Masser Five-Miler sets event record with 313 runners
The Masser Five-Miler, in its 26th year, set an event record with 313 participants taking part in the kickoff race of the Seashore Striders Racing Series May 29 at Cape Henlopen High School. The race is named after Dr. Lee Masser, who has been with the series since the beginning in 1990. The runners left the high school crossing over to Gills Neck Road and picked up the new trail opened just last year, dropping back onto Gills Neck Road under the Freeman Highway Bridge. From Gills Neck, the course went back through Lewes on Kings Highway and back to the high school.
“The course was really cool, and utilizing the new trails was nice with no traffic,” said Rich Tikiob of the Striders.
Jeff Young from Wayne, Pa., won the male title in 28:28, while Cindy Conant of Kensington, Md., won the female title in 33:19.
“Our area has so many races for runners to choose from that it was nice that we were able to set a participation record at the Masser and keep this race one of the popular events to kick-start your season,” said Tikiob. “Doc Masser does a lot for the running community in our area.”
Meet of Champions
The DIAA Meet of Champions was held last week at Dover High, bringing together the best from Division I and Division II to go head to head, which does not happen in the divisional championships a week earlier. Sussex Central junior Naiya Smith had a big night, as the talented sprinter grabbed a first, a second and a third in her events. Smith ran 56.35 for an impressive time in the 400 meters, a 25.35 in the 200 meters and a 12.54 in the 100 meters. Sussex Tech’s Roxanne Ramirez, a senior, was fourth in the 1,600 meters in 5:28, while the Sussex Tech 4-by-100-meter relay team was looking to go under 49 seconds and take a shot at the title, but false started and their night was over. The good news is that they all come back next year. Cape jumper Grace Brokaw was seventh in the pole vault at 8-feet, while Ruby Mullen of Sussex Tech was fourth in the triple jump as a sophomore. Cape thrower Ce’yra Middleton put together a great throw of 35-feet-9-inches to take third in the shot put in her opening year as a freshman. Sussex Tech’s Micah Shelton threw 94-feet-7-inches to take eighth in the discus.
For the boys, Sussex Central sprinter P.J. Alexander was third in the 400 meters in a nice race of 50.23. In the 4-by-100-meter relay, a local tie in the area, Kai Maull, is coaching at William Penn where they won the title with a blazing time of 42.59 with the talented Mike Mills on the anchor.
There was a nice personal-best leap out of DeAndre Sheppard from Cape, as he cleared 6-feet-4-inches in the high jump. Sussex Tech’s Matt Schrock, a former runner of mine at Beacon Middle, was fifth in the pole vault with a nice leap of 11-feet-6-inches, while Isaiah Brown went 21-feet-8-inches in the long jump. Cape thrower William Gilmartin tossed a 134-feet-8-inches to take fifth in the discus.
Big weekend of racing
The Striders kick off the weekend with the Dunbar Dash 5K Friday, June 3, at 6 p.m. in Laurel. The race will be held from P.L. Dunbar Elementary, 499 W. 6th St. Registration will begin at 5 p.m. for a $25 race-day entry. Support the children and staff at P.L. Dunbar Elementary. Visit seashorestriders.com for more info.
The sixth Lewes 5K for Habitat for Humanity will be held Saturday, June 4, at Irish Eyes, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Registration will begin at 6:15 a.m. for $25. Parking will be behind the Beacon Motel, official Lewes hotel of the Seashore Striders, as well as the public lots at Canalfront Park and the beach parking lot behind Dairy Queen. Post-race celebration will be at Irish Eyes on the canal. Pick up your race number at Irish Eyes on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. and save yourself time race morning by going right to the start. Visit seashorestriders.com for more info.
The inaugural Beach Goes Blue 5K will be held in Rehoboth Beach Saturday, June 4, at 8 a.m., presented by the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute. Registration will begin at 7 a.m. with a $30 race-day entry fee. Visit races2run.com for more info.
The second annual 3rd Wave Brewing Company’s Good Run Good Friends Great Beer 5K will be held Saturday, June 4, beginning at 5 p.m. in Delmar. Registration opens at 4 p.m. for a race-day entry fee of $30. Visit races2run.com for more info.
On Sunday June 5, the Seashore Striders will host the seventh Rehoboth 5K Run for Economics, beginning at 7:30 a.m., from Wilmington Avenue and the Boardwalk. Registration will be at the Boardwalk beginning at 6:15 a.m., while the post-race celebration will be at Lula Brazil on Rehoboth Avenue. Plenty of parking on Wilmington Avenue. Visit seashorestriders.com for more info.
The third annual Dewey Color Run, 2.8 miles, will be held Sunday, June 5, beginning at the Rusty Rudder at 10 a.m. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. for a race-day fee of $40. This non-competitive run/walk will have seven color stations on the course and you won’t want to miss out. Visit races2run.com for more info.
Taiwan races Masser Five-Miler
A former Cape distance runner of mine, Taiwan Savage, now a masters 40-plus runner, was in the field at the Masser Five-Miler this past Sunday morning. Taiwan ran 38:50 and placed sixth in his age group. Savage was a three-time first-team all-state selection, runner of the year, regional champion and competed in several national championships while running for the Seashore Striders. Taiwan could run a 17-minute 5K all the way down to a 51-second 400-meter split and had that kind of range. Taiwan was a major part of the two outdoor state championships that Cape captured in the early '90s and comes from a track family that holds the record with the most state titles in the family. Older brother Willie, an inductee in the Delaware Track & Field Hall of Fame, leads the way 13 state titles and would have been 14 if he had not forgotten to take his Cape basketball T-shirt off before blazing through a flight of hurdles in 14.6 seconds at the state meet at Dover High in 1993.
When you are a coach, you build everlasting relationships with athletes, and I enjoyed seeing Taiwan as much as I did when he first walked up to me in 1990 and told me he was going to be my next distance star miler as a teenager.
