Cape XC wins Sussex County Championships

The Cape Henlopen boys’ cross country team is peaking at the right time of the season. On Wednesday, they captured the Sussex County championship, the first of the three big post-season meets, held at Sandhill Fields in Georgetown.

The Vikings put four runners in the top five and six in the top 10 to easily win the team title with 21 points and take the trophy back to Lewes. Top runner Ryan Baker, a junior, pulled away from Indian River’s Chase Sims in the final mile to set a new course and school record of 15:23.6. Sims ran a great race and broke his own school record with a runner-up time of 15:39.0. Both Baker and Sims were under the previous course record of 15:43. Cape’s Julian Callaway was third in 16:22.6, while teammate Joseph DeGregory was fourth in 16:29.3. Liam O’Donnell of Cape finished fifth in 16:37.8, while Colin Kay of Sussex Tech was sixth in 16:44.4. Ravens teammate Joseph Klosiewicz was seventh in 17:14.3, while Cape’s Brian Sponaugle was eighth in 17:22.6. Delmarva Christian runner Woodard Coleman finished ninth in 17:27.6, while Declan Morrissey of Cape rounded out the top 10 finishers in a time of 17:37.1. Brett Parker led Sussex Academy with a time of 18:15, while Jaden McTeer led Sussex Central with a time of 18:31. Colin Hignutt led Seaford in 19:06, while Keneyen Littleton led Laurel in 19:10. Finishing a distant second with 66 points was Indian River, while Sussex Tech was third with 76 points.

Baker’s performance was the fastest 5,000-meter race downstate that I can recall, and I have been in the Henlopen Conference cross country game since 1983, and it places him in a new level of runners throughout the country. Sims’ performance is equally impressive in his first year in the sport, as no one below the canal has run 15:39 and finished second. Congratulations to both talented runners.

If you thought the boys’ meet was exciting, the girls’ meet opened a lot of eyes. Indian River sophomore sensation Brynn Crandell shattered her own course and school record with a time of 17:58.5. Katie Kuhlman of Cape ran a new personal best and school record of 19:03.9 for second, while Arina Varrato of Sussex Tech ran 20:14.1 in the third position.  

Sadie Tunnell of Sussex Academy led a tight five-second pack of teammates in 20:29.5, while teammates Lily Bowe ran 20:33.3 and Katya Geyer ran 20:34.2. Colleen Flynn of Cape was seventh in 20:40.7, while hurdler Alexa Dougherty of Cape ran 21:12.2. Mary Julienne Villareal of Sussex Central ran a nice race of 21:13.5 for ninth place, while Hannah Lydic of Sussex Academy rounded out the top 10 finishers in 21:15.3.  The Vikings put three in the top 10, while Sussex Academy had four in the top 10. When the dust had settled and all five scorers were across the line, Cape and Sussex Academy were knotted at 40 points apiece, forcing a sixth runner tiebreaker to decide the champion. Allison Head of Cape finished 16th, while Peyton Stanislav of Sussex Academy was 18th, which was the difference in the meet, giving the championship to the Vikings.  Both Cape and Sussex Academy put together outstanding performances with several personal best times on the course.  

Indian River finished with 85 points to grab third place in the meet.

I have been involved in many Sussex County Championships over the years and this one was one of the most exciting that I can remember.

Beacon girls, Mariner's Ortiz shine at DAAD Invite

The Beacon Middle girls’ cross country team showed up and threw down at the 16-team DAAD Invitational in Harrington Oct. 27, coasting away from the field to post a team score of 30 points and bring a trophy back to Lewes. After fast-rising sixth-grade superstar Allison Ortiz of Mariner used a blistering kick to capture the individual title, covering 2.176 miles in 14:06. Beacon sixth-grader Shiloh O’Grady ran the race of her life to take second in 14:24. She was followed home by her eighth-grade teammate, Lily Noonan, who clocked 14:34. Seventh-grader Izzy Daniel (sixth, 15:06), sixth-grader Erin Noonan (ninth, 15:22), and sixth-grader Mia Thompson (13th, 15:32) finished the job for Beacon, whose team score ranked among the lowest ever recorded at the meet. Sixth-grader Claudia Stazzone (14th, 15:34) also received a top 20 medal for Beacon, while eighth-grader Chloe DeForrest (20th, 15:52) did likewise for Mariner. 

The Mariner girls placed seventh overall (154 points) thanks in large part to Ortiz, who blazed the first mile in 6:05 but still found herself in a pack of three with O’Grady and the elder Noonan. The soft-spoken Ortiz let her stride do the talking from there, as she opened up a six-second lead with 800 meters to go and extended that margin by attacking a long, steady incline near the finish. Also scoring for Mariner were DeForrest, eighth-grader Zoe Miller (35th, 16:39), eighth-grader Liv Longo (53rd, 17:47), and sixth-grader Ava Haase (58th, 18:05).

The boys’ competition saw Beacon place a close second in the team race and five Cape district runners place among the top 11 finishers. Beacon sixth-grader Ethan Thompson placed fourth overall in 13:11, a few strides ahead of Mariner sixth-grader Asher Woods (sixth, 13:16) and Beacon eighth-grader Riley Stazzone (seventh, 13:21). Sixth-grader Nick Petito came up big for Beacon, taking ninth with a breakthrough clocking of 13:41, while Mariner eighth-grader Brayden Redd crossed the line 11th in 13:52 to earn a medal of his own.

The Beacon boys tallied 76 points and recorded the fastest team average (13:51) of the day, but strong pack running from Newark Charter (75 points) won the day by the slimmest of margins. Scoring for Beacon were Thompson, Stazzone, Petito, seventh-grader Cooper Forcucci (23rd, 14:17), and seventh-grader Nicholas Clampitt (33rd, 14:43). Mariner placed seventh overall with 172 points, getting contributions from Woods, Redd, seventh-grader Aidan Wyatt (35th, 14:49), eighth-grader Andrew Henion (62nd, 15:37), and sixth-grader Quinn Kluchnik (69th, 15:50).

Sea Witch Half Marathon/5K

Packet pickup for the Sea Witch Half Marathon and 5K will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 29, at Irish Eyes in Lewes this year. Stop by and pickup early, have dinner and enjoy less hassle on race morning by just heading to the starting line. The Sea Witch Fall 5K Classic will add a half marathon Saturday morning, Oct. 30, beginning at 8 a.m. from the main beach parking lot of Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes. The race is designed in the shape of a “T” as it will go to Fort Miles, then toward Lewes on the new trail extension.  Runners will turn around just before Freeman Highway and head back toward Rehoboth passing Fort Miles and Herring Point before reaching Gordons Pond. Turning around at Gordons Pond, runners will head back to Fort Miles and then back to the finish. The race is a great tune-up for the Seashore Marathon in December or any other November marathon you are competing in. Go to seashorestriders.com for race information.  The regular 5K will be at 9 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 31, at Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach.