Mariner boys move to 4-0 on the season

Eye-popping times from seventh-grader Asher Woods and sixth-grader Bree Terhune highlighted the Mariner Middle boys’ and girls’ cross country teams’ dual meet with Milford at Browns Branch County Park Oct. 10.

The boys prevailed by a 25-32 tally behind a stalwart performance from Woods, who took control of his race from the opening seconds and was never challenged. Woods hit the mile in 5:48 and kept a steady clip to break the tape in 12:40 for 2.09 miles. His time was the third-fastest ever by a Mariner harrier on the course. Fast-improving sixth-grader Jude Bastian took third for the Vikings with a 13:25 effort, slicing 1:26 from his time at Browns Branch three weeks ago. Sixth-grader Caleb Olmsted (sixth, 14:15), eighth-grader Bennett Steinmann (seventh, 14:18), and sixth-grader Andrew Ockels (eighth, 14:30) rounded out the scoring for the 4-0 Vikings.

In the girls’ race, Terhune ran hard from the gun and led Milford’s Mika Finazzo by a stride at the mile. She accelerated markedly over the next 800 meters to open up a sizable gap and widened the margin to 45 seconds thanks to a remarkable kick. Terhune stopped the clock in 14:02, an improvement of 1:28 on her time at Browns Branch earlier in the season, and recorded the fourth-fastest Mariner time ever on the course. Milford prevailed in the team battle, winning 27-30 on the strength of a 2-3-4 showing from Finazzo, Bianka Thornton and Lindsay Mollura. Seventh-grader Ava Haase (fifth, 17:11), sixth-grader Swayze Rogers (seventh, 17:53), seventh-grader Maren Edwards (eighth, 18:51), and sixth-grader Kenzie McLaren (ninth, 18:55) all dropped huge chunks of time from their season bests for the Vikings (0-4).

Paradise Grill Stop, Drop & Run 5K

What better organization to raise funds for than a fire company.  Firefighters are some of the most dedicated individuals and take their job, which in Delaware is a volunteer position, very serious and with pride. On Oct. 9, I directed the seventh annual Paradise Grill Stop, Drop & Run 5K to raise funds for the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company in Long Neck. Paradise Grill was the host and once again did a first-class job with the post-race party on the beach highlighted with a DJ and plenty of breakfast food to enjoy.

John Costello, 61, of Milton was first across the line in the only event in the state that offers participants two courses (the water course and the woods course) where they split at 300 meters and rejoin each other at 2.53 miles for the half-mile sprint to the finish.

Costello was timed in 19:57 for the win, while Christopher Cruz of Millsboro was second in 20:41. Young Blake Fitzgerald of Lewes, former member of the Seashore Striders, was third in 21:33, while John Blackford was fourth and male masters champ in 22:58. J.R. Ward of Millsboro rounded out the top five male finishers in 23:26.

On the female side of the action, 25-year-old Cape Henlopen graduate Keren Rams won the title in a time of 24:16 for eighth overall, just ahead of ninth-place finisher Joanne “Mighty Mouse” Senft of Mt. Wolf, Pa., in a time of 24:19. Young Emma Thompson, 13, a product of Beacon Middle School, finished third in 26:12, while Laura St. Martin of Rehoboth Beach was fourth in 26:29. Jen Ward of Millsboro rounded out the top five in a time of 26:45.

Cross country

The Joe O’Neill Invitational will be Friday, Oct. 14, with most every team in the state on the starting line. The race is at fast-and-flat Bellevue State Park, where it will take a sub-16-minute 5K to win the male title. Cape Henlopen just happens to have a sub-16 young man. Don’t count out Chase Sims from IR who will be in the mix up front as well. Brynn Crandall and Katie Kuhlman will be in the top 10 mix among the girls. 

Teams are gearing up for the post-season which includes the Sussex County Championships to be held at Sussex Tech Wednesday, Oct. 26, and the Henlopen Conference Championships to be held at Killen’s Pond on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Delaware State Championships will be Saturday, Nov. 12, also at Killen’s Pond.

The Seashore Striders competed in Pennsylvania last Sunday at the AOC Invitational. The course was very entertaining with several creek crossings and a variety of wooded trails and open grass sections. Nora Furlong led us off in the girls’ 8 & under 2K race with a fifth-place finish (11:20). Grace Barthelmess, Elise Ramjattanshigh and Brielle Ramjattansingh all ran well in the girls’ 11-12 3K race. Grace finished 12th (15:42), Elise was 16th (16:25) and Brielle was 19th (17:50) to place all Striders in the top 20. Kai Mundok and Nolan Furlong went to the front of the boys’ 9-10 3K race early and stayed there. Kai finished fifth (12:57) and Nolan came from behind to win the race in a sprint finish (12:29). The Striders will travel to Brandywine Creek State Park for the annual invitational this Saturday.