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2000 CROSS COUNTRY ARCHIVES
WEEKLY REVIEWS
TOP TEN LISTS

YEAR IN REVIEW
PART 1: MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS
Another great season is in the books and many people deserve to be congratulated for making the year what it was.  We don't think it necessary to talk about all the top runners who have already received their due in the papers and so on.  They will be rightfully honored at the N5CTA banquet on December 6.  We start with the 395 varsity runners at States who did not get a medal, most of whom knew starting out that they had absolutely no chance of getting one. Add the 334 kids who ran in the JV races at the County Meet and enlarge our list to include all the JV runners from Kent and Sussex and all the others who, because of injury, couldn't run that day but came and cheered for their teammates. We approach 1000 XC runners in DE this year.  Maybe we should count those kids who came out for the team but for whatever reason quit before the end.  Why include them? ..... Simple, THEY ALL TRIED!!!  Some tried very hard to become better runners and some only tried a little but what percentage of high school students are even willing to try at all?  The number is very low.  Some rough estimates ..... StM (100/1550) 7%.... Archmere girls (30/200) 15% ... BRY (60/1200) 5%  SAL (60/1000) 6%  Many others less than 1%  (Please no calls or emails on these numbers, we said rough) The point is that our runners are willing to get out there and try to do something difficult ..... every single one of them.  They deserve credit for this and all the encouragement we can give them.  We, and by "we" I mean runners, coaches, parents, AD's, former runners and, basically, anyone interested enough to check out this website, need to keep on spreading the word.  We have a teriffic sport here and we want to get as many kids as possible involved.  One of life's toughest realities is that so many people are afraid to try things.  We are in a position to teach a very valuable lesson.   

Whew! Anybody still with me? Hope so.  What about coaches?  Are some better than others?  Are some more deserving of "Coach of the Year" honors than others? Do some have better "systems"? Are some more effective motivators?  No easy answers to these questions or to a lot of others you might have asked.  I've been privileged to meet, know and observe many fine coaches over the years and have come to realize that there is definitely no "ONE RIGHT WAY" to do things.  To me a "good" coach is one who gives their best every day, who has the best interests of the runners at heart and who creates an atmosphere in which the kids try hard and enjoy the experience.  Wins/Losses is not the best measure. Lots of coaches labor mightily at schools with little tradition and huge problems getting kids out for the team.  Others might be at schools with long histories of success where winning perpetuates itself and big numbers are assumed.  Most realistic "Coaches-of-the-Year"  know that many others certainly deserve the award at least as much as they do and properly credit their runners for the award.  I congratulate all our coaches on a job well done this year.
Lastly for now, what about parents?  At a time when we hear about atrocious behavior on the part of parents at many youth sports events (PeeWee football parent rumble at Villanova yesterday with 100+ involved)  I'm happy to say that I'm glad to be involved with parents who seem to understand what being supportive is all about.  Many parents are almost delusional regarding their kids abilities.  I am Guidance Counselor for 9th graders at school and this week got call from three parents whose child got cut from basketball, hoping I could help them overcome the "devastation" they felt when they got the news.  They genuinely were shocked that the coaches involved (not me thankfully, retired from BBall again) failed to recognize the "outstanding ability" they saw in their own children.  They hinted that perhaps "politics" were involved and talked down other kids who had made the team.  My own kids played a lot of sports and I can sympathize with these ordinarily very nice people who called me but I couldn't help thinking of the contrast with Cross Country.  The parents in our sport are almost never anything but realistic about their own kids abilities.  Those stopwatches don't lie (even though John Lannutti might think other peoples' don't work quite as well as his on occasion).  Knowing where a runner fits into the scheme of things frees a mom or dad up to cheer appreciatively for kids who are better and cheer encouragingly for others who aren't quite as good as their own.  Nobody thinks that the coach shows favoritism or that politics are involved and a generally positive atmosphere exists at XC meets that is very rare in sports.  We know there are no benchwarmers in XC and someone told me once that our sport is the most democratic of them all in that the slowest runners got to play much more in any race than the fastest kids.  That's one way of looking at things but I do feel that kids' sports in our country are heading in the wrong direction ...... but NOT XC.  I think our sport sets an example of what it should, and still could, be like.

Enough for now ..... will write more soon .... "Most" Awards

FLASH  (From Rob Perciful) Four Seaford High School Cross Country runners, Junior Seth Elder, freshman Brian Lloyd, freshman Andrew Perciful, and freshman Caitlin McGroerty, have qualified to run in the USATF Cross Country National Championship Meet in
Reno, Nevada, by placing in the top twenty in their age group at the Region 2
Meet in Buffalo, NY.  The runners had to compete during a snow storm and with
a foot of snow on the ground.  The good people of the Niagara Association  had
cleared a path for the runners, and while the times were definitly affected,
all competed very well.  Brian Lloyd placed 10th in the Intermediate (15-16)
Boys race, Seth Elder was 12th in the same group,
Andrew Perciful was 14th in the Youth (13-14) Boys, and Caitlin McGroerty was
14th in the Youth Girls.  All four will go to Reno December 7th to compete in
the race held Dec. 9th
WEEK IN REVIEW
(10/30 - 11/4)
Tons of action this week as the various conferences and counties determined their championship teams and individuals.  Monday saw the 21st renewal of the Girls Catholic Conference (started 1980, one year before DSSAA recognized an official state meet for girls).  St. Mark's won as expected but not by much as Ursuline and Padua ran very well.  The remarkable Colleen Taylor (UA) won easily and will be All Catholic for the 4th time.  They should retire her number at Ursuline.  In the Boys All Catholic meet at Bellevue on the same day St. Mark's knocked off Sallies and Archmere (with only 3 teams, not an official league) ..... Tuesday was busy ... in the DISC (Delaware Independent Schools Conf) meet at Tatnall's flat course Westtown Pa School won both boys and girls meets convincingly ..... Hancock of Sanford won the boys race and Meredith Lambert continued her rampage with another easy victory .... not sure why Westtown in DISC since they are from PA but know they've been in it for many years ..... with no football, they used to be a powerhouse and would occasionally send "B"team to DISC meet ...... St. Andrew's second in both ..... Downstate CR boys won the Kent County Meet but individual honors went to Mike Gleeson of Lake Forest who blazed through the trees at Blackbird Forest in 17:03 .... Whitton 2nd and Gordineer surprising 4th ... Dover boys show signs of life with a solid 3rd place finish..... Lena Ewing and Holly Wilson led Lake to victory over CR in the girls event despite big efforts from the Codner sisters .... Jessi Rivera won the race in 19:48 ...... Seaford swept the Sussex County meet with hard fought wins over Cape Henlopen ..... Seaford's girls 60 sec 1 to 5 spread impressive ..... boys 63 sec spread equally impressive .... Blue Jays Seth Elder and Jennifer Willis individual winners .......
New Castle County Championships
Saturday was cool and breezy at "The Creek" as 23 Girls teams and 22 boys teams lined up with County honors at stake ..... Brandywine Girls put their top five in the top 20 and beat runner-up St. Mark's by 42 points .... Ursuline nipped Padua for third ... Meredith Lambert won again over Colleen Taylor who hung with her a long way ..... St. Mark's boys (1-2-7-8-21) looked strong as did runner-up Salesianum ..... one to go .... Spartans Kyle Berseth and Chris Coyne ran rare but not unprecedented (Sallies 1-2-3 '95 @White Clay) 1-2 from same school ..... Tom Lord (Sals, 14th) and Erin Lord (Pad, 19th) first brother/sister combo to make All County same year? St. Mark's (girls) and Sallies (boys) won JV battles .... 225 guys in JV race.....Steve Blanco led Middletown to solid 3rd place finish
Henlopen Conference Championships @ Killen's ..... Matt Gordineer's 16:20 was the 5th fastest ever time by Delaware runner at Killen's as he more than made up for Tuesday's loss in Kent meet ..... Caesar Rodney boys win over LF and Seaford girls make themselves legit threat  for State Div2 title with strong showing in very competitive meet .... Milford's Jessi Rivera  won her second big race of the week  ..... VERY FAST times @ Killen's in this meet 
MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS
Thanks to Bill Thompson for quick response to question about modified scoring ..... more info next week ...... can there be a course in the USA slower than Brandywine Creek?  .... many kids ran their best races of the year Saturday and recorded their slowest times? ..... thanks to the coaches who helped meet director Kevin Kelly run a nice meet .... FYI --- PROCEDURE FOR SELECTING ALL STATE TEAMS .... hopefully to cut down on potential misunderstandings: On Monday night after state meet committee made up of coaches representing entire state will convene to select team  .... top 15 times (Div1 and 2 combined) at States guaranteed spot on all state .... coaches vote on where each runner is placed and select remaining 6 runners ..... top 7 time does not necessarily mean First team etc. questions? contact me ..... hope to do State Meet Preview later this week .... 

WEEK IN REVIEW
October 22 - October 28

This week saw the end of the dual meet portion of the season and the beginning of the most exciting time of year .... CHAMPIONSHIP TIME. The big news early in the week was the announcement that Cape Henlopen would replace Polytech in Division 1 this year for both XC and Track.  The Vikings will benefit long-term from this move but they are undoubtedly glad it didn't happen last year when they recorded the impressive sweep of Div 2 XC Honors .... DSSAA had to wait for school districts to submit attendance figures to State Board of Educ. before assignments could be made and one large upstate district took three weeks to get theirs together ... On Tuesday just about all the upstate action was at Lum's Pond as a number of  Blue Hen squads ran together ..... Brandywine girls officially recorded their SEVENTH straight Flight A title with a win over Glasgow ..... Elsewhere, AJ Woods emerging as leader for Dickinson Boys as is Tasha Frisby for Charter girls ..... Kristen Sands led Wm Penn Girls to their first victory of the year   ..... Caesar Rodney won both boys and girls Henlopen Conference titles with victories over Laurel and Sussex Tech on Wednesday .... Henlopen Conference Girls meet will be hotly contested ... St. Mark's girls defeated Ursuline at White Clay to take upper hand in Catholic Conference .... Conf. Meet on Monday (Champ decided by point system , 2 for dual win, 4-3-2-1 for finish at Conference meet) .... Sallies knocked St. Mark's boys from unbeaten ranks with gutty 27-30 win at White Clay as top 11 runners finished within 56 seconds.... soph Sean Gambogi major factor for Sals as were Kevin Winchell and consistent senior Tom Hunt .... 3 more battles loom
BLUE HEN MEET Middletown boys took boys meet title with great pack attack (45 Sec spread 1 to 5) .... Matt Ayars (3rd) led the Cavaliers .... Austin Knight racked up another major win while Newark teammates Bowser and Wilcox ran 2-7 .... Brandywine girls really tightening up and dominated field with score of 29 which would almost have won dual meet (in fact "Dogs 2-3-5-6-13 = 29, rest of field 1-4-7-8-9 =29, field wins on 6th place tiebreaker) .... special congratulations to individual champ Jill Brobst  (Concord) .... always great to see girls who struggle after outstanding frosh-soph years come through big as seniors .... solid AI squads second in both races
MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS
Tower Hill girls 25-27 victory over Wilm Christian Tuesday raises some technical questions .... WCS had only 2 runners finish as Singer and Arce went 1-2 while TH's five runners took remaining places for their 25 points .... WCS got 12888 for 27 ... can this be the right way to score this meet? Realize coaches followed National Federation guidelines but think these rules need to be reviewed .... will check with Bill Thompson ... possible old fogey syndrome at work but don't like new rules which allow incomplete teams to score .... where did this come from?  ... we also wonder if it will ever get cool?...   had to be record hot days this October .... still looking for photographer ..... call or email me .... don't need a pro, interested amateur will do nicely .... still hoping for full results from UD, Sallies and Blue Hen meets ... by the way, would be happy to post any photos you've got of your team in action ..... attach to email and send them

