Record field expected for Sea Witch Fall Classic 5K Oct. 28

A record field of 400-plus runners and walkers, many dressed in costumes, will gather at Grove Park for the 23rd Annual Sea Witch 5K, set to begin at 9 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 28, hoping to get to the finish before Hurricane Sandy's arrival. Parking will be on Rehoboth Avenue, while registration and pickup will be at Grove Park.

Awards will be presented to the overall and masters champions and top three finishers in five-year age groups. Awards will also go for clyde, filly and costume winners. Custom awards, tech tees, a bake sale, and a fast and flat course make the Sea Witch 5K the place to be Sunday morning. See you at the classic - arrive early!

Locals compete in Athens half

The Third Annual AthHalf, which stands for the Athens, Ga., half-marathon, was held last weekend with 2,500 finishers crossing the line inside the historic hedges of Sanford Stadium. Runners finish 13.1 miles, then see their faces on the Jumbotron 50 feet in the air. Lots of people, lots of spectators, and seven music acts on the beautiful course made for a great weekend of racing in Georgia.

A few local ties made the trip south as sisters Cole Pavlik, 30, and Bethany Pavlik, 24, competed with Bethany turning in a 1:47:17 and Cole a 2:01:26. Both girls are alumnae of the Seashore Striders with Cole, former All-American, a member of conference and state championship cross country teams at Cape, and Bethany a standout on the Sussex Tech field hockey team.

Also making the trip was Elizabeth Elder, 43, who ran 3:01:06 in her first race with less than a year's running experience to her credit. Lisa Schwartz, formerly of Lewes and now living in Georgia, ran 2:40:26. Congratulations to our local racers, who all should be proud to cross the finish line. Cool down and we will see you on the Rehoboth starting line Dec. 8.

“Greatest high school performance ever”

Cross country is in the air, and the season for high school is winding down with the county, conference, and state championships around the corner. Here's a true cross country story of note about a West Coast runner:

California teen Sarah Baxter is tearing up course records wherever she races; she recently just ran a 16:00 three-mile race, winning by over a minute at the Mt. Sac Invitational. That time obliterated a previous 11-year-old record on the three-mile course, which is widely considered one of the toughest in the state and possibly the nation, by some 16 seconds, leaving area writers and prep track analysts completely agape at the time she turned in.

"Baxter's 16-minute run is the most amazing female individual performance in U.S. prep annals," said PrepCalTrack.com editor Rich Gonzalez, one of the most respected track analysts on the West Coast.

The hills of Brandywine

The Seashore Striders traveled north to the Ursuline Invite at Brandywine Creek State Park Oct. 21 to compete with more than 300 other talented young runners in junior varsity and varsity races of 1.1 miles and 2.26 miles in length. The varsity course of 2.26 miles is considered by many coaches to be one of the toughest courses on the East Coast with more climbs than the high school course.

Third-grader Ethan Shuttleworth got things started in the fifth grade and under junior varsity race by finishing 49th of 76 runners in 8:37, while fourth-grader Lindsay Rambo led the team in the junior varsity girls' race with a 17th-place finish in 7:41. Fourth-grade teammate Emma Barthelmess was close behind in 7:46 for 18th.

Devon Hundley was 43rd in 8:52, while Lainey Shockro was 44th in 8:53 at the finish. Seventh-grader Logan Shuttleworth finished 5th in 17:06 on the 2.26-mile course, while Elizabeth DePrince was 32nd in 20:36 and Zoe Kelly was 34th in 20:11. The highlight of the day for the Seashore Striders was Ben Bamforth winning the varsity boys' race in a time of 13:49, only the third runner to ever break 14 minutes on the course and just nine seconds off the course record.

Bamforth ran a “don’t go out hard, maintain contact and be strong in the final 400 meters” race, taking the lead on the final climb and pulling away on a downhill to the finish. Blake Hundley was 6th overall in 14:46, while Seth DePrince was 9th in 14:56. Brock Diaz was 29th in 17:31, while Daniel Brown ran 17:41 for 32nd in the race.

It was a great showing by the downstate “show me a hill other than the Freeman Highway overpass” runners at Brandywine Creek.

Upcoming races

9 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 28, 23rd Sea Witch Fall 5K Classic, Grove Park, Rehoboth Beach.

9 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2nd Nevaeh Bishop Memorial 5K Run & Walk, Salisbury, Md.

1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 4, 10th Mariner’s Bethel 7-Mile & 5K; Bethany Beach.