Large crowd expected for Sea Witch Fall 5K Classic

The 27th annual Sea Witch Fall 5K Classic will be held Sunday, Oct. 30, beginning at 9 a.m. from Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach. Registration is open through Friday night, with packet pick-up scheduled for Saturday at Grove Park from 4 to 6 p.m. Last-chance race registration will be Sunday beginning at 7 a.m. and will close by 8:45 a.m. Awards are presented to the top three finishers in 14 age groups as well as the top three clydesdale and filly runners, costume top three, best family, group and child. Long-sleeve tech T’s are guaranteed to the first 300 runners to register and all others are first come.

The Seashore Striders Youth Cross Country team will be hosting a bake sale to earn funds for the trip to the national championships and will be setup from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at the Grove Park. For more race information or to get registered, go to www.seashorestriders.com.

Parking will be on Rehoboth Avenue and runners are encouraged to give themselves extra time in the morning for parking and registration. Get your costumes ready - it’s Sea Witch time! 

Middle school invitational

The Central Delaware Middle School Invitational was held this Oct. 26 in Milford with 278 boys and 197 girls running the 2.1-mile course. The Beacon boys were led by sixth-grader Luke Burton in sixth place in a time of 12:57. He was followed by sixth-grader Brexton Carter in 13th place with a time of 13:13, Micah Crenshaw in 26th in 13:33, Hunter Jones ran 13:37 for 29th place and Brody Smith ran 13:44 for 44th place. Other Beacon finishers are as follows: Aiden Bowman - 13:54; Ethan Edery - 13:59; Dom Crenshaw - 14:02; Will Hocker - 14:07; Liam O’Donnell - 16:21; Ryan Pickard - 16:58; Jack Thomson - 19:19; and Tommy Hykes - 23:01. The Beacon boys finished fourth of 17 teams with 107 points.

The Mariner team was led by Brian Sponaugle in a time of 13:11 for 12th overall, while Jordan Jefferson finished 44th in 13:56. Elliott Bastian was 56th in 14:10, Justin Marsh was 72nd in 14:29 and Pablo Hernandez rounded out the scoring with a time of 15:25 good for 121st place. Other Mariner runners are as follows: Shamar Snead - 15:30; Cole Windish - 15:55; Prince Phillips - 15:58; Adrian Gonzalez - 16:08; Bryan Ramiriz-Montano - 16:13; Angelo Ballard-Rose - 16:19; Michael Cerf - 16:50; Zachary Burris - 17:04; Jacob Schumaier - 17:41; Jakob Hayes - 17:45; Liam Leishear - 18:20; Terry Pettyjohn - 19:14; Joe Moore - 19:42; Malachi Trott - 19:45; Dawson Clifton - 19:54; and Luis Moreno - 20:20. The Mariner boys finished ninth with 258 points.

The Beacon girls were led by Aya Daisey with a ninth-place finish in 14:27, while Mia Nuebling was 11th in 14:33. Amaya Daisey was 25th in 15:10, Elizabeth Melson was 67th in 16:35 and Dilvi Patel was 138th in 18:47 to round out the scoring. Other Beacon girls are as follows: Elaina Best - 18:54; Madison Couchman - 19:09; Lillian Williams - 19:28; Ava Crotty - 19:46; Charlotte Miller - 20:04; Kaki Lawson - 20:30. The Beacon girls were sixth with 180 points in the team standings.

The Mariner girls were led again by sixth-grader Katie Kuhlman in seventh overall with a time of 14:23, while Brayden Parkes was 22nd in 15:04. Fallon Moore was 31st in 15:26, Kimberly Cooper was 67th in 17:22 and Evelyn Turman finished 73rd in 17:55 to round out the scoring. Other Mariner finishers were as follows: Kaci Leppert - 18:32 and Anya Cannon - 21:29.  Mariner finished ninth with 200 points.

The Beacon and Mariner teams will go head to head Monday, Oct. 31 in a Halloween showdown at the UD College of Earth, Ocean and Environment in Lewes, beginning at 4 p.m.

Striders to host regional

The Seashore Striders will host the East Coast Regional Cross Country Championships Sunday, Nov. 6 at Killens Pond State Park in Felton. An expected 400 young runners from the Mid-Atlantic area will race on courses from 1K to 4K with the top 20 individuals and the top three teams earning a trip to the starting line at the Coaches Cross Country Nationals Saturday, Nov. 19 in Evansville, Ind.

Course walks will begin at 10 a.m., with races to start at 11 a.m. For an application to compete, go to www.seashorestriders.com or email race director Tim Bamforth at tim@seashorestrider.com. 

Cape cross country

The Vikings traveled north to Blackbird State Forest to take on the Smyrna, Indian River and Sussex Central, finishing up their dual meet season. The Vikings topped Indian River 18-44, but lost to Smyrna 25-30. Cape was led by Greg Boyce in second just under the 17-minute mark. The Cape girls lost to Indian River 24-31 and also lost to Smyrna 19-44. Freshman Olivia Brozefsky led the team with a sub-20 performance to highlight the day. Individual results were not posted, which is a challenge for sports reporters trying to cover a local team.

The Viking girls and boys teams each finished 4-8 on the season.

Tech cross country

The Sussex Tech Ravens traveled north to Brecknock Park this Oct. 26 to take on the Riders of Caesar Rodney in a conference dual meet showdown. The Riders had one loss to Dover going into the meet, while the Ravens were undefeated and looking to secure the dual meet title. When the dust had cleared on the three-loop 5,000-meter course, the Riders used their tight running pack to push the Ravens’ Nos. 4 and 5 boys back to secure the four-point win 28-32. The Ravens took three of the top four places, led by front running Ben Bamforth with a winning time of 16:16, while Riders top gun Jon Epstein was second in 16:33. Tech’s Jay Hinds set a personal best of 16:55, while Connor Morrow also dipped under the 17-minute mark with a 16:55.  The Riders took the next seven spots for the win. The ruling on the conference title is not clear to me at this point as Dover, CR and the Ravens all have a loss, and it may be determined by the number of points each team scored. Stay tuned. The Ravens finished the season 11-1.

The Raven girls topped the Riders 23-32, led by Alexis Singh in 20:56, while Kylie Millner was third in 21:22. Chloe Fisher was fifth in 21:49, while Lakendra Harpe was sixth in 22:29. Ruby Mullen rounded out the scoring in eighth with a time of 23:02.

The Ravens ended the season with a 7-5 dual meet record.

Upcoming races

Sunday, Oct. 30, 27th Sea Witch Fall 5K Classic, 9 a.m., Rehoboth Beach, seashorestriders.com

Saturday, Nov. 5, second Henlopen Conference Alumni 5K Run, noon, Killens Pond State Park, Felton, seashorestriders.com

Sunday, Nov. 6, East Coast Regional XC 5K Run, 9 a.m., Killens Pond State Park, Felton, seashorestriders.com.