(OCT 15 - 0CT 21)

Suddenly it seems we are into the final stages of the season ..... Many conference races were decided this past week while others have crucial showdowns still to come  GIRLS: BLUE HEN B ... Charter School of Wilm. won their first ever conference title in a big showdown with runner up Middletown at BCSP on Wednesday .... the 2-3-4 depth of Smith, Frisby and Smith offset a nice win by Sam Nimmerichter as the Cavs suffered their first loss of season ..... Congrats to Coach Kelly and his squad ........... BLUE HEN A ... Those Brandywine Bulldogs clinched  their 3rd (at least) consecutive title with a win over McKean at Brandywine Springs .... dependable Jenn Kutney led the winners to their 28th dual meet win in a row over the last 3 years .... 
CATHOLIC CONF .... Still up in air .... Wed's St. Mark's - Ursuline matchup will decide ... if Spartans win they will be 4-0 .... if Raiders come out on top - 3way tie with Padua all at 3-1 ... Conference meet has potential impact on deciding winner
HENLOPEN .... very competitive conference remains up in air but CR still in driver's seat despite losing Jill Hajec .... lost to Cape on Wed and have Sussex Tech and Laurel left .... should still finish 9-1 .... Seaford could wind up 9-1 but lost to CR earlier making CR champs 
INDEPENDENT .... very little info available but Westtown School beat St.Andrews' in close one in M'town this week
BOYS: BLUE HEN B ... Bill Dubois' Middletown team went 2-3-4-5-6-7 to clinch title over previously-undefeated Charter in reverse of girls' result .... pack as usual deciding factor ... consistent Dentil-Post and Ayars led their teams once again
BLUE HEN A  .... Newark went undefeated in Flight A and actually clinched title way back in first meet of year when they knocked off the AI Tigers at BCSP .....  congrats to new head Coach Mooney 
HENLOPEN .... Caesar Rodney nipped Cape 27-28 in battle of unbeatens at Killen's on Wed and will win title if they handle S. Tech and Laurel this week. Gordineer and Whitten led the way ..... Coach Bell's teams are always in the picture
INDEPENDENT .... appears to be between Sanford, Westtown and St.Andrew's
ELSEWHERE  .... some odds and ends ..... congrats to Delcastle girls and William Penn boys who won their first meets of the year .... Sallies finished 8th in Boys Eastern State Championships in NY Sat 

BELLEVUE INVITATIONAL
St. Mark's boys used 18 second spread 1-5 to win easily .... Austin Knight got away from Chris Coyne late and racked up a nice win .... WCS's Chris Lucernoni nipped Kyle Berseth for 3rd and Spartans Mike Lahm, Chad Darlington and Brian Gladnick went 5-6-7 .... AI and Archmere both looked good and have improved steadily since September .... Sallies' "B" team acquitted itself well finishing 4th
Brandywine girls fended off perennial rival St. Mark's 51-61 with another outstanding team performance ..... impressed to see former state champ Abby Nerlinger giving it everything she's got for the team ...   What else can we say about Meredith Lambert?  She crushed course record by 13 seconds and made it look easy .... potential best ever in Delaware? ..... impressive freshmen Carly Anderson (AI), Becky Grey (StE), Beth Meany (Pad) and Amy Mallamo (Mlf) went 10-11-12-13 .... 
 MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS
 Anyone out there interested in a job? Would like to recruit official N5CTA Website photographer..... no pay, much gratitude .... would have to hustle around and get interesting shots from different perspectives at Conference, County and State meets ...picture taking and managing remains a struggle but have some from Bellevue to get up eventually .... appreciate job Cathy Culnane has done to date but know she'd rather take her own pix .... let me know ..... still waiting for Division alignments from DSSAA .... hope it's not like 1971 when we went to meet at Polly Drummond thinking Div2 like year before only to be told by legendary Bill Crowthers "oh no, You're Division I"  .... thanks to all Sports Club volunteers at Bellevue on Friday especially to Jack "Sharpshooter" McVey who alertly fired that recall shot in Boys' Varsity race.

