The Cape cross country teams traveled to Woodside to take on Czar Bloom and his Polytech team Oct. 19, as the Vikings boys topped Polytech 16-42 and Smyrna 19-42. Smyrna topped Polytech 21-35. Cape’s Ryan Baker ran all by himself to set a new course record of 15:58, breaking the old record of 16:16 that was held by Matt Gatune of Polytech. Joey DeGregory of Cape was second in 17:13, while Connor Wilson of Smyrna was a close third in 17:14. Cape’s Max Gillen keeps improving this season, finishing fourth in 17:16, while Liam O’Donnell was fifth in 17:31.
On the girls’ side, Cape topped Smyrna 19-42 and squeaked by Polytech with huge races from No. 4 runner Maya Yngve in eighth and No. 5 Chloe DeForrest in ninth to secure the win. Polytech topped Smyrna 22-33.
Katie Kuhlman took the victory in a time of 20:12 over Polytech standout Ellie Yerkes in 21:00. Tierra Hill of Smyrna was third in 21:39, while Elyse Fuller of Polytech was fourth in 21:42. Zoe Miller finished fifth in 21:59 for Cape.
Sussex Academy hosted Early School from DSU and Seaford at Sandhill Fields. When the dust settled, it was a 15-50 sweep by the Seahawks boys over Early School and a 19-44 win over Seaford. Seaford also swept Early School 15-50.
The Sussex Academy girls kept rolling with two more wins over Early School by a 15-50 score and 15-50 over Seaford as well. Seaford topped Early School 15-50.
Sussex Academy’s Brett Parker won the boys’ race in a time of 17:43, while Colin Hignutt was second in 18:57. The Seahawks took the next 14 positions to easily secure the win. For the girls, it was Katya Geyer with a nice time of 19:20 for the individual win, followed by Lily Bowe in 19:31. Kasi Showers was third in 21:17, followed by young eighth-grader McKenna Blades in 21:35. Blades was moved up to the high school ranks from the Sussex Academy middle school program. The Sussex Academy girls grabbed the top nine positions in the race to add two more wins to their 8-0 record.
This Friday will bring the Killens Pond Invitational, which will give teams a chance to get on the state championship course one more time. It’s also an opportunity for Henlopen Conference teams to get ready for the conference meet that will be held on the same site Saturday, Nov. 4.
The Sussex County Championships will be held Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Sussex Tech High School.
Sandhill Invitational
The Sandhill Invitational, in its second year, will be held Friday, Oct. 21, at Sandhill Fields in Georgetown. At 4 p.m., the middle school championship will take place with Sussex Academy, Beacon and Mariner. The youth open 3K and 2K races will follow at 5 p.m. Middle school awards will go to the top 15 runners in each race and the top team. The meet will be a preview for the upcoming Eastern Regional Championships set for Sunday, Nov. 6, at Sandhill Fields.
Middle school wrap
Beacon traveled to Cape to take on Woodbridge Oct. 17, with Shiloh O’Grady winning the girls’ race in 12:43 and Ethan Thompson winning the boys’ race in 11:30. The Beacon boys moved to 4-1 with an 18-45 win, while the girls moved to 4-1 as well, winning 16-45.
Mariner traveled to Sussex Fields to race Sussex Academy and Postlethwait Oct. 17, with Jude Bastian of Mariner winning the 2.02-mile unique figure eight course in 12:48, while Chase Johnson of Sussex Academy was second in 13:12. Caleb Olmstead of Mariner was third in 13:22, while Dylan Garcia and Tyler Outten of Postlethwait took fourth and fifth in 13:28 and 13:30, respectively. The Mariner boys topped Postlethwait 27-30 and Sussex Academy 21-40. Postlethwait topped SA 20-34.
The Sussex Academy girls moved to 6-0 with a double win over Mariner (19-44) and Postlethwait (18-42) in a race that came down to the wire. Bree Terhune of Mariner had a slight lead with 400 meters to go, but Seahawks runner Paige Ballinger pulled away in the final 200 meters to edge Terhune for the win in 13:14. Terhune was timed in 13:15. Jordan Blades of Sussex Academy was third in 14:15, while teammate Taegen Forester was fourth in 14:20. Lurren Moening of Postlethwait wrapped up the top five in 14:54. Look for the Sussex Academy girls and the Mariner boys to be among the top teams going into the DAAD Middle School Invitational Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Brown Branch Park in Milford.
Joe O'Neill Invitational
The Cape Henlopen Vikings competed with a large field including nearly every team in the state at the Joe O’Neill Invitational at Bellevue State Park. Top downstate finishers for the boys included senior Ryan Baker, who finished second overall in a nice time of 15:52. Baker finished nine seconds behind Middletown senior Jonathan Drew, who hit the tape in 15:43. Senior Chase Sims of Indian River was sixth in 16:31, while junior Ian Cain of CR was ninth in 16:47. Junior Joey DeGregory of Cape was 12th in 16:57, and junior Patrick Craig of CR was 14th in 16:59. Senior Liam O’Donnell of Cape was 17th in a season-best 17:07, while junior Max Gillen of Cape finished close behind at 18th in 17:09.
On the girls’ side, junior Brynn Crandell of Indian River finished fourth in 18:47 as the top downstate runner in a field that saw four girls break the 19-minute mark. Senior Katie Kuhlman of Cape was 15th in 20:11, while junior Faith Mitchell was 18th in 20:21. Mitchell, who struggled last season, seems to be back to the form she showed as a freshman and sophomore for the Bucs. Padua won the girls’ title with 49 points, averaging 19:33 with all five scorers in the top 16 finishers. CR was 10th, Polytech was 11th, Cape was 12th and Milford was 13th among teams. On the boys’ side, Salesianum won the title with 66 points, while Cape was 24 points back in third place with 90. CR was fourth with 123 points. Sussex Academy did not compete.
