Milford High School Cross Country

Congrats go out to Polytech assistant coach Charles Bailey who beat a field of nearly 100 runners with a 17:58 at the 27th annual Kent County Parks and Recreation 5K Saturday at Killens Pond. Ol' Bloomie ran a lackluster 21:21 to grab a third-place trophy -- would've been nice to catch Smyrna's Coach Kennedy, who took second with a 20:37. MHSCCers Andrew Meade (21:35) and Matt Holloway (22:35) put a target on their coach, and a big congrats goes out to freshman MHS soccer player Spencer Adams who ran his first 5K ever with no training to take the 14-under age group with an impressive 23:12. Can't wait to see him on the track. Also, MMSCCer Robert Fisher continues to shine, placing third in the 14-unders with a 26:46. The future for MHSCC looks promising! Extra shoutouts go to Robert's dad, Randy (47th), Lake alums Eric Payne (5th overall) and Angie Brown (2nd female overall). Special Sauce Insider saw numerous local CCers, including Smyrna's super freshman Ashley Rogers (23:42) and her lady Eagle teammates as well as boys' future frontrunner Kerry Wilson (6th overall). Lake's David Riser edged out Dover's Kevin Kemmerle just ahead of Bloom, while Lake's Brian Frederickson and the Touchards - Brittney and Jordan -- ran strong. Keep an eye out for W.T. Chipman runner Danielle Riley who already finished in the 23s.

Jon Wyman and Marissa McDonnell led the boys and girls cross country teams to 12th and 13th, respectively, out of 24 teams in the Division II state championships Saturday at Brandywine Creek State Park. In all, 10 of 14 runners scored their best times at Brandywine, including Rashad Matthews, Jon Luiken, Ben Smith, Chris Battaglia, Andrew Meade, Chris Pettyjohn, Jackie Creasey, Jessica Fitzpatrick, Mallory Littleton and Meredith Muskovich. Lindsay Kenton and Tricia Gerken each ran well to round out the girls scoring. Click on the above headline for MHSCC times.

A day after running a respectable 20:01 at Killens in the Henlopen Open 5K, Ol' Bloomie bounced back with a 19:55 at the Fall Harvest 5K Sunday to place 3rd overall. That officially completes my 10 Trisports Events Race Series events. Right now, I'll take the age group lead and hope to hold off Smyrna's Coach K who finished about 20 seconds behind me on Sunday. Congrats go out to Milford runners John Yanacek and Randy Fisher who picked up awards. Special Sauce Insider also saw Smyrna's Joe Morman just ahead of Bloomie, while Polytech's Jenna Kemmerle also ran well. Plus, a young Bobola (probably the bro of Lake's top runner Teddy Bobola) got a strong race in.

Marissa McDonnell ran well to placed 19th - just four places shy of All-Henlopen - to lead the girls to a sixth-place team finish at the Henlopen Conference Championship meet Saturday at Killens Pond. Rashad Matthews led the boys to seventh. For the girls, Jessica Fitzpatrick ran a season-best time while senior Dana Rathfon wrapped up her career with a course-best 26:30. For the boys, Andrew Meade celebrated his birthday with a course-best 20:30 while Chris Pettyjohn, Derek King, Greg Smith, John Gonzalez and Trevor Jefferson also added course-best times. Jon Wyman, Ben Smith, Jon Luiken and Chris Battaglia joined Matthews, Meade and Pettyjohn as the team's varsity finishers who will compete in next Saturday's state championships at Brandywine Creek State Park. For the girls, McDonnell, Fitzpatrick and Rathfon teamed with Jackie Creasey, Lindsay Kenton, Tricia Gerken and Mallory Littleton as top 7 finishers. Robert Fisher (15:03) led all Milford Middle Schoolers with a 14th-place finish in the 2.1-mile race. Brett Hall (16:12), James Cetner (16:37), Rossiny Beaucejour (18:09), Kyle Fitzpatrick (18:22), Michael Schlegal (18:50), Jonathan Masten (18:51), Devon Schlegal (25:02) and Daniel Wheeler (29:40) also ran well. Click on the above headline for MHS times.

Senior Rashad Matthews placed 13th to make the All-Kent County team, pacing the boys to a third-place finish overall. Meanwhile, Marissa McDonnell helped the girls finish fourth out of eight teams. Brent Leitzell scored a career-best, breaking 20 minutes for the first time in his career, while Andre Purnell, Meredith Muskovich and Julee Farley also each collected career-best times. Jessica Fitzpatrick added a season-best. Overall, 25 Bucs earned their fastest time at Killens Pond. They'll get another chance on the same course Saturday in the Henlopen Conference Championship meet. Click on the above headline for complete MHS times.