(OCT 8 - 0CT 14)

Tuesday and Wednesday were welcome cool days and times fell all over the state.  Sallies started it off Tuesday with a shutout of # 3  Middletown at Bellevue with a tight 42 second spread from 1 to 5 .... The Cavaliers, in turn, used a 46 sec. 1 through 7 pack to defeat Howard and Concord ..... St. Mark's and Newark boys significantly rearranged the White Clay Honor Roll in  a hard-fought Spartan win .... Middletown's girls stayed undefeated with victories over Howard and Concord ...  Both Charter teams knocked off Hodgson to stay undefeated in Flight B as well ... St. Mark's girls looked solid in Cath. Con. win over Padua at White Clay in a meet which, unofficially, produced the fastest 10th place dual meet time in DE this season so far (22:49)  .... Wednesday saw Newark come right back and win the tradition steeped Christina Cup with easy wins over District mates Glasgow and Christiana but the real fireworks were downstate as a number of top 10 teams clashed in a series of tri and quad meets .... details sketchy but Gordineer (17:12) and Whitten (17:26) led CR over Seaford 27-28 at KiIllen's ... interestingly, Lake Forest beat Seaford 24-32 in the same quad meet but were not scoring vs CR .... # 9 Cape boys cruised past Milford and Polytech and anticipate showdown later against the Riders .... things got very interesting on girls side as CR (#6) nipped # 4 Seaford thanks to Kashante Codner's 20:52  and sister's 21:55 also at Killen's .... Seaford defeated #7 Lake Forest 27-28 ..... these rivalries are intense and are far from being settled ..... Friday's U of Delaware Invitational at White Clay produced predictable winners as Brandywine girls  and Salesianum both looked very sharp ...... Matt Gordineer capped big week (victory at Tidewater Classic, Salisbury last Thurs) with 14 sec win over ironman Austin Knight (Tu,We,Fri races @WC) Tom Hunt and Kevin Winchell led the Sals .... Meredith Lambert continues to be in class by herself, winning in 19:03 .... Kimmi Lopata's 10th place sparked the Bulldogs ... AI girls mild surprise with nice 2nd place showing .... no Hajec???? ....hope to eventually be able to publish full results ... Saturday light action but St Mark's and Cape Henlopen went to NYC for Manhattan College Invitational.  The Spartan Varsity Boys finished 5th in their race behind Bishop Hendriken RI (#20 Nationally), Eastern NJ (LF Inv winner and #4 NJ)  out of 35 teams  Berseth and Coyne 13:36 and 13:41 led the way on 2.5 mile course .... Jacki Justison 15th in 16:33 to lead girls ..... first 75 in each of 30+ races get medals !!!  

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS
About this time of year coaches and runners start trying to compute what times on one course would equal on another, e.g what would a 21:48 at BC translate  to at Bellevue? White Clay?  Would like to hear different coaches (or anyone's really) thoughts on this matter .... email me and we'll try to gather a consensus.  Bellevue Invitational Friday next big event ..... Stay tuned  

