The Cape girls closed out a successful 2009 season as they finished fifth in the Division I team cross country state championships held Saturday, Nov. 14, at Killens Pond State Park. Julie Macedo of Charter, just a sophomore, captured the individual title in 18:56, while Cape was led by senior Rebecca Pepper who ran her final high school cross country race to place eighth in a time of 20:01. Ali Coning was 15th in 21:01, while Shanel Dickens finished 33rd in 22:15. Following close behind was Kayla Albertella in 37th with a 22:25. The threesome of Coning, Dickens, and Albertella are just in their sophomore year as Vikings. Thirty-ninth place went to senior Rachel Sadowski in 22:31, while Lydia Miller was 54th in 23:39. Freshman Grace Hetfield rounded out the Vikings in 66th place with a time of 24:41.
The fifth-place Vikings scored 132 points, while Charter scored 19 points to dominate the race. St. Mark’s was second with 89, Concord third with 109, and Middletown fourth with 127 points.
On the boys side, it was Tadeo Gonzalez once again leading the Vikings with a 78th-place finish in 19:42. Kyle Joseph was 85th in 19:50, while Alec Faust was 99th in 20:17. Ian Eckrote was 112th in 20:36, followed by Brian Beitzel at 128th in 21:04. Freshman Matt Spicer was 160th in 22:46, while Patrick Wooding was 162nd in 23:01.
Tatnall won the meet with 19 points, while the Vikings were 19th place with 502 points.
STRIDERS QUALIFY ALL AT REGIONALS - The Seashore Striders youth team traveled to the first-ever East Regional Cross Country Championships Sunday, Nov. 15, at Killens Pond where they hosted 12 races with the top 20 finishers earning the right to compete at the National Championships to be held Saturday, Dec. 5, in Nashville, Tenn.
Jack Ashby again led the Striders with the fastest time of the day of 11:24 for the 3,000-meter course earning him another regional title, passing the leader with 50 meters to go. Jake Bamforth was third place overall in 11:37. Troy Saltiel was 7th in 18:24. Ben Bamforth also won the bantam race with an 11:12, followed by Alec Hochrein in second overall in 11:40.
Luke DiGuglielmo finished second in the youth boys race to lead the Striders with a 15:28 over 4,000 meters. Sean Hanley finished fifth with a 16:45, while Cole Anderson was sixth in 17:26. Jack Kelly was 8th in 18:14, while Austin MacElrevey was 9th in 19:08.
On the girls side of the action, 9-year-old fourth-grader Logan Shuttleworth led the Striders in a personal best of 11:27 over the 3,000-meter course. Zoe Kelly was second in 13:25, followed by Alia Marshall in third with a 13:31. Madison Caldwell was fourth in 13:58, while 7-year-old, first-year rookie Lindsay Rambo was 21st in 18:30. Cailey Thornburg finished in fifth place in 15:45, while Amelia Johnson ran 15:55 for sixth place.
Madison MacElrevey put together a nice race to finish third in 13:14, while Sarah Rambo was fourth in 13:31. Riley Shields was 5th in 13:36, while Katie Klabe was 6th in 13:58. Grace Brokaw grabbed 8th place in 14:29, while Maddie Bada was 10th in 16:31.
The next stop for the Striders is the National Championships on Dec. 5.
SEASHORE MARATHON – Friday, Nov. 20, is the eve of the second Seashore Marathon with more than 700 runners scheduled to start at 7 a.m. with more than 400 competing in the half-marathon and more than 200 competing in the marathon.
An amazing amount of supplies have to be coordinated in order to pull off the event and I thought it would be interesting to list some items:
• 17,000 cups at the 17 water stations spread throughout the course.
• 1,000 gallons of water delivered to the 17 locations
• trash containers, garbage bags and tables also make their way to the water stops
• 152 awards being assembled for the post-race presentation
• 300+ cones being used on the course
• four gallons of flour used on the course
• 200-plus volunteers used on the course between water and safety
• 28,000 pins used for 700 numbers
• eight different agencies used for intersection safety
The event will begin at the Bandstand in Rehoboth Beach.
BEST CHEERING SPOTS
• Start at the Bandstand
• The Grove Park in Rehoboth
• Wolfe Neck at Cape Henlopen State Park
• Cape Henlopen State Park’s Fort Miles or the bathhouse
• Lewes Beach
• Finish at Rehoboth Beach Running Company on Rehoboth Avenue
UPCOMING RACES - Saturday, Nov. 28 - Run for the Rose 5K and walk, 9 a.m. at The Grove Park, Rehoboth Beach; Sunday, Nov. 29 - 7th Turkey Trot 5K, 9 a.m. at Sea Colony Fitness Center in Bethany Beach.
