Milford High School Cross Country

Committing to some strenous biking and running lately helped Dan, Dan the Running Man Pennington and Ol' Bloomie score bests Saturday at the Labor Day Classic 5K. After chatting with my old CC coach at Lake, the honorable Jimmy Blades, I now know that my career best is 19:15 on a quick CR course and a 19:44 at KPSP (the old hilly course for you young Bucs). On Saturday, I pulled a little close to those 19s with a decade-best of 20:24. Hopefully by the Kent County Parks & Rec race in November at KPSP, I'll be back to high school times. :) Dan got a confidence boost, running a stunning season-best 18:03 to pull into the Top 5 runners Saturday, while Uncle Vern also won his age group and made the Top 10 with an 18:44 after a hectic work week. Special Sauce Insider didn't get a lot of official times (since I had to leave early to get to our scrimmage at KPSP), but I did get the scoop from Coach Singh on the Sussex Tech CCers. Of course, the coaches' daughters will be tough, but both the Ravens boys and girls will be thin on numbers, he says. Several Tech runners and alumni ran Saturday, as did Coach Perciful of Seaford. Cape runner Greg Swift led for a brief time, but faded to the low 18s, according Uncle Vern, and freshman teammate Evan Mock finished right behind Bloom in the 20s. MHS teacher Jan Kelley brought her family (dad, brother and sis-in-law) out for a Saturday run, and I'll get updates on their time Tuesday in the faculty room. :)

After a span of a couple months since our last biathlon, Uncle Vern and Bloomie recreated a winning tandem Saturday at the Kent Foot & Ankle Family Frolic Biathlon in Smyrna. The Special Saucers won the race in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 50 seconds - more than two minutes ahead of the runner-up. Dan, Dan the Running Man Pennington (who teamed with Rick Dewey to place second in relays with a 1:30+) won the opening 5K leg in 18:38 with Uncle Vern and a soloist close behind. Bloomie took control on the bike, taking over the lead just a brief stretch from the exchange zone and leading the way for the next 16 miles. Uncle Vern cruised with his second 19-minute 5K to secure our second overall win and fourth-straight relay win. Special Sauce Insider saw Coach Bamforth of Strider fame team with young Strider Brittany Morris to place in the relays, just behind Brittany's brother, Brett, and father, Mike. For those who can remember, Mike was the top cycling finisher at last year's Barnyard Biathlon.

MHSCC members made Sunday's Sauce Extra Special, loading up on the hardware at the Run for J.J. 5K. Chad Carpenter led the way getting a top 10 finish, including a winner's trophy for his age group with an 18:46. Keith Short wasn't too far behind, gaining a third-place trophy at 29th overall. With his 20:20, he is well on his way to his career best already this preseason. Amy Mallamo continued to get back into race shape as her time fell under the 23 barrier (22:53), good enough for a second-place trophy. Career best times will be hers soon, too! For Bloomie, I went a little backwards after a career day last weekend, but hey, gotta take the ups and a few little downs. A third-place trophy made me smile anyway with a 21:27. Congrats to Lindell and Payne who made the top 10, and the Perciful father and son duo who paced together for the first couple miles. Plus, Dan, Dan the Running Man made a return after a summer break, surpassing 19 minutes.

Plenty of Special Sauce news to update and a Special thanks goes out to the Carpenters who provided the scoop while Bloomie ran the length of the state (well, not quite) to make it to the Duck Creek 5K in Smyrna. That's where my wife, Shelly, took home a snazzy duck decoy trophy for earning first place in her age group with a 29:03. After recovering for more than 3 months with a stress fracture in her leg, she made sure she was going to make her birthday run an extra special return. Happy 27th, girl! I arrived a bit too late for trophy contention although third place in my age group got a duck with a 30-something. I actually ran a sub-22 5K, but I started with 25+ minutes on the clock. No biggee. It still marked my first day of running more than 5 miles and my first double race day. Surprisingly, I'm not too tired. Maybe I am still feeling the effects of a personal-best run of a 20:40 to start the day at the Dam Mill 5K in Millsboro. Now I can erase a hideous 23:40 in the Firecracker 5K from my series rankings. Unfortunately, I missed the post-race buzz with lots of action in Millsboro. Glad to see the MHSCC team represented as Chad, Amy and Amanda put their feet to the pavement to score great early season times. Chad had a great race, finishing 11th overall with a nifty 18:51. Incredibly, he had to settle for fourth in his age group, though, just behing Amy's god-bro, Mike, who ran an 18:44. Speaking of Mallamo, she ran strong for a third-place trophy in 23:28. You go, Mallamo! Another talented future star, Amanda Meade, ran 30:45, after just a couple days of training. Looks promising! I can't forget Uncle Vern, too, who scored his season-best time today. Plus, Matt Lindell won the Duck Creek with a low 18.

Bloomie chalked up another personal best (35:39) and finally brought home some hardware with a third-place medal at the YMCA 5-miler Sunday after being edged to fourth in the last couple events. If all goes well, Bloomie should improve on last season's fourth-place finish in the Summer Series. Right now I'm ranked second with only one more 5K needed to qualify. Uncle Vern notched his first Master's Champion trophy with a ninth-place finish overall, gaining some important pacing from Seaford soph Brian LLoyd. Special Sauce Insider also noticed Blue Jay teammate Andrew Perciful not too far behind with Papa Perciful hot on Bloom's trail. Henlopen Conference alums Jen Willis and Beth Redden also placed in their age groups.