Padua senior Anna Bockius and Tatnall senior Dylan McCarthy were named Delaware's cross-country runners of the year.
Padua senior Anna Bockius and Tatnall senior Dylan McCarthy were named Delaware's cross-country runners of the year and lead the All-State teams honored at the annual awards banquet hosted by the N5CTA on Dec. 11.
Bockius won the girls Division I race at the state meet for a third consecutive year, completing the Killens Pond course 52 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in 17:34.40. She also won the New Castle County championship and placed ninth in the championship race at the Nike Cross Southeast Regional.
Her season best time of 17:00.40 at the county meet ranks second on the all-time state honor roll.
As the girls state MVP, Bockius received the William L. Gerow Award. She is the fifth Padua athlete to win the award.
Bockius was joined by four Padua teammates on the All-State first team: sophomores Paige Ballinger and Vera Cincilla and seniors Teresina DeAscanis and Mary Drost. The Pandas, who won D-I for a 13th straight year, were named the girls Team of the Year. Head coach Marnie Giunta was honored as the girls New Castle County Coach of the Year.
McCarthy won the boys D-II race at the state meet in 15:37.90. His victory completed a sweep of the championship races. McCarthy won the Delaware Independent Schools championship and the New Castle County meet and won the Joe O'Neill Invitational in a season best time of 15:25.30.
McCarthy is the second straight Tatnall runner and the sixth overall to receive the Vic Zwolak Award as the boys state MVP. His former teammate Ben Pizarro won the award in 2024.
Saint Mark's, the boys D-II team champions, won Team of the Year. The Spartans won D-II by 27 points over second-place Newark Charter to claim their first boys cross-country team championship since 2007.
Saint Mark's raced D-I champion Cape Henlopen in a tri-meet on Sept. 16 at Sandhill Fields in Georgetown that saw nine athletes break 17 minutes. Saint Mark's won 23-34.
Saint Mark's coach Mike DiGennaro won boys state Coach of the Year and New Castle County Coach of the Year.
Mike Malone, who guided the Wilmington Christian girls to a third-place finish in D-II, was named girls Coach of the Year.
All-State cross-country teams
First team girls
Paige Ballinger, so., Padua
Anna Bockius, sr., Padua
Vera Cincilla, so., Padua
Izzy Daniel, jr., Tower Hill
Teresina DeAscanis, sr., Padua
Mary Drost, sr., Padua
Riley Horsey, so., Archmere
Lauryn Leech, fr., Tatnall
Morgan Thompson, so., Caesar Rodney
Krissa Woods, so., Tatnall
First team boys
Jason Baker, sr., Cape Henlopen
Henry Bird, jr., St. Andrew's
Timothy Claessens, jr., Newark Charter
Kevin Howard, sr., Middletown
Alec Jurgaitis, sr., Saint Mark's
Gavin Leffler, sr., Tatnall
Dylan McCarthy, sr., Tatnall
Ryan Moody, sr., Sussex Academy
Ryan Organek, sr., Delaware Military Academy
Brandon Williams, sr., Charter of Wilmington
Second team girls
Leah Campbell, so., Padua
Alli Cassel, sr., Wilmington Christian
Emerson Guerke, jr., Ursuline
Veronica Kamenitzer, sr., Charter of Wilmington
Shayla Kluizenaar, jr., Newark Charter
Rachel Magee, fr., Tatnall
Angelina Mangano, sr., Brandywine
Scarlett Russell, jr., Conrad
Alaina Thomas, jr., Archmere
Grace Walker, so., Smyrna
Second team boys
Sebastian Bergstrasser, jr., Conrad
James Dempsey, jr., Salesianum
Nick Lafferty, fr., Delaware Military Academy
Owen Parsons, sr., Archmere
Evan Paskevicius, jr., Saint Mark's
Will Ross, sr., Newark Charter
Griffin Spana, sr., Caesar Rodney
Kaleb Williams, sr., First State Military Academy
Isaiah Winslow Hill, jr., Smyrna
Connor Wrinn, sr., Saint Mark's
Third team girls
Brianna Dempsey, jr., Wilmington Christian
Molly Felice, jr., Archmere
Virginia Hendrixson, sr., Charter of Wilmington
Paige Hills, so., Wilmington Christian
Jordan Koss, so., Sanford
Elliana Levin, so., Charter of Wilmington
Natalie Murillo, so., Saint Mark's
Anna Scarangella, fr., Padua
Claire Schaedler, so., Ursuline
Molly Felice, fr., Odessa
Sadie Trumbull, so., Saint Mark's
Third team boys
Evan Easton, sr., Caesar Rodney
Aidan Leary, sr., Salesianum
Aidan Mahon, sr., Archmere
Abner Murillo, sr., Saint Mark's
Nick Petito, so., Cape Henlopen
Nathan Plouffe, jr., Saint Mark's
Andrew Radka, sr., Cape Henlopen
Riley Stazzone, sr., Cape Henlopen
Devin Washington, so., Smyrna
Stephen Williams, jr., Newark Charter
Brandon Holveck reports on high school sports for The News Journal. Contact him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware cross-country All-State 2025. Padua, Tatnall lead the way
Category: General Sports
