The state’s cross-country season will come to an end Saturday, Nov. 14, when the DIAA State Championships kick off at 10:30 a.m. at Killens Pond State Park, Felton.
The finals will see 34 teams from across the state compete in Division I and II brackets, with a boys and girls group running in each division.
Killens Pond, home to D-II team Lake Forest High School, should provide runners an opportunity to post personal-best times, said Lake head coach Ray Parker.
Because the course runs faster with its flat and level layout, runners should be able to attain better times than at some of the more uneven upstate courses, Parker said.
“I would imagine a lot of kids will get a shot to set personal records,” he said. “The course is so fast, and all the kids want to do well because it’s the last meet of the season.”
The course will host the finals just one week after the Henlopen Conference Championships were run on the same course.
On the boys side, Caesar Rodney High School, 55 points, finished a close second to Milford High’s 54, while fourth-place Polytech posted a 115, Dover finished in fifth with a 132 and Lake had 154 points for seventh place.
The local girls did not fare as well in conferences, with CR doing the best of the four by finishing in fourth with 84 points. It was followed by Lake, sixth, 158; Dover, seventh, 172; and Polytech, eighth, 193.
Riders Head Coach Mike Tucci’s boys have the best chance to finish high in the state meet, and with rain in the forecast he said the results are even more unpredictable.
“My expectation is that the team will put forth their best effort and try to get their best times of the season,” he said. “I expect the course to be very wet, so anything could happen. We’ll just have to run the race and see what happens.”
Parker and Polytech head coach Angela Wagner shared the same view regarding Saturday’s race, and said as they have all season that they’re just looking for effort.
“I hope they all run a personal best,” Wagner said of her team. “I have some kids that run 17- and 18-minute times, so I’d like to see them best that.”
“We’re running against more than 30 other schools in the state, so honestly, our expectation is to just go out there and do better than we did last year,” Parker said.
