Terry Charles of Brooklyn appeared in his second Manhattan College Invitational Scholastic Cross Country Meet near the host school at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, a short walk from the host organization.
Terry and the rest of his teammates are familiar with the surroundings because he has raced at this park numerous times. However, he did not win this race, one of more than 40 such races on the all-day program. A large field was in the race. He will still think about the sport of running while in high school.
His goal is to get into college, like any other standout schoolboy athlete with a track scholarship to the next level. Getting a scholarship certainly helps any athlete with his finances. And he wants to attend at any other college including outside ones; that is to run and live on premises. And he prefers being part of with a good and competitive team.
After the cross country team in a few weeks, he intends to run both indoor and outdoor track and he will be a 200 and 400-meter athlete as he moves up the ladder to another level.
Oddly, he started his high school career at Bishop Ford of the Catholic High Schools Athletic Association and after the school closed down for financial reasons he switched to Bishop Loughlin.
Every year during the fall, Ed Bowes, former coach at Bishop Loughlin High School, in the Fort Greene, Brooklyn, stages a huge meet. He organizes the meet with the help of officials, coaches, and automatic electronic timing.
All the athletes feel that Bowes has done a great job over the years. “(Even though) Bowes is old, he is still a good coach,” Charles said. “And he started this meet. It has grown (in number). This is the largest meet in the City. I knew him since my freshman year. He puts us on line, gives us a tag, and says ‘put it on,” he said.
On the distaff side, of the meet, where boys and girls compete in different events, Adila Calaner maintained her pace, had a good finish and captured a Youth Race.
“It was nice to see all the high school athletes compete,” said Calaner, a student of Kings College Charter School. “Running helps my body stay healthy. I started running for the City Parks Foundation about two and a half years ago. Running is what I like to do.
The Manhattan Cross Country Invitational was highlighted by seven boys varsity high school events of 2.5 miles and drew many athletes from out of the met area. The races, also co-directed by Ed Gorman, were all of equal competition.
