Salesianum, Tatnall run to New Castle County cross-country team championships

WINTERTHUR - Ethan Walther, whose titanic triple crown at last spring’s state track meet established him as Delaware’s top distance runner, broke from the field early to win the New Castle County Cross Country championship by more than 100 meters at Winterthur on Saturday, pacing Salesianum to a six-point boys team victory over Tatnall.

Led by Katie Payne, Tatnall dominated the girls race like never before, placing five runners in the top seven to achieve the lowest score in the meet’s 40-year history. With 19 points in a sport where the lowest score wins, the Hornets surpassed their 21-point performance in 2008.

The scenic highlight of the season, the county meet always draws a huge following, with this year’s spectators including the champions of last year (Jonathan Drew of Middletown, now at Delaware State) and of the first county meet in 1983 (Dan Foran of Mount Pleasant, an inductee in the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame).

Walther almost single-handedly lifted Delaware Military Academy to second place at the DIAA Division II meet last May by winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters, while already committed to transfer to Salesianum for this, his junior year.

Walther never tempered his pace while gapping the field early, chasing a 16-minute time and finishing the hilly course in 16:01.8.

“The biggest competitor was my mental. I couldn’t slow down. I wanted that time,” said Walther, who went 15:37.7 to win his heat at the Great American Festival last month in Cary, N.C. “The standard is set so high that I can’t kick it for anything less than first.”

BIG RECAP Salesianum clinches first district title, tops Week 9 Delaware high school football roundup

The last product of legendary St. Edmond’s Academy coach George Leidy, who died in 2018, Walther ran a Delaware-best 1:54.33 in the 800 at the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field. He then spent the summer challenging the steep contour of Maintenance Hill at Brandywine Creek State Park, where the DIAA Cross Country Championships will be held next Saturday.

Tower Hill’s Colby Twyman outkicked Gavin Leffler of Tatnall and Camerin Williams of A.I. du Pont to finish second, the best by a Hillers runner since Lisa Klein won to lead the Tower Hill girls to the 2002 county title.

“On that second lap, you have to make your move and try to get as much ground as you can,” Twyman said. “That’s where most people die. That’s where they walk up the hill.”

Ben Pizarro (ninth), Luke Kain (10th) and Dylan McCarthy and Jackson Downin (24th) followed Leffler for Tatnall, which improved from fourth last year.

Sam Felice (fifth), James Kennedy (13th) and James Dempsey (14th) followed Walther for Salesianum. Kaleb Kain and Ian Sabia clinched the race by passing several runners in the final mile to finish 22nd and 23rd.

Luke Kain, a junior, and Kaleb Kain, a freshman who transferred to Salesianum from Tatnall, are brothers. Each beamed at the other’s performance.

“It’s really special to be in the same race as my brother, especially seeing him at the end,” Luke said.  “He’s done really well there at Sallies.”

Peter Bird (sixth) and Chris Onsomu (11th) led St. Andrew’s to third place as a team. Camilo Alvarez (17th), Richie Angiullo (19th) and Owen Parsons (25th) paced fourth-place Archmere. Alec Jurgaitis (16th) and Connor Stockton (21st) led Saint Mark’s to fifth place.

Daniel Brake of Sanford (seventh), Sebastian Bergstrasser of Conrad (eighth), Carlos Lobo of Newark (12th), Will Ross of Newark Charter (18th) and Justin Freeman of Hodgson (21st) also achieved all-county status among the boys.

Like Salesianum, the Tatnall girls benefitted from two transfers. The Hornets swept 1-2-3 last year, but only finished seventh as a team due to a lack of depth. This year, those three were joined by junior Ruby Schwelm and sophomore Abby Downin.

Schwelm broke the 30-year-old Delaware County (Pa.) record in the 3,200 while running for Penncrest last year. Downin showed elite potential as a freshman at Edina (Minn.) before her family moved to Delaware.

Downin finished second behind Payne on Saturday. Carlita Kaliher, last year’s county champion, took fourth. Schwelm came home fifth and Katrina Endres (third last year) finished seventh.

Had the race been a dual meet between Tatnall and the rest of the county, the Hornets would have won 19-36.

“I’ve never seen a team that’s so deep,” Downin said. “We’re a big family. First through seventh, we all support each other. It’s different from other teams I’ve been on.”

Every week, someone different leads the pack, Schwelm said. “It’s really nice to have girls who have the same kind of drive and passion and the same fitness level.”

Payne, third in this race as a freshman and second as a sophomore last year, plotted the course in advance.

“I wanted to stay in the front, to stay connected,” the winner said. “On this course, it’s easy to fall asleep. I wanted to make certain that I could go at any moment.”

She and Downin talked intermittently through the race.

“We say, ‘Let’s push up this hill’ or ‘Stay on me, work on me’,” Downin said. “Being competitive in the race pushes all of us. We have to work together.”

Isabelle Walsh of Middletown finished third, preventing Tatnall from repeating its 1-2-3-4 sweep of 2008.

“It was shoot for the moon and land among the stars. I was going to go for top five today,” said Walsh, a returning All-Stater. “With about a half mile to go, I was in a good position and I thought I could kick it.”

Sophomore Anna Bockius finished sixth to lead team runner-up Padua, followed by defending DIAA Division I champion Sophia Holgado (eighth), Molly Flanagan (11th), Kelsey Wolff (12th) and Mary Drost (21st).

Maddie Priest (13th), Alana Thomas (17th) and Helen Socorso (18th) led Archmere to third place.

Newark Charter finished fourth, paced by Kyra Hennessy (22nd).

Leah Horgan, a cousin of the Kain brothers, finished ninth to lead St. Andrew’s to fifth place.

Alyssa Napier of Conrad (10th), Nikita Lachke (14th) and Veronica Kamenitzer of Charter of Wilmington (16th), Isabelle Daniel of Tower Hill (15th), Natalie Radecki of Caravel (19th), Angelina Mangano of Brandywine (20th), Sarah Whalen of Ursuline (21st), Laureana McCann of Delaware Military Academy (24th) and Krissa Woods of Tatnall (25th) also made all-county.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Salesianum, Tatnall run to New Castle County cross-country team titles