The CSI men also placed 8th in the field of 14 teams at the Golden Eagles Invitational in 2022. In 2023, the CSI men placed 16th in a field of 26 while the women placed 13th in a field of 23.
OCTOBER 26, 2024 - ECC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Dolphins first participated in the ECC Championship back in their first year as a Division II program during the 2019 season. At the time, Cross-Country / Track & Field were the only programs that were eligible for conference championship competition in the aftermath of the move to Division II. The Dolphins placed sixth in their ECC Championship debut that year, and the meet was wiped out amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Dolphins have since participated in the meet each of the last three seasons. In their most recent appearance last year, the women placed eighth and the men placed fifth. In that meet, Stephenson, Nicotra, and Guerriero all once again posted times that placed them in the top-25 in program history for their respective race.