By BUDDY HURLOCK
Staff reporter
10/22/2002

• AGE: 18

• SCHOOL: St. Mark's

• CLASS: Senior

• RESIDENCE: Newark

• ACCOMPLISHMENT: Won two statewide cross country meets last week, last Tuesday's University of Delaware Invitational at White Clay Creek State Park, and Friday's Bellevue Invitational at Bellevue State Park. Both courses are 3.1 miles. He won in 16 minutes, 24 seconds at White Clay, and 16:14 at Bellevue. Those are the best times this year at each course.

• MAKING ADJUSTMENTS ON THE FLY: Darlington came from behind at White Clay to win by 13 seconds. "The pack went out fast and [St. Mark's] hadn't raced in awhile. I didn't know if I wanted to go out fast, so I went out slow and tried to pick it up as much as I could in the last three-quarters mile." Pacing is his best asset. "Some kids," said coach Joe O'Neill, "have no idea how fast they are running. He's experienced enough to know."

• NO CLOSE CALLS: "I don't have that good of a kick," Darlington said. That means Darlington puts himself ahead by as much as possible for the end of the race,as he did at White Clay. "Down the stretch, when you hear the footsteps and the hard breathing behind you, you just pressure yourself. It can get nerve-racking, but I run with as much guts as I possibly can." O'Neill said Darlington is running much better this season, his fourth on varsity. "In the last couple years, he kind of flattened out toward the end of the season. This summer he lightened up a little bit [in training]," O'Neill said.

• THE DARLINGTON FILE: Placed 17th in last year's Division I state meet ... Wants to run in college but has yet to narrow down his college choices ... A representative on his school's student council.