Milford High School Cross Country

Molly Bliss set a new school record of 19:23 to spark the girls to an outstanding performance as they clinched an undefeated 12-0 regular-season Henlopen Conference Championship with wins over Sussex Tech and Cape Henlopen in Lewes Wednesday. Meanwhile, the boys -- led by a 1-2 punch of Carl Richardson & Henry Phalen -- also scored big wins to close out the regular season at 11-1.

Kelsey Cabrera & Alexis Groce each ran season-bests in the low 20s, while Amy Wilson followed with a 21:20 -- No. 10 on the MHSCC All-time Fastest 5K list. Stef Clendaniel and Lydia Cole also broke into the 21s, while Shai Sefiane closed out the varsity seven with a 22:47.

For the boys, Phalen's 17:18 moved him to No. 12 on the all-time list, while Victor Rueda-Jimenez and Taiwan Savage followed with great runs in the 17s. Josh Johnson, Mike Doughty and James Hagen closed out the top seven under 18:14, while Andrew Eshelman followed with an 18:32 -- No. 9 on the Bloom Top 10 soph list.

Overall 29 Bucs surged to career-best times.

Bliss broke Jessi Rivera's previous school record of 19:26 set 12 years ago to the date (Oct. 26, 1999) at Prime Hook versus Cape Henlopen.

To see complete meet results, click on the above headline.

 Savage, one of the team’s senior co-captains, has been a standby in the varsity for four years. His veteran presence has definitely guided the team to success in 2011. Last week, he closed out his home course racing with a 17:50 to improve his standing on the course list at Milford Millponds Nature Preserve. He appears poised for postseason success.

  Zang, in her second season with the team, has made steady progress in 2011. Her consistent practice efforts have set her up nicely as the team approaches the postseason meets. Over her past two meets, she has scored consecutive career-bests, dropping her time as low as 27:15 at our home course last Wednesday.

Boys
Milford 15, S.Central 50
Milford 17, Indian River 46
Indian River 15, S.Central 49

At Milford Millponds Nature Preserve (5K): 1. Carl Richardson, M, 17:14, 2. Henry Phalen, M, 17:44, 3. Taiwan Savage, M, 17:50, 4. Michael Longoria, IR, 18:03, 5. Victor Rueda-Jimenez, M, 18:07, 6. Mike Doughty, M, 18:17, 7. James Hagen, M, 18:44, 8. Josh Johnson, M, 18:46, 9. Andrew Eshelman, M, 18:53, 10. Jeremy Morgan, M, 19:19, 11. Sam Richter, IR, 19:34, 12. Will McCabe, IR, 19:39, 13. Brandon Munce, M, 19:41, 14. Ryan Thomas, M, 20:10, 15. Derek Munce, M, 20:10, 16. Merrick Kovatch, IR, 20:21, 17. Jeremy Harper, M, 20:29, 18. Frank Clendening, M, 20:34, 19. Evan Becker, M, 20:35, 20. Nathan Farrell, IR, 20:44, 21. Kevin Johnson, M, 20:51, 22. Keaton Burke, IR, 20:55, 23. Wesley Wilkins, M, 20:57, 24. Chandler Benson- Reid, M, 21:10, 25. Rosemond Dorleans, SC, 21:10, 26. Cory Morris, M, 21:19, 27. David McCormick, M, 21:38, 28. Jacob Blunt, M, 21:39, 29. Jung Son, IR, 21:45, 30. Matt Jenney, SC, 22:02, 31. Jeremy Redlich, M, 22:06, 32. Billy Arterbridge, SC, 22:14, 33. Justin Pepper, SC, 22:24, 34. Alex Robb, SC, 22:25, 35. Tanner Dudley, IR, 22:30, 36. Kenny Barlow, M, 22:35, 37. Darian Yang, IR, 23:22, 38. Jack Saxton, IR, 23:24, 39. Justino Cosentino, M, 23:41, 40. Matt McGuigan, IR, 24:26, 41. Wildo Mejia, SC, 24:36, 42. Jevon Harper, M, 24:58, 43. Marvin Mejia, SC, 25:42, 44. Cole Hallman, M, 26:01, 45. Brian Gilewski, M, 26:02, 46. Ryan Boucher, SC, 27:10, 47. Donique Hughes, M, 27:21, 48. Ben Boonin, IR, 30:10, 49. Josh McCormick, M, 30:21. MHS 9-1.

Girls
Milford 15, Indian River 49
Milford 15, S.Central 50
Indian River 15, S.Central 50

At Milford Millponds Nature Preserve (5K): 1. Molly Bliss, M, 19:53, 2. Alexis Groce, M, 21:31, 3. Amy Wilson, M, 21:56, 4. Stefanie Clendaniel, M, 22:30, 5. Lydia Cole, M, 22:53, 6. Shaimae Sefiane, M, 23:14, 7. Kelsey Minyon, IR, 23:33, 8. Kristen Schulze, M, 24:41, 9. Meredith Mitchell, IR, 25:23, 10. Nicole Lebedz, SC, 25:25, 11. Payton Saxton, IR, 25:30, 12. Cayley Robbins, M, 26:03, 13. Jessica Downes, M, 26:15, 14. Morgan Fitzgerald-Lorah, M, 26:16, 15. Destiny Martinez, SC, 26:30, 16. Taylor Hoey, M, 26:31, 17. Alex Myers, IR, 26:35, 18. Alexis Guzman, M, 26:41, 19. Mia Fabres-Parker, M, 26:55, 20. Morgan Parsley, M, 26:59, 21. Taite Daisey, IR, 27:04, 22. Ellen Peters, SC, 27:09, 23. Amanda Cates, M, 27:14, 24. Katie Zang, M, 27:15, 25. Ashley Conroe, IR, 27:20, 26. Alexis Doughty, M, 29:43, 27. Natalia Hernandez, M, 30:41. MHS 10-0.

Molly Bliss set a new home course high school record of 19:53 to help the girls sweep away Indian River (15-49) and Sussex Central (15-50) Wednesday at Milford Millponds Nature Preserve. The girls scored seven of the top eight spots to improve to 10-0 and set up a chance next Wednesday to clinch their first regular-season Henlopen championship since 1994.

Meanwhile, the boys scored nine of the top 10 runners to run past IR (17-46) & Central (15-50) to move to 9-1. Henry Phalen (17:44), Taiwan Savage (17:50) & Amy Wilson (21:56) also reached the home course record list, while overall, 26 MHSCCers ran their home-course bests Wednesday.

Click on the above headline for full meet results.

 Rueda-Jimenez has stepped right into the varsity since preseason after putting together a solid rookie season on the track as a freshman. He has been one of the team’s consistent Top 5 guys, and he has inched closer to the school’s all-time fastest 5K list after breaking into the 17s with a 17:55 last week at home versus Dover, Polytech & St. Thomas.

Wilson steadily improved as a freshman last year and ended up surging onto the top 7 by the state meet. This season, she has picked up where she left off. After fighting through sickness for a bit in September, Wilson has rebounded strong and she saw 21s for the first time Wednesday with a 22:07 versus Dover, Polytech & St. Thomas More at home.