WEEK IN REVIEW
Week 9/30 to 10/7
Very hot and humid week did produce some interesting meets ..... Tuesday saw Padua edge out Ursuline with a strong team effort at Bellevue.  Erin Lord broke up a potentially unsurmountable Taylor sister 1-2 while the Episcopo sisters  helped the Pandas greatly with their 6-8 finishes .....Padua meets St. Mark's this Tuesday at White Clay in a meet with big Catholic Conf repercussions .. Wilm Christian boys knocked off Tatnall and Caravel to go 8-0 and would have a real shot at the Delaware dual meet victories in a season record if anyone ever kept that particular record ..... Sophs Gambogi, Meany and Zeberkiewicz led #2 Sallies to victory over #4 Newark at White Clay despite winner Knight's 17:34 .... new "Jacket philosophy of taking on all comers (vs. St.Mark's this Tues @WC, going to Sals Inv. etc. will pay off down the road) ... #6 Seaford Girls won a close one at Chapel Branch over Henlopen Rival Cape and are shaping up as a very solid squad (more later re :Sals Inv showing) Willis and McGroerty (daughter of former Sals Harrier) went 1-2 ..... on Wed AI's boys team led by Hakes and Lanigan had nice win over B'wine at the Creek .... Thomas More Academy had first ever victory (I think) over no less than Division 1 Polytech in girls action .... Both Charter boys and girls continued undefeated with wins over Concord and Tatnall at BCSP on Thursday (7-0, 4-0) boys, as usual, were led by Colin Dentil - Post  
Salesianum Invitational
Perfect day for great meet, nice and cool if maybe a little windy ..... no ambulances or helicopters needed to take off the wounded like last year .... Mike Hart and Ralph Heiss and many volunteers including the Delaware Sports Club did a fine job.  
GIRLS C RACE: It sure is nice to watch people who are really good at something do their thing and Julia Pudlin is certainly in that category .... she smashed the course record by 30+ secs and looked very strong doing it ... she burst on the national scene 2 weeks ago with a 3rd place finish at  The Great American Cross Country Festival in Charlotte (see Dyestat for details) and is suddenly one of the top 20 HS girls in US ... says BCSP "by far" toughest course she's ever run .... Tatnall's Meredith Lambert clearly top Del Girl with outstanding 19:49 (2nd fastest overall) ... Ursuline solid 3rd place led by Colleen Taylor's 5th place (21:00) .... Jessi Rivera 9th in 21:31 .... WCS very pleased with 2 in top 20, Lydia Singer and Liz Arce
GIRLS B RACE: Brandywine's  outstanding team effort brought home victory over some very good teams .... ran 3-9-16-17-32... Hilary Taylor, Lopata and Vincent came up huge on a day when Bulldogs definitely brought their "A"game .... Seaford says "we're for real" with great 4th place showing .... Padua  got tee-shirts with a nice 5th place  ... Sam Nimmerichter (15th) big surprise for Middletown ... AI over Cape by 8 on pretty good day for both teams ... Jill Brobst 13th in another gutty race 
GIRLS A RACE: Race dominated by out-of-state teams as North Penn wins another one .... St. Mark's girls will profit from tough competition and 6th place big improvement over '99 ... Jacki Justison 21:58
BOYS C RACE: Wilm Christian happy with 5th place and two top 20 guys, Lucernoni and Reybould ... Rich Heffron (Archmere) continues to get better (7th,18:10) ... Tatnall's Kershner got medal with 19th place finish
BOYS B RACE:  Ben Stern of Georgetown Day School won this in day's fastest 16:30 ... St. Mark's victorious with strong pack and very good runs by Kyle Berseth and Chris Coyne (17:33, 17:44 best 2 Delaware times of day) .... Newark with 3 in top 20 (Knight, Bowser and Wilcox) impressive  as were Hakes and Lanigan of AI ... Middletown 6th led by Wilber in 18th
BOYS A RACE: Sallies a solid 6th in this very tough competition .... team is healing and heading in right direction (no details on times available yet but, unofficially, Charlie Dielmann 17:55) 
MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS
Brandywine Creek SP is a Delaware treasure and a very beautiful spot with a great XC tradition.  Do we know anyone in Delaware Government who could facilitate getting sorely needed improvements to certain parts of course?  The trail by the Brandywine River is absolutely dangerous to runners because of exposed rocks and roots and has been for a long time.  The Park Rangers tolerate our using their park for big meets and claim no interest in the financial windfall they receive.  We would like the State to do whatever it takes to IMPROVE these trails permanently and think it appropriate to pay for the work out of huge gate and concession profits from big XC meets.  Enough soapbox ..... Did you know we have a new league in Delaware HS sports?  The Diamond State Conference will stage first ever Championships this year in XC featuring charter members Archmere, Caravel, St. Thomas More Academy, Red Lion Christian, and Wilmington Christian.  ... JV awards great @ Sals Inv .... almost as good as for varsity with top 5 teams getting greatly desired "I conquered creek" T-Shirts .... money well spent!  ... congrats to media man Marshall Manlove for cleaning up those message boards on his Delawaresports.com  website ...way too nasty...     more later including "Top 10 Things Overheard At Sallies Invitational"  

