Griffin Spana, a junior from Caesar Rodney, won the overall boys’ title at the Middletown Invitational Sept. 13 at Lums Pond State Park. His time of 16:41 was just a few seconds faster than runner-up finisher Kevin Howard of Middletown, who ran 16:48. Ryan Moody, a junior from Sussex Academy, finished sixth overall in 17:08. Sussex Academy won the boys’ team title with 92 points, edging out Appoquinimink (94 points) in the 23-team field. Caesar Rodney put three in the top 20 to score 123 points for third overall. For Sussex Academy, Duncan Winger was 12th in 17:53, while Harrison Dabbs was 16th in 18:20. Josue Laurore was 27th in 19:04, and Will Parker finished 31st in 19:18 to round out the top five Seahawks scorers.
Sussex Academy’s Abigail Crowley won the overall girls’ title in 18:43, nearly two minutes ahead of second-place finisher Nikita Lachke of Charter in 20:23. The Seahawks’ Katya Geyer took sixth place in 21:02, while Riley Moriarty was 12th in 21:44. Sussex Academy scored 53 points to win the title, while Charter scored 66 for second. Appoquinimink was third with 93 points, and Middletown grabbed fourth with 135 points.
Cape races in RVA Relays
There were 60 five-member boys’ teams squaring off in the unique RVA Relay 12.5K Championship held Sept. 14 in Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va. The event brought together some of the best distance runners from up and down the East Coast, including two well-known distance programs in Salesianum and Cape Henlopen. National power Cherokee of New Jersey combined for a time of 36:13 to win the meet. All five members ran within eight seconds of each other. The Gainesville boys of Virginia turned in a time of 36:46 for second, with Trent Daniels anchoring in 6:44, which is under a 4:30 per mile pace. Salesianum finished 10th in 37:36, with Ethan Walther anchoring in 7:00. Cape was 12th overall in 37:39, with Ryan Baker running 6:59 on the final leg. Riley Stazzone led off in 7:31, while Andrew Radka handled the second leg in 7:38. Brayden Redd ran the third leg in 7:39, and ninth-grader Nick Petito ran 7:50.
Padua won the girls’ championship in 43:09 with top-ranked runners on the bookends. Junior Anna Bockius ran 8:24 on the leadoff and recent Sussex Academy transfer Paige Ballinger, just a freshman, ran 8:09, a 5:23 mile pace, on the anchor.
Cape over Polytech, Smyrna
Cape easily beat Smyrna 15-48 and Polytech 15-46 on the boys’ side, while the girls beat Polytech 24-36 and Smyrna 22-39. Jason Baker ran away with the boys’ race in 16:41, while Brayden Redd was second in 17:58. Riley Stazzone ran 18:02 for third, while Andrew Radka was close behind in 18:03 for fourth. Nick Petito rounded out the top five scorers, taking fifth in 18:03. Haley Hassel led the Cape girls with a third-place finish in 21:52, while Lindsay Hassel was fifth in 22:39. Natalie Schneider was sixth in 22:50, while Allison Ortiz was fourth in 23:37. Ally Miller rounded out the top five in 23:40.
Southern Invitational
The Sussex Academy boys and girls easily won the Southern Invitational Sept. 18 at Indian River High School in Dagsboro, with the girls’ top seven taking the broom out for the sweep. Abigail Crowley ran 18:29 to win the individual title, while Katya Geyer was second in 21:02, Bri Sordi was third in 21:50, Riley Moriarty was fourth in 21:57 and Jordan Blades finished fifth in 22:00. Taegen Forester was sixth in 22:44, while Peyton Stanislav rounded out the top seven in a time of 22:51.
In the boys’ race, Ryan Moody of Sussex Academy won the individual title in 18:01, while teammate Harrison Dabbs was second in 18:11. Duncan Winger was third in 18:34 to give the Seahawks the top three finishers. Cade Donnelly of Indian River was fourth in 19:05, while Josue Laurore of Sussex Academy was fifth in 19:14. All dual-meet scores can be found at seashorestriders.com. Twenty-five dual-meet combinations were scored.
Finish chute
The Seashore Marathon is up to 25% sold and will sell out well before the race, so if you are planning on racing and are not registered, ask yourself why. If you wait too long, the door may close. A great training run for the marathon is the Sea Witch Half Marathon that will take place Saturday, Oct. 26, at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes. The inaugural Harvest Hustle 5K and 1K Walk is set for 9 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, at the fishing pier in Cape Henlopen State Park. The Paradise Grill 5K is set for 10 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 22, in Long Neck supporting the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company.
