Sussex Academy girls and Cape boys win cross country meets
It was a little muggy and buggy Sept. 21 for the very first home cross country meet at Sussex Academy, as the Seahawks hosted the Cape Henlopen Vikings off Airport Road in Georgetown. Coached by Cameron Smith, the Seahawks hope to host the Henlopen Conference Championships in fall 2018.
Cape won the boys’ race 17-45, with Greg Boyce the overall champion in 17:57 followed by his teammate Sam Nye in 18:47.
Sussex Academy took the girls’ race 25-32, with the overall title going to Cape’s Olivia Brozefsky in 21:12, outkicking Helena Helou of Sussex Academy on the straightaway. Helou finished in 21:15.
High school cross country dual meets are fast compared to the weekend 5Ks, with most boys’ runners circling the distance in under 23 minutes.
In cross country, low score wins, and there are seven-person teams, with the top five runners counting toward the low score. Runners six and seven can displace or push back the other teams’ runners. In dual meets, the top seven do not have to be predesignated like in meets with more teams.
The order of finish was Grey Boyce, Cape, 17:58; Sam Nye, Cape, 18:48; Ryan Shaffer, Cape, 21:11; Mason Hayes, SAS, 20:34; J.P. Heid, Cape, 20:49; Owen Allen, Cape, 20:51; Seth DePrince, Cape, 20:51; Kale Showers, SAS, 20:51; Bryan Ciabattoni, Cape, 20:53; Collin Thompson, Cape, 21:00; Jon Kent, SAS, 21:08; Cesar Campos, Cape, 21:12; and Tristan Holland, Cape, 21:21.
The girls’ race won by the Seahawks saw most key positions changing by the stride in the final 400 meters.
“A few times I thought we had it won, and then we didn’t,” said Cape coach Matt Lindell. “But it was a great race. Several of our kids ran personal-best times.”
The girls’ race order of finish was Olivia Brozefsky, Cape, 21:11; Helena Helou, SAS, 21:15; Lindsey Guida, SAS, 24:08; Zoe Callard, Cape, 24:08; Aliyah Patel, SAS, 24:55; Tabitha Wojciechowski, Cape, 24:55; Leah Marsh, SAS, 25:36; Simone Harrison, SAS, 25:56; Kathryn Vanpelt, SAS, 26:03; and Yesenia Ramirez, Cape, 26:09.
Cape will run at the Middletown Invitational at St. Andrew’s Friday, Sept. 23 at 3:30 p.m.
The Seahawks will run in a tri-meet at Sanford Saturday, Sept. 24, versus the Warriors and Wilmington Christian.
