By JEFF GLUCK
Special to The News Journal
10/13/2001

NEWARK -- Shortly after Meredith Lambert crossed the finish line Friday afternoon at the University of Delaware High School Invitational Cross Country meet, the assembled spectators began looking around.

Ten seconds went by. Twenty seconds. Thirty. Finally, one parent asked, "Where's everyone else?"

Lambert won the girls varsity 5K race at White Clay Creek State Park by more than 40 seconds with a time of 19 minutes, 34.69 seconds.

But for Lambert, a Tatnall senior, this was just another day in the park.

"I think last year I did this course in 19:03," she said. "I'm not saying I'm disappointed or anything. I just thought it would be a little cooler today."

Lambert's race didn't seem to be affected by the heat - or anything else.

Second-place finisher Jessica Leitch of Brandywine recorded a time of 20:14.80, while teammate Jenn Kutney came in third in 20:26.32.

"I'm always aware of other people, like Jessica and Jenn," Lambert said. "But I usually just run to do my best and not worry about the other runners."

Despite Lambert's victory, Brandywine won the team title with 50 points.

St. Mark's took second place with a score of 61, while Padua finished third with 109 points. Ursuline (179) and Seaford (185) rounded out the top five.

With 118 girls in the race, the meet attracted a lot of parents and family members who stood along much of the course, cheering and yelling. But Lambert said that was more of a distraction.

"I like it when there are less people," she said. "I don't really think the cheering motivates me. I just like to run by myself. I don't like it when people see me in agony."

A.I. du Pont's Jaclyn Reifschneider came in fourth with a time of 20:36.36, followed by Dickinson's Brittany Turner (20:44.27), Seaford's Caitlin McGroerty (20:52.81) and Jacki Justison of St. Mark's (20:56.10).

Lydia Singer of Wilmington Christian took eighth place (21:01.28), while Mandy Hewes of St. Mark's (21:12.86) and Padua's Janet Cleary (21:21.52) completed the top 10.

By JEFF GLUCK
Special to The News Journal
10/13/2001

NEWARK -- As the starting gun sounded, 116 boys from 17 Delaware high schools took off in a sea of colors.

From green to maroon to blue, individual uniform hues were hard to determine at the beginning of the University of Delaware High School Invitational Cross Country Meet on Friday.

But at the end, the multi-colored spectacle had dwindled to one. Two streaks of yellow flashed by as Tommy Lord crossed finish line.

Lord's yellow Salesianum School uniform accounted for one. His puffy, bleached hair accounted for the other.

Lord led the Sals to the boys team title at White Clay Creek State Park. Salesianum swept the three top spots.

Lord recorded a time of 16 minutes, 57.99 seconds in the 5K race, while P.J. Meany (17:03.43) and freshman Mike Zeberkiewicz (17:04.52) stormed in right behind him for Salesianum.

"I've never felt so good after a race," Lord said. "I like the course. The rolling hills are a lot of fun."

The Sals won easily with just 26 points, while second-place Archmere had 123. St. Mark's just missed Archmere's score with a 124, while Dover (130) and Newark (150) rounded out the top five.

Sallies' total time was 1:25:52, nearly four minutes better than Archmere's second-place 1:29:32.

Lord said the high number of competing teams was slightly intimidating at first.

"There were so many people ahead of me at the beginning," he said. "I said to myself, 'Aw, man, I'm going to have to catch them.' But I gave it my all and I caught them."

Archmere's Rich Heffron, who took fourth place with a time of 17:12.42, was followed closely by St. Mark's Chad Darlington (17:13.54) and Tatnall's Kyle Kershner (17:13.98).

Chad Carpenter of Milford took seventh place with a time of 17:15.54, and was tailed by Dover's Charles Gibson (17:16.73) and the Sals' Sean DeCecchis (17:19.54).

St. Mark's Zak Golladay rounded out the individual top 10.