The New York University men’s cross country team began its 2025 season with split squads competing at two separate meets on August 29. The Violets, ranked 12th in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Preseason Poll, participated in both the USC Upstate Eye Opener in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the Vassar Season Starter in Poughkeepsie, New York.
At the Eye Opener 8k event in Spartanburg, NYU finished fourth out of 13 teams. Liam Hagerty led NYU with a 17th-place finish and a time of 25:15.2. Jeffrey Chen followed in 21st place at 25:25.2, while Andrew Taylor was close behind in 24th place with a time of 25:41.0. Sophomore Huckleberry Oakes finished 20th overall at 25:45.3, and Theodore Udelson-Nee placed four spots behind him with a time of 25:52.1 to complete the scoring positions for NYU. Jacob Christy (25:54.6) and Alex Hrycysyzn (25:59.4) rounded out the team’s top seven runners.
Meanwhile, another group of eight NYU runners competed at Vassar’s season-opening 4k meet in Poughkeepsie, where they secured first place among six teams. James Jenkins led this squad by placing third overall with a time of 12:41.4 in his first collegiate race. Micah Taffet (12:50.5) and John Cuzzocrea (12:55.3) took sixth and seventh places respectively, followed closely by Samir Hussein who finished eighth at 12:55.9—just six one-hundredths of a second behind Cuzzocrea. Brandon Meiner completed the top ten for NYU with a time of 13:02.5.
Additional finishers for NYU included Trey Davidson (13:11.6), Jordan Levy (13:21.5), and William Cornick (14:08.1).
NYU is scheduled to compete next at the Jasper Fall XC Invitational hosted by Manhattan University in Montgomery, New York on September 13.
