Athletes of the Week Jan. 6

Matt DeBlander

This 26-year-old won the Hair of the Dog 10K New Year’s Day in Bethany Beach in 36:22, which is a sub-6-minute pace. He was a middle distance runner for Lafayette College, where he specialized in the 800 and 1,500 meters. Matt lives is Duboistown, Pa., and owns a 2:36 marathon. He finished 44th in the Broad Street 10 Miler, which doesn’t sound notable except that there were 25,000 runners in that race. He also owns a personal-best 16:28 in the 5K. He is the track and cross country coach at South Williamsport High School. The good guys don’t just roll out of bed and run fast times, they have history.

Darby Klopp

Sophomore Darby Klopp scored a team-high 15.5 points at the Snow Hill Invite Jan. 4, leading her Cape team to a second-place finish. Klopp anchored the 800-meter relay to a second-place finish, placed third in the 1,600 meters, third in the 800 meters and anchored the 400-meter relay to a third-place finish. Klopp plays field hockey in the fall and lacrosse in the spring, and she was on the Beacon track team as a sixth-grader. "Darby is one of the toughest girls that has worn a Cape uniform since the days of Hannah Pepper and Ali Coning, and they were as tough as nails," said coach Tim Bamforth.

Mark Knestaut

Bump and run - The matchup at 160 pounds in the Cape versus Central match was supposed to be between two defending state champions, Brandon Bautista and Cory Lawson, but when Central bumped Bautista up to 171, Cape followed suit with Lawson. And so out onto the mat walked freshman Mark Knestaut. Not long after people asked “Who the heck is this Cape kid?” he got a pin in 1:24. It was later discovered that he is the brother of Max Norquest and has an identical twin brother Sam, and they went to Millsboro Middle last year. "How ’bout dem apples?"

Ian Robertson

A lanky lefty with a sweet stroke - Robertson, a 6-foot-5 junior, has heard that descriptive phrase a thousand times, but add: “he will eat your lunch if you leave it on the table.” Ian is developing and improving with each game, going to the rack, bringing the ball up against the press, and wanting the ball and taking the money shot with the game on the line. Versus Dover Jan. 3, he accepted go-to guy status and responded with a double-double, scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. According to statistician Kenny Riedel, he also had four assists. Robertson will need to play big, long and lanky when Smyrna comes to town Friday night.