Cape, Sussex Academy XC battle at Sandhill Fields
A quad meet extravaganza took place at Sandhill Fields Sept. 21, with Cape Henlopen, Indian River, Sussex Tech and Sussex Academy coming together for 12 different scored dual meets. The top five runners on each team earned team points, with the lowest points winning the meet. And don’t forget about No. 6 and 7 being able to displace, which means push an opposing runner back. Scoring 12 meets is not easy, and back in the day, it was done manually. But these days I can trust my scoring software to score all the meets in seconds as long as all data is imported and set up correctly.
This week, the 5,000-meter course was dry and in much better shape than the previous week. Cape Henlopen’s Ryan Baker took the race out in 4:54, then cruised a 10:36 two-mile split before hitting the finish line in 16:03 for the win. Baker has been on a tear as of late, with a win last week in the five-team meet followed by a huge win at the Night at the Nest 5K in New Jersey in 15:51. This weekend, the Cape boys will compete in the Challenge Race at the Carlisle Invitational in central Pennsylvania, which will place Baker on the line with the cream of the crop from the East Coast.
Chase Sims of Indian River was second in 16:36, while Joey DeGregory of Cape was third in 17:40. Coleman Woodward of Sussex Tech finished fourth in 17:45, and rounding out the top five finishers was Liam O’Donnell of Cape in 17:58. Brett Parker led Sussex Academy in 18:12 for sixth place.
The Vikings beat Indian River 20-41, Sussex Academy 17-46 and Sussex Tech 18-44. Sussex Academy edged Indian River 26-31 and Sussex Tech 27-32, while Indian River edged Sussex Tech 25-31.
On the girls’ side of the action, it was all Brynn Crandell of Indian River, who went quickly to the front and stayed in the lead the whole race, hitting the line in 19:09 for a 57-second win. Crandell was a first-team all-state selection last season and looks to be on her way again. Young Katya Geyer led Sussex Academy and keeps improving as she shaved 51 seconds off her 5K time in just one week on the same course. Cape’s Katie Kuhlman, who went 19:45 last weekend in New Jersey, walked across the finish line with her parents arm-in-arm to celebrate Senior Day. An hour later, she raced across the line in third in 20:20. Arina Varrato of Sussex Tech was fourth in 20:25, while Lily Bowe rounded out the top five in 21:14.
It was Sussex Academy edging Cape Henlopen for the second week in a row 25-30, as the Seahawks put four in the top 10. Cape won easily over Indian River 20-42 and Sussex Tech 19-44. Sussex Academy won big over Indian River 20-42 and Sussex Tech 19-44. Indian River edged Sussex Tech 25-30.
Both Sussex Academy and Cape put four runners in the top 10, but the difference in the meet was the improvement in performances, as Sussex Academy dropped 2:15 in its top five total times, while Cape dropped 0:46.
Cape will travel to Pennsylvania for the Carlisle Invitational this weekend, while Sussex Academy and Indian River will travel to Brandywine Creek for the Salesianum Invitational. The Sussex Tech Ravens will travel to the Six Flags Invitational in New Jersey.
Middle school XC
The middle school cross country teams from Beacon, Mariner and Milford opened the season Sept. 19, with a tri-meet at Browns Branch County Park in Harrington, where the Mariner boys and Beacon girls raced to victory over a humid 2.1-mile course.
The Mariner boys used an individual win by seventh-grader Asher Woods and strong pack running to defeat Beacon by a 26-33 tally and Milford by a 24-35 margin, while Beacon downed Milford 23-32. On the girls’ side, Beacon placed five runners in the top seven overall to outpace Mariner 20-41 and Milford 20-37, while Milford toppled Mariner 24-32.
Woods took early command of the boys’ race and never let up, splitting 5:59 at the mile before breaking the tape ahead of 52 competitors in 13:02. His time represents a 56-second improvement over his season opener on the same circuit last year and puts him in the conversation for a title at the statewide DAAD Invitational in late October. Seventh-graders Ethan Thompson and Nick Petito took second and third for Beacon in 13:25 and 13:44, respectively, while Mariner eighth-grader Anthony Amalfitano secured fourth overall (13:52) in the first cross-country race of his life. Rounding out the top 15 were Tristen Willey of Milford (13:57), Eli Parfitt of Milford (14:13), Brandt Kuklish of Beacon (14:27), Deacon Herring of Milford (14:37), Jude Bastian of Mariner (14:51), Bennett Steinmann of Mariner (15:05), Andrew Ockels of Mariner (15:06), Caleb Olmsted of Mariner (15:07), Joe Ruark of Mariner (15:08), Devin Silva of Beacon (15:09), and Ryder Uszenski of Beacon (15:43).
In the girls’ race, Milford seventh-grader Mika Finazzo used a strong final kilometer to earn a come-from-behind 14:58 win over Mariner sixth-grader Bree Terhune (15:30). Beacon took the next five spots, as Shiloh O’Grady (15:56), Claudia Stazzone (16:05), Mia Thompson (16:23), Lindsay Hassell (16:42), and Emma Thompson (17:16) claimed positions three through seven. Also placing in the top 15 were Bianka Thornton of Milford (17:40), Lindsay Mollura of Milford (18:41), Briella Ostermann of Milford (18:52), Isabella Murphy of Beacon (18:52), Ava Haase of Mariner (19:26), Gabby Hamstead of Mariner (19:30), Anna Miller of Beacon (19:40), and Elena Pereda of Beacon (21:26).
On Monday, Sept. 26, Beacon will host Milford at Cape, while Mariner will travel to face Sussex Academy at Sandhill Fields.