Week 4 (9/24 - 9/30)
Somewhat quiet week with no shakeups in the Top 10.  Monday and Tuesday were mostly washed out .... Wednesday was full slate of action .... Jill Hajec (20:05)  fended off biggest downstate challenger Jessica Rivera (20:45) of Milford at Brecknock .... Riders keep winning ... Newark girls edged McKean at White Clay 28 - -29 thanks to big efforts of 5th and 6th runners Gregory and Marceau .... Ursuline and Padua both won Catholic Conference matches and will meet this Tuesday at Bellevue  .... Last 2 St. Elizabeth runners delayed by train at Canby in XC rarity ... Brandywine continues unbeaten with win over Christiana ... Both Seaford teams roughed up some MD Eastern Shore opponents in a 6 team meet in Berlin, MD .... 3 Seaford boys sub 17 !!! ... Austin Knight (17:29) leads unbeaten "Jackets over McKean despite strong runs by Bennett and Tuoni ...     Saturday was unusually quiet because it was a rare 5th Sat in Sept. but Sallies visited traditional Philly Catholic League power Archbishop Wood and won easily on a course that historically is pretty fast ..... tight 41 second spread for top 7 .... Winchell debuts, Dielmann ? ..... Everybody looking forward to Sallies Inv next Saturday .... maybe finally get some fast times at good old BCSP ..... Coaches, let me know what's happening.  

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS
Does everyone realize that the Division assignments for this year's XC Championships haven't been determined as yet ...... always based on Sept 30 student count for current year .... expect official word soon but wouldn't it be nice to know at start of season .... rumors abound but hottest one has Brandywine dropping to Div2 .... hope not true .... what exactly would you do if train came right in middle of race at Canby? ... wonder if old-timers are ready for a quiz on Delaware Scholastic history?  check out below .... 

WEEK 3 (9/17 - 9/23)
The week started out soggy courtesy of Hurricane Gordon with only a tri meet at Westtown getting in the books..... Wilmington Christian knocked off the hosts as well as Archmere who had edged them at LFI ..... Wednesday was a big day with a full schedule .... Track star Danielle Bailey led Christiana to a close victory over Delcastle and seems to get better each meet .... Boys highlight was # 4 Newark's 27-28 win over #9 Brandywine at BCSP .... Austin Knight won and continues to impress .... #3 Sallies looked healthier in a win over #5 AI at White Clay's new course which is drawing favorable comments (except for start) ..... new Tower Hill girls coach Bob Rutkowski must have felt a little conflicted as his Hillers edged out old team St Elizabeth's at Canby ..... unfortunately no boys team at St. E's this year ..... newcomers Caravel opened their season with loss to Middletown at Lum's ..... Lake Forest, Seaford and Cape rolled on in downstate girls action ..... St. Mark's looked solid in wins over Archmere at Bellevue on Thursday .... weather much better than on Wed ..... Jacki Justison impressive 20:10 for the Spartans ..... Friday perfect day for Middletown Invitational at Lum's as Meredith Lambert of Tatnall set course record with sizzling 19:23  (won by 3 min., 7 sec).... Charter girls upset hosts led by improving Smith sisters while Middletown's boys won handily with 5 in top 10 ..... Andrew Scapitti of Hodgson winner in 17:32 .... Local team results a little sketchy from Bulldog Invit. in Media on Sat. but Charlie Dielmann not letting broken wrist (with cast) bother him, 13th large school race, 16:43.....  Colleen Taylor 12th (small Girls) 19:52 ..... Kutney and Sanchez 13th, 16th 20:17, 20:21  

