Cape cross country teams claim Henlopen North titles
The Cape cross country teams took on the Riders of Caesar Rodney and the Golden Knights of Sussex Central and came away 2-0 on both sides of the action to claim the Henlopen North title and move to 5-0 at a meet held at Sandhill Fields in Georgetown Oct. 9.
The Cape boys topped CR 25-30 and Sussex Central 15-48, while the Cape girls topped CR 23-37 and Sussex Central 18-45. Also racing in the meet was Sussex Tech and Polytech, making it a 200-plus athlete meet with five teams.
Elyse Fuller of Polytech was the only girl to break the 20-minute mark, racing across the line in 19:55.8. Morgan Thompson led CR with a second-place finish in 20:30.0. But the story of the meet was the Vikings, who put five runners in the top 10. They were led by a much-improved Hailey Hassell in a good time of 20:44.8. The senior put in a productive summer of training, and dividends are paying off as she has led the young Vikings all season. Young, talented freshman Allison Ortiz-Rivera ran the best race of the year, crossing the line in 21:10.8 for fourth place. Ava Brock of Sussex Central ran well to grab fifth in 21:25.3. Raegan Dawicki of CR was sixth in 21:27.1, while Cape freshman Shiloh O’Grady ran a super race of 21:37.6 for seventh overall. Junior Natalie Schneider ran well at 21:39.6 for Cape in eighth place, while young freshman Lindsay Hassell ran 21:40.0 for Cape. Bailey Fuller of Poly ran 21:47.4 to round out the top 10 finishers.
The Vikings currently have three freshman in their top five. Ortiz-Rivera and O’Grady are products of the Seashore Striders and have competed in many national championships in their younger years, as did the Stazzone duo of Riley and Claudia, who both did not compete at Sandhill Fields.
On the boys’ side of the action, junior Jason Baker led the Vikings as they put five runners in the top 10, while CR put five runners in the top 12, which proved to be the difference in the five-point team score margin. Baker went through the opening mile in 5:03 and remained consistent the whole race, powering through the finish in a time of 15:44.9 for the 33-second win. CR top man Griffin Spana ran 16:17 for second, while Andrew Radka had a huge race to move up to the Vikings’ second runner with a third-place finish in 16:39.9. Evan Easton of CR was fourth in 16:43.5, while Brayden Redd of Cape was fifth in 16:51.0. Jonathan Bush finished sixth in 17:10.5, while Nick Petito ran 17:11.2 to set a new freshman record for Cape. Charles Wissman ran 17:32.6 for eighth place for CR, while Owen Fay was ninth for Polytech in 17:38.7. Rounding out the top 10 was Josh Cohen of Cape in 17:52.1.
Middle school wrap
The Fred Thomas boys’ cross country team easily ran away from Beacon Middle by a 19-44 margin and were paced by Jude Peacock. Peacock, a strong eighth-grader, set a 3K Cape course record of 10:38, lowering the previous record of 10:15 set last year by Nick Petito.
Fine performances were also put in by Devin Silva in third place, Jack Hudson in fourth place and Brady Sherman who captured fifth place.
On the girls’ side, the Beacon team squeaked by Fred Thomas by a 29-30 score led by champion Emily Hilton in 12:24.9. Addison Farrell was second in 13:23.0, while MacKenzie Kupa was third in 13:41.8. Beacon was guaranteed the win with the top three finish. Tenley Hazzard led Fred Thomas in fourth place in 13:52, while Lezi Bryson was fifth, Abby Bryson was sixth and Amelia DiPaolo in seventh for Fred Thomas. Brandt Kuklish led Beacon with a second-place finish on the boys’ side in 11:25.6.
Mariner Middle traveled to Browns Branch County Park for the 2.092-mile course where the boys swept Laurel 15-50 and Milford 15-47. Mariner grabbed the top five in the race led by eighth-grade champion Dylan Harp in a Mariner course record of 12:29. Andrew Ockels was second in 13:35, while Owen Barron was third in 13:43. Mason Conran finished fourth in 13:48, while Noa Urrestarazu wrapped up the top five finishers in 13:59.
The Mariner girls had little trouble, earning a 15-50 win over both Laurel and Milford. Mariner’s Bree Terhune ran 14:50 to cruise to the win, while Stella Hastings ran 15:08 for second. Fiona Fisher finished third in 15:20, while Addie Dean was fourth in 17:09. Kinley Johnson rounded out the top five in 17:16.
Harris coaching Riders
One of the Riders’ assistant coaches came to say hello to me at the meet and it was one of the most exciting runners in Delaware history, Dover’s Bruce Harris. Harris ran anything from the 400 meters to the two-mile, but specialized in the 800 meters where he was ranked No. 1 in the country at 1:49.4. Harris set a record that stood for nearly 40 years before being broken last year. Harris battled the late Danny Harmon by routinely beating Danny in the 800 by taking him out in 51 seconds to run his kick out. In the mile, Danny had the leg speed at the end that Harris could not match. Danny went 4:17.3 to Harris’s 4:18. I beat Bruce once in my event, the 3,200 meters, where it was likely his fourth event of the day. Bruce is a great guy, former Delaware State Police member, and a competitor back in the day that has become a good friend today.
