Vive Cuervo!

(Photo: Cristal Cuervo smiles after winning the first of two championships at the Coastal Athletic Association Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.)

On May 15, a day after intense rain and lightening, Towson senior Cristal Cuervo stormed through the 200 meters and 400 meters to finally become an outdoor champion at the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Outdoor Championships.

"It feels good, man ... I'm glad I got it ..." Cuervo said as she smiled and playfully danced just after receiving her 400 meters gold medal.

Cuervo opened her meet on May 14, in Greensboro, North Carolina. During the preliminary round, she ran the fastest 400 meters time of 53.95 seconds. Northeastern's Ariann Robinson was next at 54.91 seconds. No other participant finished under 55 seconds.

She closed the first day of the meet in the 200 meters, with a top time of 23.65 seconds. Another Northeastern sprinter, Savannah Blair was second best that day at 23.93 seconds. They were the only two that finished under 24 seconds during the preliminary round.

When day two began, Cuervo earned her second CAA medal in the 400-meter relay. As a sophomore, she and her teammates placed third at the 2023 outdoor conference meet. This year she ran a strong anchor leg as she along with Aniyah Toppin, Maya Tucker and Stella Amani finished as the conference runner-up at 45.14 seconds. That is the third fastest time in school history. The foursome finished behind North Carolina A&T's 400-meter relay squad that ran a time of 44.33.

(Photo: Cuervo just crosses the finish line after running 52.85 seconds in a 400 meters championship win.)

Cuervo's collection of outdoor championships started in the 400 meters when she set the Towson school record at 52.85. It was a dominant performance as Emily Ervin of William & Mary was the runner-up at 54.07 seconds. The Panamanian sprinter surprised herself when she saw her time after the race. After becoming the first sub-53 second sprinter in school history, Cuervo fell to her knees as she wept tears of happiness.

"My senior year is over," she said after the win. "This is my last [400 meters] race for Towson, but we will see what the future holds."

Cuervo wasn't sure that she was a regional qualifier at the time but her time proved to be good enough to give her a chance to compete at the east regional on May 29, in Jacksonville, Florida.

The 400 meters win was Cuervo's second CAA championship in the event, but first during outdoor season. She was the indoor champ in 2024.

In the 200 meters, Cuervo had a much narrower win as she edged out Savannah Blair 23.62 seconds to 23.69 seconds. Cuervo's teammate Maya Tucker was third at 23.83 seconds.

Cuervo's final race at the conference meet was the 1,600-meter relay. She, along with Tucker, Jasmine Scott and Spencer Settle were conference runner-up finishers with a time 3:38.31 seconds. Hampton's 1,600-meter relay squad won the race at 3:37.72 seconds.

Cuervo was one of the brightest performers of the weekend as she helped to contribute 36 points to Towson's 86 point total which was tied for fourth with Monmouth in overall scoring.

Over her career Cuervo has also earned top three finishes in the 200 meters in 2023 and the 1,600-meter relay in 2024 along with a runner-up effort in the 400 meters in 2024 at the outdoor conference meet.