By BUDDY HURLOCK
Staff reporter
11/04/2001

NEWARK -- A new string of county championships may have started for Salesianum School on Saturday.

Tommy Lord was one of a young Sallies group to win the 19th annual New Castle County High School Boys Cross Country Championship.

The junior won in 16 minutes, 43 seconds on the 3.1-mile course at White Clay Creek State Park.

Archmere's Peter McBride was second at 16:57, and the Auks' second-place team finish was the best in school history.

Salesianum won for the 16th time after placing second last year to St. Mark's to have a six-year run of titles ended.

After Lord, four other Sals finished no worse than 16th. They were juniors Ryan Hamill (third, 17:00), Mike Zeberkiewicz (fourth, 17:04) and P.J. Meany (12th, 17:19) and sophomore Sean DeCecchis (16th, 17:27).

Lord likes to pick up his pace at just the right moments.

"I like to go out really hard, and then really drop back," he said. "I don't think I'm that good at staying at a consistent pace."

Lord started passing runners on a hill one mile into the course.

"I was probably 30th [there] and at two miles probably 15th, and just starting pushing from there," Lord said.

After McBride, Archmere had four others in the top 30 - Jason Nister (15th, 17:25), Rich Heffron (18th, 17:28), Eric Longo (23rd, 17:35) and Mike Manlove (29th, 17:49).

St. Mark's was third as a team behind Zak Galladay (11th, 17:19).

A. I. du Pont had three runners in the top 15 to edge Middletown for fourth place, after finishing behind the Cavaliers last week in the Blue Hen Conference championship race on the same course.

The Tigers' Pete Roth (17:14) was eighth, followed by Kevin Lanigan (ninth, 17:15) and Steve Hakes (13th, 17:22).

Tower Hill's Carl Smith (17:04) was fifth overall.