Athletes of the Week Dec. 24

December 24, 2021

Katie Kuhlman

Junior all-state cross country runner Katie K went after and set the new Cape 1,000-meter school record last weekend at the Bishop Loughlin Games on Staten Island, N.Y., by racing through the first 800 meters in 2:34 and hanging on to hit the line in 3:17.10. Katie broke the record that was held by Taylor Johnson at 3:18, who also set the record at Ocean Breeze in 2019. Meredith Lockwood had previously set the record of 3:19 in 2018 at the Armory in NYC. Katie returned to the track several hours later to lead off the 4-by-800 relay team with a 2:31 opener. Katie recently set a personal best in the 3,200 meters at the Milford Polar Bear meet by running 12:12 and has her eyes on the indoor school record of 11:56, set back in 1986 by one of Cape’s great distance runners, Navy graduate and All-American Marti Shue. Not afraid of hard work, Katie also wakes up well before school begins, and works on a farm taking care of her goats and horses.

Josh Negron

Josh is the defending Delaware state champion at 182 pounds, beating Cape’s Dalton Deevey in the finals. In 2020, he was the 182-pound runner-up to J.T. Davis of Smyrna. Josh looks like he fell off the cover of Prep Wrestling Magazine. Last weekend at the two-day Beast of the East wrestling tournament at the University of Delaware, Josh powered his way to a 7-2 record and a fourth-place finish in the 182-pound division while earning 25 points for the Sussex Central team of coach Shane Miller. Making it to the podium at the Beast comes with All-American designation. Speaking of an All-American type of young man, Josh plans to join the Marine Corps after graduation this spring. Josh is in a loaded weight class that includes Justin Griffith of Sanford and Matt Duarte of Caravel.

Lainey Shockro

Sophomore track & field athlete Lainey Shockro captured a win in her specialty event, the pole vault, at last weekend’s Bishop Loughlin Games at Ocean Breeze on Staten Island, N.Y. Lainey cleared 10-feet on her first attempt to secure the win and tie Cape’s indoor school record, held by Olivia Brozefsky. She then cleared 10-4 to set a new school record. Lainey also ran on the varsity 4-by-200 relay that qualified for the final and anchored the sophomore 4-by-400 relay that won the championship. Lainey, who is in Academic Challenge and Leo Club, is no stranger to high-level meets, as she competed in five National Cross Country Championships in her younger years with the Seashore Striders, and last summer, she won beach flags at the USLA National Lifeguard Championships in Texas. Lainey makes the two-hour ride north to jump indoors with the Philadelphia Jumps Club once a week throughout the season.

Kashmier Wise

“Kash” is money on the basketball court like he was in 2019-20 leading the Milford Middle School team of coaches Tony “TT'' Hazzard and Jewon Sivels to a perfect 13-0 record, which included a February Sunday night 63-40 win over Woodbridge in the Capital Classic Championship. Kashmier was not in school the following year but has re-emerged as a ninth-grade phenom at Seaford for coaches Vince Evans and Dwayne Bivens. Wise dropped 25 points on Indian River in a 79-56 victory and came back with 22 in a 69-55 win over Tower Hill. Kash has 10 three-point buckets in just two games. Seaford will play Our Saviour Lutheran (N.Y.) at the Slam Dunk at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 28, at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes.