Padua Academy placed six runners in the top 15 finishers to easily claim the Division I girls' title of the Delaware State Cross Country Meet at White Clay Creek State Park Saturday afternoon. The Pandas claimed their fifth crown in six years by earning 32 points, well ahead of Charter School of Wilmington’s 53 and St. Mark’s 106. Middletown (132) and Brandywine (140) rounded out the top five teams.
Padua senior Megan Morrow was the overall winner, finishing in 19:18. Charter junior Kayleigh Skinner finished in second place in 19:36, and Middletown junior Stephanie Taylor came in third place with a 19:50 mark. The Pandas’ Meghan Smith, winner of last year’s race, was sidelined with a foot injury.
Morrow said she purposely trailed several runners, including Skinner and Taylor, for the first mile.
"They actually led most of the race. I’m the type of runner who just wants to sit back instead of lead the race, and I just geared on them. They’re both excellent runners, and it came down to the finish,” she said. Morrow added she does plenty of sprint work just for situations like this championship race where she would be able to draw on endurance and a burst of speed to finish strongly.
|
Under cloudy, damp conditions, the runners got off to a fast pace.
“The first mile was really fast, I think everyone’s adrenaline was going,” said Morrow. “But, we knew that was going to happen, because it is states and everyone is real excited. So that was the fastest part.”
Morrow said once she passed the steep hill past the first mile, she ran a steady pace and pulled away with about 600 yards left on the demanding course.
Division II
Tatnall School destroyed the competition in the girls' Division II meet by finishing with the top five runners, led by overall champion Juliet Bottorff. The Lady Hornets won with 15 points, the lowest possible under the current rating system. Overall, Tatnall finished with all seven runners in the top 10. Molly Parsons was awarded fifth place when it was determined by the judges that St. Andrew’s Cindy Caldwell interfered with Parsons near the finish line. Katie Oldham, seventh, and Katie Deinert, ninth, were Tatnall’s other two other finishers.
Bottorff won her third straight individual crown with 18:29, setting a new course record by 20 seconds. Freshman Haley Pierce finished second with 18:39, Katie Buenaga finished third in 18:54 and Kallie Fehr was fourth with a time of 19:01.
Archmere Academy was the runner-up for the second year in a row. The Lady Auks were led by Lindsay Olivere and Jessica Olsen, who finished sixth and eighth, respectively. St. Andrew’s (148), Cape Henlopen (158) and Sanford (165) rounded out the top five teams.
|
Delaware State Cross Country Meet (Girls)
|
