Cape girls, Tech boys capture Sussex County Championships
A beautiful November afternoon with no wind, lots of sun and 75-degree temperatures greeted eight teams from Sussex County who battled for 5,000 meters to decide the best team in the county. Nearly 200 runners of all shapes, sizes and ability levels toed the line on the Sussex Tech course, which features open fields, narrow trails and a man-made 200-meter hill, which serves as the backdrop on the course when standing on the starting line.
Tech junior Ben Bamforth took the field through a 5:18 opening mile and went on to hit the finish in a cruising 17:00, while teammates Ian Carlisle took second in 17:09 and Jay Hinds grabbed third in 17:12 as the Ravens swept the top three places in the race. Fourth place went to Cape Henlopen No. 1 Sam Nye in 17:17, while Ben Campagnome of Sussex Central finished in 17:18. Graham Spellman of Sussex Tech rounded out the top five places in 17:30.
Sussex Tech easily won the team title with 21 points with five runners in the top 15, while Cape Henlopen scored 55 for second place. Sussex Central finished third with 70 points on the day.
On the girls' side of the action, the story lines were a close team title and a runaway talented individual stole the show. Sussex Tech leader Roxanne Ramirez ran away with the title in 19:24, over a minute ahead of the next nearest finisher. Ramirez, the school cross county 5K record holder, is the class of the conference and is racing better than she ever has in her career at Sussex Tech. Ramirez has gone under the 19-minute mark on several occasions this season and looks to be peaking at the right time with conference and states just around the corner. Cape Henlopen’s Sarah Dziak, enjoying her finest season ever, finished second overall in 20:40, while Grace Brokaw of Cape enjoyed her best race of the season in third in a time of 21:20. Fourth place went to hockey player Darby Klopp of Cape who helped out with a time of 21:23, while sophomore Zoe Callard of Cape rounded out the top five in 21:38. Sussex Tech put four runners from seventh to 10th in a five-second span, but it was not enough as the Vikings scored 26 points to Tech’s 35 to win the title. Indian River was third with 77 points, while Delmar was fourth with 124 points. Fifth place went to Sussex Academy with 125 points, sixth place to Sussex Central with 167 points and Delmarva Christian rounded out the complete teams with 192 points. Seaford did not have a complete team to score.
Henlopen Alumni 5K Run
Calling all Henlopen Conference alumni runners from all teams from Smyrna to Cape. Come out and support the first annual 5K run and walk this Saturday at Killens Pond to kick off the Henlopen Conference Championships. The race will begin at noon on the 5,000-meter course, which will be followed by the junior varsity races beginning at 2 p.m., and the varsity races beginning at 3 p.m. Registration for the 5K alumni race is $25 on race day with the first 75 receiving a tech T-shirt. Awards go to the top three in nine age groups from 9 & U to 70 & O. The goal of the race is to get a downstate association up and running similar to the N5CTA upstate organization. Dust off the old spikes and we will see you on the starting line.
Striders head to Regionals
Off to Philadelphia the Seashore Striders go as they toe the line on Sunday at historic Belmont Plateau cross country course, home to several cross country teams in the Philadelphia area, including powerhouse Villanova. The Striders will travel with 32 athletes from the primary 8 & U division all the way up to the Youth 13-14 division. The top 20 individuals and the top three teams will qualify for the National Championships in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, Nov. 21. Good luck, Striders.
