The DIAA XC State
Championships took place at Killens Pond State Park in Felton, Delaware on Saturday,
November 9th. The temperatures were in the mid to lower 40s and
dropped significantly as the sun began to set. Runners
put in the work and embraced the chill to display exciting performances.
Division 1 Boys
Finishing with 39 points Charter claimed the title over Salesianum, 42. Charter's team of Andrew Avila, Prasanna Krishnamoorthy (6th),Jesse Herdman (7th), Charles Davis(10th) and Luke Mathe (14th) were the top 5 scores who clutched the title for the Charter boys.
In an exhilarating showdown, two seniors, Andrew Avila, Charter and Aidan Higley, Salesianum battled it out for the win. Avila took off early and maintained a lead throughout the race, while Higley remained a few paces behind. The race came down to a final kick coming around the last straight away of the 5k cross course. Aided by a ferocious kick, Higley edged past Avila posting a time of 15.49, only second faster than Avila's 15:53. Ryan Banko from Salesianum placed 3rd in 16:06.
The Division II team crown went to Wilmington Friends over runner-up, Tatnall 64 to 72. Chris Rosado (4th), Luke Munch (8th), Max Leffler (11th) Marcel Stewart (13th), and Kyle Nisbet (30th) were the 5-man team who ended Tatnall's 10-year Division II title streak. However, a Sophomore from Tatnall did claim the Individual Division II title. Declan McDonnell, took the lead from the beginning of the race and continued to distance himself from the other runners. McDonnell got the job done and crossed the finish line first in a time of 16:03.90, well ahead of runner-up, Quinn O'Dell, Delaware Military Academy (16:24.80). Blake Hundley from St. Andrews placed 3rd clocking in at 16:29.
