Cape girls’ track takes fourth in conference meet

The Cape Henlopen girls’ and boys’ track and field teams placed fourth and eighth, respectively, at the Henlopen Conference Championships May 10-11 at Lake Forest High School.

Coach George Pepper’s girls tallied 76.5 points and were paced by thrower Ce’yra Middleton, who won the shot put with a personal-best heave of 38-feet-6-inches and placed third in the discus with a personal-best 112-foot-11-inch toss.

The boys, coached by Matt Lindell, scored 43 points and got a third-place finish in the high jump from Kenny Witherspoon, who cleared 6-feet even.  

The story of the meet was the sheer dominance of Smyrna’s girls’ team. The deep, balanced Eagles amassed 211.5 points over 18 events to double up second-place Dover (106). Distance queen Naomi Bowser collected four gold medals for Smyrna, winning the 1,600 meters (5:23.17), 800 meters (2:21.27) and pole vault (10-feet-9-inches), and anchoring Smyrna’s victorious 4-by-800-meter relay (9:58.20). The Eagles also got huge points from Lauren Summers, who racked up three golds in the triple jump (38-feet), 200 meters (25.11), and 4-by-200-meter relay (1:43.14), and added a silver in the 100 meters (12.23).

Caesar Rodney stud Destiny Bailey-Perkins panned for double gold, capturing the long jump (18-feet-4.5-inches) and 100 meters (12.07). LaKendra Harpe of Sussex Tech, a product of Mariner Middle, triumphed by four seconds in the 400 meters with a 57.59 clocking. Harpe also earned a silver medal in the 200 meters (25.17) and a bronze in the 100 meters (12.24).

In boys’ action, Dover sprinted clear of the competition with 160.5 points, easily outclassing Polytech (108 points) and Caesar Rodney (104 points). Senators hurdle specialist Tayshaun Chisolm spent plenty of time on the podium, collecting gold medals in the 110-meter hurdles (14.16), the 300-meter hurdles (38.06) and the 200 meters (22.41). Gavin Williams earned a full set of medals for Dover as he won the 3,200 meters in 10:07, placed second in the 1,600 meters (4:30.98), grabbed third in the 800 meters (1:59.92), and ran a leg of Dover’s winning 4-by-800-meter relay.

Lake Forest’s Shane Massey, whose father is a Cape alumnus, used a 57-second opening lap to win the 1,600 meters in 4:27.21 and came back an hour later to take the 800 meters in 1:57.61. Forrest Booker of Caesar Rodney swept the horizontal jumps, taking the long jump with a 21-foot-2-inch leap and the triple jump with a 43-foot-2.5-inch effort. Polytech broke the tape first in the 4-by-100-meter relay (42.82) and 4-by-200-meter relay (1:28.84), setting a meet record in the latter, while Laurel’s Brandon Faulk soared 6-feet-10-inches in the high jump to shatter the meet record.