Cape boys, Sussex Academy girls win Sussex County titles

The Cape Henlopen boys and the Sussex Academy girls came away victorious at the Sussex County Cross Country Championships Oct. 26 in Georgetown. The meet brought together 10 high schools from Sussex County to compete on the challenging single-track course at Sussex Tech, complete with Lou Nicoletti’s homemade hill that runners take three times during the 5,000-meter course.

Cape senior Ryan Baker pulled away from Indian River senior Chase Sims in the later stages of the race to open up a lead and win by a 26-second margin. Sims held on for second place in a time of 17:00. Cape took the next three spots, as senior Liam O’Donnell ran 17:49 for third, junior Joey DeGregory ran 17:55 for fourth and junior Max Gillen ran 18:10 for fifth. Senior Ian Hayes of Woodbridge was sixth in 18:18, while senior Cole Donnelly of Indian River was seventh in 18:33. Senior Brett Parker of Sussex Academy was eighth in 18:38, while freshman Bennett Brumbley of Sussex Tech ran 18:46 for ninth. Junior Eddie Houck of Cape rounded out the top 10 finishers with his best effort of the year in a time of 19:00.

Baker led his Vikings to the team title with 23 points, while Indian River was 30 points back with 53. Grabbing third with 97 points was Sussex Academy.

On the girls’ side, Brynn Crandell of Indian River wasted little time pulling away from the field, and the junior opened up a 31-second margin by the finish. Crandell, an all-state XC selection last fall, finished with a time of 19:35, while Cape senior Katie Kuhlman was second in 20:06. Freshman Katya Geyer of Sussex Academy finished third in a time of 20:46, while junior teammate Lily Bowe was fourth in 20:59. Junior Arina Varrato, on her home course, was fifth in 21:09, while Sussex Academy eighth-grader Makenna Blades was sixth in 22:17. Sophomore Hailey Hassell of Cape took seventh place in 22:41, while senior Mary Julienne Villareal of Sussex Central was eighth in 22:48. Sussex Academy grabbed the last two spots in the top 10, as senior Eve Mundok was ninth in 22:51 and senior Kasi Showers was 10th in 22:59.

Sussex Academy, with all five scorers in the top 10, scored 32 points to win the title, while Cape was second with 45 points. Indian River was third with 91 points.

Next week, the 10 Sussex County teams will travel to Killens Pond to join Kent County teams at the Henlopen Conference Championships. The meet will be held Saturday, Nov. 5.

DAAD Middle School Invite

The 11th annual DAAD Invitational Oct. 26 featured 25 boys’ and girls’ middle school cross country teams from across the state squaring off at Browns Branch County Park in Harrington.

Sixth-grade sensation Bree Terhune continued her breakout season for Mariner by placing second among 266 entrants in a scintillating girls’ race. Terhune hit the mile in 6:09 and battled back and forth with Newark Charter seventh-grader Alanna Rhodes the rest of the way. Terhune held a slight lead with about 100 meters to go, but Rhodes found another gear and took the win in 14:00 over 2.19 miles. Terhune crossed second in 14:02, the fastest time by a sixth-grader in school history. Also breaking the tape in the top 10 were Beacon’s Shiloh O’Grady, who placed a strong fifth in 14:26, and the Sussex Academy trio of Paige Ballinger (seventh, 14:36), Taegen Forester (ninth, 14:43) and Jordan Blades (10th, 14:48). Mariner’s Allison Ortiz-Rivera earned the 11th-place medal in 14:51, while Beacon’s Mia Thompson (16th, 15:09), Claudia Stazzone (17th, 15:10) and Lindsay Hassell (19th, 15:27) added to the local medal haul.

The deep and talented Sussex Academy squad took home a second-place trophy with 74 points by placing five runners among the top 25, while Beacon placed third (91 points) and Mariner grabbed sixth (245 points).

In the boys’ race, Mariner seventh-grade standout Asher Woods delivered a smart, measured effort to cross second in a 315-runner field, running 13:00 to place in the top six for the second consecutive year. Beacon seventh-graders Ethan Thompson and Nick Petito took fourth (13:11) and fifth (13:15), respectively, while Mariner’s Jude Bastian finished 12th overall and first among sixth-graders with a 13:41 clocking. Chase Johnson (21st, 13:59) was the top Sussex Academy finisher.

The Beacon squad scored 141 points to place fourth in the team race, with Mariner just a point behind in fifth and Sussex Academy in 17th (444 points).