By BUDDY HURLOCK
Staff reporter
10/16/2002

NEWARK -- A high temperature of 59 degrees brought no complaints - and plenty of good times - from the cross country runners at the University of Delaware Invitational on Tuesday at White Clay Creek State Park.

Salesianum School turned in a decisive boys win, while Brandywine won a tight girls race with Padua and Tower Hill.

"This is my favorite course in the state. It's not flat like Bellevue and it's not crazy hilly like Brandywine Creek," said Ryan Hamill, one of four Sallies runners in the top seven.

"This was the best competition all year. The times were really great and conditions were ideal," said Hamill, who placed third on the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes, 38 seconds.

St. Mark's senior Chad Darlington rallied over the last half-mile to win in 16:24, followed by Tatnall's Kyle Kershner (16:37).

Salesianum had four of the next five runners: Hamill, P.J. Meany (16:40), Tom Lord (16:47) and Mike Zeberkiewicz (16:48). All seven of the Sals' runners were in the top 26.

Sallies won with 38 points, with Archmere a distant second at 104. St. Mark's (113) was third.

The Brandywine girls beat Padua for the first time this season. Brandywine's Jessica Leitsch (19:15) won by more than 25 seconds.

Then came the close finish. Among the top 20 runners, 13 were from Brandywine, Padua or Tower Hill.

The Pandas had five runners in the top 20. But Brandywine's finish of 1-6-13-18-23 made for 61 points. Padua scored 70 (2-12-17-19-20).

Third-place Tower Hill (104) had four runners in the top 15, but its fifth runner finished far back.

"Padua is top competition, everyone knows that. But we've been running well and we're determined," Leitsch said.

The races were not split into divisions based on school size.

Brandywine's Anna Brousell (20:40) was sixth and Ali Sanchez (21:15) 13th.

"It was a great running day, weather-wise, and I think the girls were a little disappointed after the last couple invitationals," Brandywine coach Michele Flanigan said. "The hot weather has been brutal on everybody. This was a perfect running day and the girls were just up for it. They were excited and that made the difference."

Padua's Samantha Lichtner was second by less than a half-second after she sprinted past Alexis I. du Pont's Jackie Reifschneider in the last 20 yards. Both posted a time of 19:41. Tower Hill had the next two finishers, Lisa Klein (19:57) and Sara Casscells (20:28).

Reach Buddy Hurlock at 324-2807 or bhurlock@delawareonline.com.

University of Delaware Invitational
At White Clay Creek State Park. 3.1 miles.

BOYS

Team: 1-Salesianum 38, 2-Archmere 104, 3-St. Mark's 113, 4-Newark 128, 5-Tatnall 158, 6-Charter 170, 7-Dover 192, 8-Middletown 237, 9-Brandywine 241, 10-Milford 257, 11-Wilmington Christian 316, 12-Hodgson 390, 13-A.I. du Pont 392, 14-Mount Pleasant 413, 15-Delcastle 419, 16-William Penn 447, 17-Polytech 460, 18-Tower Hill 462, 19-Sanford 549, 20-Christiana 549, 21-Friends 562, 22-Glasgow 631. Incomplete: St. Elizabeth.

Individual: 1-Chad Darlington (SM) 16:24, 2-Kershner (Tat) 16:37, 3-Hamill (Sals) 16:38, 4-Meany (Sals) 16:40, 5-Gibson (Dov) 16:42, 6-Lord (Sals) 16:47, 7-Zeberkiewicz (Sals) 16:48, 8-Wilcox (N) 16:50, 9-Blanco (Mid) 16:52, 10-McBride (Arch) 16:57, 11-Carpenter (Mil) 16:59, 12-Bourke (Arch) 17:07, 13-Worley (Dov) 17:08, 14-Hickey (Char)17:10, 15-Brown (Tat) 17:12.

GIRLS

Team: 1-Brandywine 61, 2-Padua 70, 3-Tower Hill 104, 4-Charter 155, 5-Middletown 159, 6-St. Mark's 160, 7-Archmere 164, 8-Newark 173, 9-Ursuline 176, 10-A.I. du Pont 280, 11-Dover 298, 12-Mount Pleasant 343, 13-Milford 349, 14-Christiana 356, 15-Sanford 411, 16-Polytech 484. Incomplete: Delcastle, Friends, Glasgow, Hodgson, St. Elizabeth, Tatnall, William Penn, Wilmington Christian.

Individual: 1-Jessica Leitsch (B) 19:15, 2-Lichtner (Pad) 19:41, 3-Reifschneider (AI) 19:41, 4-Klein (TH) 19:57, 5-Casscells (TH) 20:28, 6-Brousell (B) 20:40, 7-Kelly (TH) 20:44, 8-Feister (Mid) 20:44, 9-Spadaro (SM) 20:57, 10-Hacker (Arch) 21:12, 11-Taylor (U) 21:13, 12-McCaffrey (Pad) 21:15, 13-Sanchez (B) 21:15, 14-Spence (N) 21:31, 15-Pike (TH) 21:37.

The News Journal/WILLIAM BRETZGER

Brandywine's Jessica Leitsch heads to a win in the girls race at the University of Delaware Invitational.

 

The News Journal/WILLIAM BRETZGER

The girls race begins at the University of Delaware Invitational at White Clay Creek State Park on Tuesday.

 

The News Journal/WILLIAM BRETZGER

Chad Darlington of St. Mark's won the boys race Tuesday.