Middle school cross country is off and running

The Beacon boys’ team kicked off the fall season Sept. 24 against Postlethwait at the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment course in Lewes. Beacon’s top finisher was Brexton Carter, who finished third overall in a time of 11:37 for the 3K distance. Luke Burton was eighth overall in 12:19, while Aiden Bowman was ninth in 12:23. Brody Smith wrapped up the top 10 in a time of 12:25. Postlethwait put six runners in the top 10 to easily win the meet by a score of 18-41.

“We just did not run well today,” said coach Paul Ecker. “I really do not know why, but as a team the boys just did not come to race.”

Other Beacon finishers include Liam O’Donnell, 12:27;  Eddie Hauck, 12:36; Kanden Cherico, 12:37; Stephan Hart, 12:45; Jack Hauss, 13:06; Ryan Pickard, 13:46; Matthew Laing, 14:00; Bailey Fletcher, 14:23; Hayden Wheeler, 15:59; Brett Miller, 16:04; Luke Pickard, 16:12; Noah Ryan, 16:13; Trey Mongelzo, 16:37; Drew Summerset, 17:26; and Joe Melean, 22:28.

The Mariner cross country teams kicked off the season at Fifer Sept. 26, with the boys throwing a perfect 15-50 score at the Riders and the girls triumphing by a 15-49 tally. Eighth-grader Jakob Hayes notched the first win of his middle school career for the boys, as he traversed the muggy, 2.1-mile Brecknock Park course in a stellar 13:49 to spearhead a Mariner sweep. Hayes was chased home by eighth-grade teammates Ryan Baker in 14:04 and Bryan Ramirez-Montano in 14:12. Other Mariner scorers were seventh-grader Jackson Isaacs, 15:14; seventh-grader Tyler Jacona, 15:46; eighth-grader Jia Qi Xie, 15:46; and seventh-grader Jay’Lier Long, 16:08. 

The girls were buoyed by eighth-grader Katie Kuhlman, who blew away the competition and broke the tape in 14:19. Eighth-grader Brayden Parkes took second in 16:03, out-kicking promising sixth-grader Ali Stevenson (16:04). Seventh-graders Mac Cryne (16:13), Olivia Burkentine (16:28), SAS transfer Molly Greeley (16:29), and Lillian Fisher (17:08) rounded out the top seven for the Lady Vikings. Mariner will visit Providence Creek Academy Monday, Oct. 1.  

“It was a good start for the team, and hopefully this meet will give us the confidence we need to continue to improve from week to week,” said coach Kenny Riedel.

Other Mariner finishers for the boys include: Davonte Collins, 16:47; Jia Han Xie, 17:22; Tyler Mitchell, 18:31; Mitch Joseph, 18:46; Jayceon White, 18:49; Clay Wakefield, 19:40; Christian Fuscellaro, 20:31; Trey Quinones, 20:55; Cameron DeForrest, 21:12; Brayan Stevenson, 23:09; and Holden Sherman, 27:41.

Other Mariner finishers for the girls include: Sara Dawson, 18:01; Mollie Skipper, 18:06; Adele Schumaier-Harris, 18:14; Evelyn Turman, 19:19; Kaci Ieppert, 19:44; Trinese Losiewski, 21:04; Brianna Windish, 21:07; Dylenn Enright, 22:14; and Adria Windish, 22:38.

Cross Talk

Blake Hundley led his St. Andrew’s team to the title last week at the Middletown Invitational among 27 teams, in a time of 16:24 for a new personal best. The St. Andrew’s top five runners were 1:03 apart, while interestingly enough, the Cape team, finishing second, had a 56-second top five gap. Cape’s final scorer was in the 18:30 range, while St. Andrew’s fifth man was a whole minute faster in 17:27, and that was the difference in the two teams.

On the girls’ side, the sixth-place Cape team had the best top five gap of only 34 seconds apart, while the next-closest top five gap was on Archmere’s fourth-place team at 1:07. Champion Ursuline Academy won the team title with a top five gap of 1:42, while they put three runners under the 20-minute barrier, making the difference in their championship.

Youth Striders

On the youth level, the local Seashore Striders have about 40 young runners out for the fall program with some very talented age-group racers who are already ahead of where they were at the end of last season. The Striders have two optional 5K runs this weekend, while a few will race the Dogfish Dash 8K on Sunday before competing in the Cape Invitational Saturday, Oct. 13, at the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment.

The groundbreaking for the new Sussex Sports Center was held in August, and construction has started on the multimillion-dollar complex. The complex will feature a championship cross country course that will be utilized by youth, high school and college competitions right here in Sussex County.   

Triple Race Weekend

The Striders will host a triple race weekend with the Dolphin Dash 5K, remembering Betty Gooch, this Friday, Sept. 28, at 5:30 p.m., while the Mooo-Run 5K will be held the following morning, Sept. 29, at 9 a.m. at Hopkins Dairy Farm. Finishing off the weekend will be the Dogfish Dash 8K Sunday, Sept. 30, in Milton.