Athletes of the Week April 3
Emory Howell
The godfather of Cape track out of Slaughter Neck, Emory was a long sprinter who ran 400s to 800s for coach Tom Hickman’s state championship teams beginning in 1971. Emory won the prestigious Philadelphia Meet of Champions in the 880 back in 1971, running 1:57, and was undefeated at that distance his last two years of high school. Emory was a two-time state champion in the 880 a cool 50 years ago. Emory was also an all-state cross country runner. He was the anchorman on Cape’s prestigious mile relay at the Henlopen Conference and state meets, and the Penn Relays. Emory was named All-American twice at Delaware State College 1974-75 in the 1,000-yard NAIA Championships. Emory is a member of the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame and Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame. Emory is a retired Delaware corrections officer.
Alec Perry
In the Cape lacrosse squadron of fighters and flyers, Alec Perry was the Whisper Jet moving stealthily up the field from end to end. Perry graduated from Cape in 2010 with 118 career goals. She then played four years for the High Point Panthers, also scoring 118 career goals, while being named All-Big South Conference three times and All-Big South Conference Tournament team three times. She was named Big South Conference Tournament MVP her senior season. Alec was named the Iron Panther at High Point for excellence in strength and conditioning. Alec went on to Campbell University and is now a physician assistant working in the ER departments, both pediatric and adult, at Nash General Hospital in Rocky Mount, N.C. She is on the front lines fighting the pandemic. Alec remains a workout machine. She lives with her two rescue dogs, Jax and Rosie.
Jenna Steele
Jenna graduated from Cape in 2012. She was a fast, flying defender in hockey and lacrosse. An ACL injury forced her to miss her junior and senior years in hockey and junior year in lacrosse. Jenna came to practice and stuck by her teams, but it was tough. She headed off to University of Mary Washington in the Capital Athletic Conference. Jenna turned into an offensive machine, scoring 69 career goals and 25 career assists for 163 career points (two points for each goal); all remain school records. Jenna was all-conference, all-state and all-region all four years of her college career. She was CAC Rookie of the Year in 2012, CAC Player of the Year in 2015, Virginia State Player of the Year in 2015 and an NFHCA First-Team All-American in 2015. Jenna was UMW Female Athlete of the Year in 2016. Jenna is an assistant field hockey coach at Shenandoah, having coached previously at Mary Washington and Randolph-Macon. Jenna works in the office of advancement as a stewardship coordinator.
Jay Wingate
Jay has always been a straight-up community character. He is extroverted and can make you laugh, but also sensitive and you can make him cry. He has the perfect blended personality to become a nurse. Jay graduated from Cape in 1994 and from Beebe School of Nursing in 2013, where he was class president. Back in high school, he was a soccer goalie serving as Jack Lingo’s backup and also played lacrosse. Jay went on to work at Gold’s Gym in Rehoboth as general manager and personal trainer. He also worked in Pompano Beach, East and West Boca of South Florida. Jay placed third in the 170-pound weight class at the Mr. Delaware contest a few years back. After getting his nursing degree, Jay worked one year at Milford Rehab and Dover Behavioral Health, and the last six years as an ER nurse at Beebe. He lives with his girlfriend Dr. Emily Massey, an ER doctor at Beebe the last 16 years. Jay and Emily are on the front lines for us where every day is game day. “We have a great team, a fabulous team, ”Jay said.