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS

Delaware Cross Country coaches and runners have to be the only athletes on the planet who have to pay to get into their own contests.  ...... Check out new and/or improved websites at Thomas More Academy, Glasgow, Milford and Caesar Rodney... go to ours Links section ..... new setup at White Clay might be more spectator friendly.... hope so .....   Coach Lantz recovering nicely from surgery and is learning how to sprint-hobble ..... should be ready for Old Timers Race ...... stay tuned.... 

WEEK 2
LAKE FOREST INVITATIONAL
the 43rd Annual Lake Forest Invitational was one of the best editions, graced with great weather and strong fields.  Junior Meredith Lambert of Tatnall ran the fastest time of the day (19:12) in winning the Varsity Girls Small Schools race.  This race was much deeper (20 teams) than the large school race (12 teams) and more competitive .....Ursuline strong 2nd with Colleen Taylor and frosh sister Julie under 21:00 ......Lake, Seaford and Cape separated by scant 4 points in 3rd, 4th, 5th........In Girls Large School Race,  St. Mark's close pack  (1-5, 44 sec) overcame Brandywine's strong under-21 top 2,Jenn Kutney and Frosh Alison Sanchez .....CR's Jill Hajec picked up where she left off last year with an easy victory..... CR also got top 15 finishes from transfer Codner sisters.... AI newcomer Anderson impressive 5th as was Newark frosh Spence in 6th....Padua (without Erin Lord) solid 4th with Frosh Meany 14th.... The Boys Small School Race looked like a dual meet between Georgetown Prep and Octorara for a while......Archmere surprised mildly with solid 3rd place..... Wilm Christian could have used a race before LF but will improve off good 4th place effort ...... good things happening at Dickinson who got 5th and had nice boys numbers .... Eastern's Mike Meyers shattered course record in Boys Large School Race and is favored to win Jersey State individual title ...... St. Mark's very solid with all 7 under 18 ..... Kyle Berseth easily fastest Delaware time of day (16:38) ......Sals (no Winchell, Dielmann, Hunt, Bott) are very banged up but will figure a way .... Austin Knight of Newark nice 4th place finish (Del 2nd fastest) missed teammate DeFranco injured at Creek on WedWEEK 1

.....AND THEY'RE OFF!
OPENING WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
Many teams got underway with dual meets on Friday 9/8 or in a scattering of Invitationals on Saturday 9/9......hot weather was the norm both days.....most meets on Friday went according to form the exception being #7 CR girls tight win over #5 LF at Bredmount Park (new course?)...Hajec in form with 20:39, newcomer Codner 21:57.....cupboard not bare at CR....just 1st chapter CR vs LF....upstate teams envious of fast downstate times.....Both Brandywine squads deep and impressive vs MtP at Bellevue.....Hodgson Boys looked good vs WP at Lum's ....Scarpitti's  17:54 fastest NCCo time of day......Charter School looks strong, deep .....Sallies strong 6th in 30+ team field at Allentown PA.....Charlie Dielmann outstanding (17:04).....St. Mark's Boys win at Goucher in Baltimore over decent 15 team field on a course that is at least 400 meters long.....Kyle Berseth individual champ (17:43)......Padua and St. Mark's girls looked good on very hot day.
PS...Hope to do this weekly.....Coaches, give me info!

NUMBER 1

No Winners ! Possibly overestimated interest in old stuff .... won't be discouraged though ... Stay tuned for Kent _ Sussex version.  Somebody out there must know nickname for Redding ..... ask your grandfathers!  Thanks to  Dave Thomas of Dickinson For LL Redding "Knights"