Cape boys’ XC places third at Joe O'Neill Invitational
Buoyed by a second-place finish from standout Jason Baker, the Cape Henlopen boys’ cross country team placed third overall at the 43-team Joe O’Neill Invitational held Oct. 18 in Felton.
During a 4:52 opening mile, Baker went stride for stride with eventual champion Ben Pizarro of Tatnall. Pizarro opened up some daylight over the next kilometer or so, but the Cape junior hung tough and maintained his position. Baker crossed the line in 15:47.1, the 11th-fastest time in the history of the 5K Killens Pond course and a massive school record.
“I’m really happy with how the race played out,” Baker said after his 14-second personal best at Killens. “My race plan was just to go out with the leaders, and run hard and push the pace. [Pizarro] made a move at the mile, and I couldn’t hang with it, but I just tried to keep pushing the pace. I knew I had a pack of guys behind me, which helped.”
The Vikings placed four other runners in the top 40 to secure third in the team competition with 120 points, as junior Andrew Radka (22nd, 16:40), senior Cardin Benjamin (24th, 16:48), junior Brayden Redd (32nd, 17:02) and freshman Nick Petito (40th, 17:15) all came up big. Junior Josh Cohen (69th, 18:04) and sophomore Ellis Brown (109th, 18:55) also finished for the Vikings, whose top-five average of 16:43 ranks among the fastest team performances in program history. Cape also finished well clear of all other Division I teams in the field, including defending state champion Salesianum.
Head coach Matt Lindell sees big things in the Vikings’ future.
“For them to go out and perform the way they did on Friday was definitely a positive step,” Lindell said. “We haven’t even started tapering yet, so I think they have a lot more time to drop before the season’s over. I’m excited to see where we go in the next three meets. The boys are definitely in contention in the conference and in contention for a state title.”
Sussex Academy finished a strong seventh in the girls’ field, as junior Katya Geyer clocked a quick time of 19:57 to take 16th individually and eighth-grader Jordan Blades ran 21:03 for 37th. Junior Riley Moriarty (45th, 21:17), freshman Taegan Forester (53rd, 21:43), senior Peyton Stanislav (80th, 22:37), senior Brianna Sordi (90th, 23:07) and senior Natalie Roblero Chavez (141st, 25:34) all scored varsity points.
The Cape girls took 11th as a team on the strength of sub-21 showings from senior Hailey Hassell (31st, 20:53) and freshman Allison Ortiz-Rivera (34th, 20:56). Also scoring were freshman Shiloh O’Grady (58th, 21:50), freshman Lindsay Hassell (73rd, 22:30) and freshman Claudia Stazzone (76th, 22:32). Junior Maya Yngve (82nd, 22:40) and senior Lucy Mongeluzo (115th, 24:02) rounded out the Vikings’ finishers.
“I told the girls at the beginning of the season that half our roster is freshmen,” Lindell said. “We have a ton of talent on the team, and the only disadvantage was that we needed experience. Our theme all year has just been chipping away. They’ve been chipping away, chipping away, and I think we’re heading into the postseason firing on all cylinders.”
Sussex Academy’s boys were led by senior Harrison Dabbs, who broke the tape in 18:18 to place 78th.
Freshman phenom Paige Ballinger of Padua, a transfer from Sussex Academy, cruised to the individual win in the girls’ race with an 18:08 clocking. The Pandas took the team title with ease.
Pizzaro’s 15:27 victory helped Tatnall to the boys’ team trophy.
