Beacon girls’ track wins Jim Blades Invitational

The Beacon girls’ track and field team captured the Jim Blades Invitational March 31, with a half-point win over a tough Smyrna team for a final score of 127-126.5. The Vikings locked up the meet with two runners in the final of the 200 meters and winning the 800 relay event over the Eagles. Ally Diehl won the 200-meter dash final in 27.66, while Atia Sabbagh ran 29.31 for fourth place to give the Vikings a big 14 points heading into the final event, the 800 relay. Diehl had earlier earned the top qualifier with a PR of 26.84, while Sabbagh qualified at 28.68.

“It was a fun meet and we all did our best,” said a happy Shiloh O’Grady.

Claudia Stazzone finished second in the 400-meter dash in 1:07.84, while Harper Mamele was second in the 800 in 2:52.00. O’Grady won the 1,600 meters in 6:07, while teammate Erin Noonan was second in 6:08 for a huge 18 points. Beacon was second in the 400 relay in 54.78, while Isabel Mastrangelo and Mamele went 1-2 in the high jump with nice jumps of 4-feet-10-inches for another 18 points. Kha’Nihya Johnson was fifth in the long jump in 12-7, while Marley Fyock was second in the triple jump in 29-4. Noonan was third in the triple in 29-1. Ainsley Rineer was second in the discus in 72-6 and shot in 30-5 for 16 points, while Addison Varney was fourth in 64-8.  The Beacon girls have won the most championships in the history of the meet. 

On the boys’ side of the action, Ozmeer Daisey scored 16 points thanks to winning the high jump in 5-6 and finishing third in the long jump in 17-1 ½. Jamar Beasley was third in the 400-meter dash in 56.78, while teammate Seth Benjamin was fourth in 57.40. The 800 relay team ran 1:49.62 for fourth place. Beacon was fifth overall with 34 points.

The Mariner girls and boys both finished 10th of 13 teams. Seventh-grader Asher Woods was third in the 1,600 meters in 5:18, while sixth-grader Jude Bastian ran a nice race of 5:29 for fifth place. Eighth-grader Bennett Steinmann finished sixth in the triple jump in 30-7, while eighth-grader Justin Vent was fifth in the discus in 95-8.

For the girls, Mariner was fourth in the 800 relay in 2:05.97, while eighth-grader Kaylyn Clews finished fifth in the high jump in 4-6. Eighth-grader Elena Booth finished sixth in the shot in 27-11.

On Wednesday, the Mariner boys lost to Milford at Cape Henlopen by a score of 74-41. Woods was the only winner on the track for Mariner, taking the 1,600 meters in 5:24, while Vent won the discus in 91-9. Kristopher Ramos-Morales was a double winner, taking the long jump in 14-3 and the triple jump in 29-8. 

The Mariner girls beat Milford 62-45 as Allison Ortiz-Rivera scored 11 ¼ points to become the meet’s high scorer. She won the 400-meter dash in 1:09 and the triple jump in 28-5, and was part of the winning 800-meter relay team in 2:03.0. Clews won the hurdles in 10.4 and high jump in 4-2, while Kate Dowd won the 800-meter run in 3:10. Booth won the shot in 29-10 ½ and the discus in 56-8. 

High school action

Sussex Academy traveled to Lake Forest to take on the Spartans in Henlopen Conference track & field action, with Lake Forest topping Sussex Academy 80-66 on the boys’ side, and also squeaking out a 73-72 win on the girls’ side.

Sussex Academy won the 4-by-800 relay in 9:34, while senior Brett Parker ran 4:46 in the 1,600 meters for the win. Parker came back to win the 3,200-meter run in 11:34, while junior Justin Friscia won the 800 meters in 2:08. The Seahawks won the 1,600 relay in 3:44 to close out the running events, while junior Max Rial was the lone winner in the field events, taking the shot put in 40-9. Lake won 10 events on the day and split the relays.

The girls’ meet was a much closer affair, with Lake Forest capturing eight events and Sussex Academy winning six. The teams split the relays. Individually for Sussex Academy, freshman Katya Geyer had a big day as the meet’s high scorer after winning four events. She won the 1,600-meter run in 5:43, the 800-meter run in 2:36 and the 3,200-meter run in 13:27. She also won the high jump in 4-10 for a big 20 points for her team. Junior Lily Bowe won the 400-meter dash in 1:05.9, while senior Kasi Showers won the long jump in 15-5 ¼. Sussex Academy boys also beat DSU Early School 130-5, while the girls won 103-20.

The Cape Vikings traveled with three busloads of athletes to Polytech April 4 for a tri-meet with Poly and the Ravens of Sussex Tech. As of my Wednesday night deadline, there were still no results posted.

Race for Coach Nic 5K

Bennett Brumbley, 15, of Laurel won the overall male title in the second Race for Coach Nic 5K in 19:32, while former Ravens standout Roxanne Ramirez of Newark was second in 19:35 to win the overall female title.

John Costello of Milton finished third in 20:33, while Helen Morrow of Millsboro, Sussex County’s Fitbit Pro, won the masters in 32:56. Congratulations to all finishers. Proceeds support the Coach Lou Nicoletti Track & Field/Cross Country Scholarship.