Smiley wins fourth straight Dogfish Dash
Rehoboth Beach runner Dylan Smiley won his fourth straight Dogfish Dash 3.82-mile race Sept. 28 in Milton, destroying the field of 1,500 runners and walkers in a time of 19:06.7, averaging 5:01 per mile. Smiley ran 20:05 to win the 2024 event, while he blazed a 19:07 to win the 2023 event. Smiley’s first Dogfish win was in 2022 when he ran 19:20. In all four wins, Smiley has not had anyone closer than 1:30 of him.
Nearly two minutes back this year was Pierce Conlon of Wilmington in 20:55, while Andy Gorlich of Milton finished third to capture the masters championship in 21:47. Tim Pagano of Lewes was fourth in 22:00, while Mark Hannagan of Wilmington wrapped up the top five male finishers in 22:38.
On the female side of the 684 action, it was Ashley Carrasquillo of Bloomfield, Conn., winning the title in 24:17, good for 19th overall, while Tracey Eckert of Long Valley, N.J., finished 25th in 25:05 for second. Heather Dougherty of Washington, D.C., finished 35th in 25:37 for third, while Carre Zatwarnytsky of Wilmington was fourth in 37th place in 25:47. Michaela Sands of Washington, D.C., finished 43rd to wrap up the top five female finishers in 26:24. Renee Valenti of Pittsburgh, Pa., finished 62nd to win the female masters title in 27:49.
Dogfish tidbits - It took 11 minutes for the field to get over the starting line. By that time, Smiley was well past the 2-mile mark in the race. A male runner used his previous 17 bib numbers to make up his costume. The old race bibs all had chips on them, which read perfectly and created 17 unknown runners in the results, which we could not figure out. It was not until I reviewed pictures with timer Craig that we solved the mystery. That just shows the quality of the Chronotrack chips we use.
Baker sets school record
Cape senior Jason Baker ran 5,000 meters in a new school record time of 15:19.70, averaging 4:56 per mile at the Carlyle Invitational in Carlyle, Pa., last weekend. Baker was in the Boys’ Varsity Challenge 5K, outdistancing a field of 214 runners in the race. Baker led his team to a fourth-place finish in the field of 30 teams.
“Baker took off with 800 meters to go knowing the two other frontrunners were kickers, and he opened up enough of a gap to hold them off at the finish,” said coach Matt Lindell.
Theo Oppermann and Luke Bradbury of State College High School finished second and third in identical times of 15:19.80. It was one of the closest finishes, if not the closest, in meet history. Riley Stazzone was next for the Vikings in 33rd place in 16:20.7, while Andrew Radka was 40th in 16:34.2, Nick Petito was 47th in 16:43.7, Brayden Redd was 62nd in 16:58.4 and Josh Cohen was 78th in 17:09. The Vikings put five under 17 minutes, which is quite an accomplishment. Claudia Stazzone was 11th in the girls’ race in 20:06.6.
Henlopen XC Top 10
Boys
1. Jason Baker, Cape, 15:19; 2. Ryan Moody, Sussex Academy,15:56; 3. Riley Stazzone, Cape, 16:20; 4. Isaiah Winslow-Hill, Smyrna, 16:29; 5. Andrew Radka, Cape, 16:34; 6. Evan Easton, Caesar Rodney, 16:39; 7. Nick Petito, Cape, 16:39; 8. Brayden Redd, Cape, 16:45; 9. Eli Parfitt, Milford, 16:47; 10. Joshua Cohen, Cape, 17:09.
Girls
1. Morgan Thompson, Caesar Rodney, 19:01; 2. Claudia Stazzone, Cape, 19:48; 3. Grace Walker, Smyrna, 20:06; 4. Natalie Schneider, Cape, 20:13; 5. Riley Moriarty, Sussex Academy, 20:33; 6. Savannah Stevenson, Sussex Tech, 20:36; 7. Lindsay Mollura, Polytech, 20:45; 8. Adriana Schrock, Woodbridge, 21:44; 9. Jordan Blades, Sussex Academy, 21:01; 10. Leila Hernandez, Indian River, 21:03.
Middle school wrap
The Beacon, Fred Thomas and Mariner cross country teams hosted a five-team dual meet with Georgetown and Seaford Sept. 29 at Cape’s 3K course. The loaded Beacon girls’ squad breezed past Mariner 16-43 and Georgetown 17-46, while Mariner defeated Georgetown 20-42 and Fred Thomas shut out Seaford 15-50. Emily Hilton of Beacon put 31 seconds on the field to triumph in 12:22. Other top finishers included Tenley Hazzard of Fred Thomas (12:53), Beacon’s Addison Farrell (12:58) and Elle Stretch (13:02), and Georgetown’s Trinity Sipes (13:17). Kinley Johnson (ninth, 14:04) was Mariner’s top scorer, while Lillien Perry paced Seaford (71st, 21:03).
The Mariner boys defeated Beacon 24-35 and topped Georgetown 16-47, while Beacon outpaced Georgetown 17-45 and Fred Thomas swept Seaford 15-50. Top finishers included the one-two Mariner punch of Logan Cole (11:42) and Noa Urrestarazu (11:43), Henry Neufeld of Fred Thomas (11:51), Beacon’s Thomas Bonk (11:51) and Logan Archer of Fred Thomas (11:54). Warren Davis paced Georgetown with a 15th-place finish (12:40), while Jase DeGroat led Seaford in 65th (20:32).
