CR tops Cape in battle of unbeaten cross country teams

The Riders of Caesar Rodney came two buses strong to the UD College of Earth, Ocean and Environment campus in Lewes for a showdown with the Vikings, as both boys’ and girls’ teams entered the meet with undefeated 6-0 conference records.

When the dust had settled through the 5000-meter course, the Riders had dominated the boys’ meet over Cape 18-38 and Delmar 20-43, while the Lady Riders pulled out a close one over the Lady Vikings by a 26-30 score and beat Delmar 15-50.

“I am proud of the effort our girls put forth today,” said coach Matt Lindell. “While we were without some of our varsity top seven, our girls did not shy away from Caesar Rodney, and they set many personal records while almost pulling off the win.”

Cape was without top runner Olivia Brozefsky, who was ill and left school early, as well as sophomore Aya Daisey, who is nursing a sore ankle. Cape scorers in the top five were two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior, so the future looks bright for the program. Cape will take another shot at the Riders in the Henlopen Conference Championships on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Killens Pond State Park.

Freshman Mia Nuebling, out of Mariner Middle School, finished third overall in a time of 21:18. She was followed by freshman teammate Elizabeth Melson out of Beacon Middle School, who finished fourth in 21:29. Sophomore Caroline Maull was in sixth place in 21:38, senior Hadley Rhue was eighth in 21:59, and sophomore Taylor Johnson rounded out the Cape scorers in 10th place in a time of 22:34.

Riders standout Maleah Chumley breezed through the course all alone in 20:01, while teammate Keely Arndt went 20:56.  The lone runner in the top 10 not from CR or Cape was Myranda Beebe of Worcester Prep, who finished ninth in 22:06.

On the boys’ side of the action, the Riders grabbed five of the top 10 spots to steal the show. They were led by senior Colin Ritchey, who finished second in 17:25, while junior teammate Ben Dawson was third in 17:30. Cape senior John DiStefano was fourth in 17:34, senior Kolbe O’Donnell was ninth in 18:10 and sophomore Daniel Adili-Khams ran 18:17.

Delmar senior Austen Cave of Delmar cruised through the course in 17:12 for the easy win and saved himself to race hard at the fast-and-flat Joe O’Neill Invitational this Friday against some of the state’s elite runners.

Mariner stays perfect

The Mariner Middle cross country teams preserved their perfect records with one-sided wins over visiting Sussex Academy on Oct. 15 at the Virden Center in Lewes. The boys took the first 10 places on the way to a 15-50 shutout, as eighth-grader Jakob Hayes captured the individual title in a huge personal best of 11:42 for 1.86 miles. Other varsity scorers for the boys were eighth-grader Ryan Baker in second in 12:19, eighth-grader Jia Qi Xie in third in 12:33, eighth-grader Bryan Ramirez-Montano in fourth in 12:43, seventh-grader Jackson Isaacs in fifth in 13:10, seventh-grader Jia Han Xie in sixth in 13:20 and seventh-grader Tyler Jacona in seventh in 13:39. Sixth-grader Holden Sherman got special recognition from the Mariner coaches after eclipsing his personal best by more than eight minutes.

The girls, buoyed by a standout performance from eighth-grader Katie Kuhlman, strode to their 10th consecutive dual-meet win with a 15-49 victory. Kuhlman blazed to a 6:20 opening mile and broke the tape in 12:10, more than 90 seconds clear of her competition. Seventh-grader Mac Cryne finished second in a big personal best of 13:42, and eighth-grader Brayden Parkes finished third in 13:47. Seventh-grader Olivia Burkentine was fourth in 14:10, seventh-grader Molly Greeley finished fifth in 14:13, sixth-grader Ali Stevenson was sixth in 14:18 and eighth-grader Trinese Losiewski earned eighth in 14:39 to round out the varsity lineup. Losiewski has chopped more than four minutes from her two-mile time in just three weeks.

The Vikings boys and girls, both 4-0 on the year, will host Woodbridge on Monday, Oct. 22, before heading to the 18-team DAAD Invitational on Wednesday, Oct. 24.

Mariner’s Bethel Trail Run

One of the finest events on Delmarva, the Mariner’s Bethel Trail Run, will be held this Sunday, Oct. 21, at Camp Barnes, just west of Bethany Beach. A beautiful course takes runners over country roads, dirt roads, grass and trail. Registration will be open through 12 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 20, and will reopen on race day at 11 a.m. For more information, go to seashorestriders.com.