2018 Diamond State Athletic Conference Championships

October 25 marked the first of three championship races this season, the Diamond State Athletic Conference (DSAC) Championship. Red Lion hosted the meet on our home course at Lums Pond State Park. The cool, sunny weather made for wonderful racing conditions. There were four separate races: varsity girls, varsity boys, junior varsity girls, and junior varsity boys. Red Lion participated in the two varsity races.

The varsity boys' race was first, going off at 3:30 p.m. Andrew Avila, of the Charter School of Wilmington, won the race in 16:40. Spencer Armstrong ('19) came in first for Red Lion, running 20:21 and placing 45th overall. Despite being tripped early on in the race, Joshua Deitrich ('19) finished just one second behind him. Dennis Nicholson ('19) finished in 20:50, and in 53rd place overall. Andrew Tanyous ('22) and Marc Sherman ('20) ran times of 21:21 and 21:30, respectively. Michael Gasorek ('22), Captain Micah Pope ('19), Richard Turley ('22), Ryan Cooper ('21), and Seyram Gafrey ('21) followed, rounding out the ten Red Lion boys. Full race results can be found here.

The varsity girls' race started twenty-five minutes after the boys' race. The race was won by Newark Charter's Madi McWatters, who finished in 19:49. Red Lion's Hannah Ye ('21) finished in 26th place overall with a time of 22:53. She was followed by Faith Hollister ('22), who finished in 23:10 and placed 31st overall. Captain Katelyn Walker ('19) finished in 24:41, placing 44th overall, and Abi Phillips ('21) finished just fourteen seconds behind her in 46th place. Fiona Fawcett ('22) finished in 52nd place with a time of 25:45 in her first race back from a few weeks off due to a hip injury, and Katie Rippon ('20) finished in 63rd place overall, running 28:19. Full race results can be found here.

I can't believe we are so close to the end of the season. Our runners did their best today, even though we faced some tough competition. We have two more races left, which are the New Castle County Championship and the DIAA State Championship. We are starting to taper our workouts as we anticipate our final races, but we are also still putting our work in at practice. I have been very happy to see the improvements we've made as a team this season, and I hope that we stay strong and persevere through the end.