Athletes of the Week Jan. 7

January 7, 2022

Mikey Frederick

Mikey Frederick, with 85 career wins and consecutive third-place finishes in the DIAA state wrestling tournament (145 in 2020 and 138 in 2021) won his first tournament bracket at 145 pounds last week at the Governor Mifflin Holiday Wrestling Tournament in Shillington, Pa. Frederick defeated J.C. Cantania of Malvern by pin (3:33), Dom Sheridan of Boyertown (9-3), Aladdin Swann of Cacalico (11-2) and Dylan Fulton of Susquenita in the finals by fall in 3:25. Delaware Live Sports has Frederick rated at No. 1 in the 145-pound weight class with Carson Kist of Sallies as second and Abdullah Amad-Statts of Lake Forest at third. Mikey has committed to play lacrosse for the Mercer University Bears in 2022-23. Cape wrestling coach Shane Jensen said, “Mikey has been fantastic all year. He’s a top performer, and a real leader inside and outside the wrestling room.”

Lance Kauffman

Martin Rodriguez was driving the cart Friday morning for the 18th Race Into the New Year 5K. He looked at the front line and said, “There’s Lance. I know who is going to win.” Lance Kauffman, 18 years old and a freshman cross country and track runner at Messiah University, won the race in 17:12. Lance will push the pain barrier like he did in 2020 as a varsity runner for Cape. He was Cape’s fourth man, helping the Vikings to the first Division I state title in school history. Lance was the top freshman on the Messiah University cross country team, running a 21:10 6K, 29:02 8K, and 14:20 4K. Lance ran 30:26 for 8K at the Aubrey Shenk Invitational, good for 14th out of 89 runners. Lance is running indoor track and already has a time of 17:38 on his resumé. The Falcons are Division III and compete in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

Jada Newsome

Jade is a freshman long jumper at Milford High School. On Dec. 1, on her first jump of the season, an open pit with boys and girls blended into the event, she broke the school record with a leap of 18-feet-7-inches. Cape coach Ellis Gaulden, a former Big East champion in the high jump (7-feet even) was the official for the event and did the measuring. Jada’s other December jumps were in the mid-16s, but 18-7 is a once-in-a-lifetime first-time jump. Jen Pitts holds the Cape long jump record for girls at 18-feet-1-inch.

Lucas Ruppert

Lucas Ruppert was a two-way tackle for the Cape football team, playing at 315, knowing he had to drop 30 pounds to 285 to certify in his weight class for wrestling. “People don’t think about big guys cutting weight, but it’s tough,” Ruppert said. “I think for the smaller guys, it's even tougher.” Lucas powered his way to a second-place finish in the 2021 state tournament, losing to Kevin Hudson of Caesar Rodney and helping Cape to its first team title in 50 years. Last week, Lucas won the 285-pound championship at the Governor Mifflin tournament, going 3-0 with a pin over Phillip Tabasso of Malvern in 3:51 in the finals. Lucas is ranked No. 1 by Delaware Live Sports, with T.J. Burke of Indian River second and Cael DeNigris of Delaware Military third. Cape coach Shane Jensen said, “Lucas has been one of our most improved wrestlers this year. He’s always been incredibly coachable, and you can see it with the points he’s putting on the board.”