Athletes of the Week Aug. 21
Jormir de la Cruz
Jormir is a Cape senior and returning team captain for Courtney Hennessey’s cheer squad. According to Hennessey, “Jormir is the most positive person you will ever meet. He nonstop cheers on and pushes his teammates to keep going full-out and never quits every practice. He is a coed varsity state champion along with stunt group champ. He wants to cheer in college and become an NCA instructor.” Jormir wants to go to UD and cheer. Beyond cheerleading, he enjoys spending quality time with friends and family. “I also love to read books,” he said. Jormir’s GPA was 3.8 his junior year and he is a Family, Career and Community Leaders of America member.
Katie Kuhlman
Katie is a happy kid, and so is her goat Kid Rock. A rising Cape sophomore, a runner and softball player, Katie had an excellent year leading the girls’ cross country team as a freshman and running indoor track for coach Tim Bamforth, whom Katie has known since she jumped into a 5K race as a 5-year-old. “Katie’s a kick-butt FFA/goat kid,” said Cape ag teacher Heather Valentine. Looking toward the indoor track season, Bamforth said, “She’s my leadoff runner for the 4-by-800. She’s just so strong and confident. We want to get her down to the low 2:20s this season.” Katie got caught in the middle of two shutdown seasons, having lost softball in the spring, when she was the only freshman to make Cape’s 13-player roster, and this fall’s cross country season. Katie finished sixth in the Henlopen Conference Championships last fall, running a time of 19:56.
Zoe Quillen
Zoe is a rising seventh-grade honors student with a straight-A average at Selbyville Middle School, where she played basketball and softball. Zoe pitched the 12U Delaware Freedom softball team to a perfect 4-0 record last weekend to capture the team’s very first tournament championship in the Diamonds Are 4Ever softball tournament. Zoe pitched a no-no in games 2 and 3, and a one-hitter in the championship game. Zoe struck out 30 batters over 16 innings pitched. Top hitters for the day were Abi Crouch, Celina Sordi and Hayden Hudson. Zoe’s father Marcus is a facilities manager for Phillips Restaurant Group. Her mother Rachael is a musician. She has a 10-year-old brother.
Lee Ann Waltz
Nine years and 63 pounds ago, Lee Ann Waltz began running. Last December she completed her 50th half marathon. She is an integral part of the local running community. As a vocation, otherwise known as a job, Lee Ann has worked as a medical office specialist for Cape Surgical and the last four years for Beebe Healthcare. On Feb. 27, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. If there was any change in her personality, she seemed outwardly happier to the point of escape velocity from Earth orbit. On Aug. 25, she goes to Jefferson Hospital for 19 days to complete stem cell replacement, then to Nick's House for a month of rehabilitation and board games. Lee Ann is a relentless, bordering on ridiculously positive, personality. She'll have you wishing you were her. She has a daughter, Amanda Wyatt, and grandchildren, Emmalyn, 4, and Jaxton, 2. “They are my world,” she said, along with all her running buddies, patients and co-workers who share her world.
