Athletes of the Week June 28

June 28, 2024

Garrett Ferguson

This 19-year-old Marshall University distance runner from Keyser, W.Va., won the Dewey Beach Patrol 5K June 23 for the second year in a row, clocking a time of 16:41. His dad, Andrew, won the men’s 50-54 age group in 20:14, while his sister, Bailey, won the 15-19 female age group in 20:25. Garrett won the 2023 race in 16:07. “I was sidelined for spring track because of injury, so this is my first race running hard this summer,” Garrett said after taking a break following his cool-down run in 90-degree weather. Garrett, who completed his sophomore year at Marshall, owns personal-best times of 19:32 in the 6K, 25:22 in the 8K and 32:27 in the 10K. “My personal-best time for the 5K is 15:18,“ Garrett said. He also owns a personal best of 8:34 in the 3,000, which converts to 9:14 for two miles.

Eden Frederick

Eden hits lead-off for the Carolina Elite National team that competed in the Scenic City Summer softball event played along the Georgia-Tennessee border June 20-23. In the field, Eden plays shortstop, second base and utility. She finished the tournament with a .619 batting average, which was sixth best among players of the 184 teams competing in the 16U event. Her 13 hits tied for second best in the event. In addition, she had a .667 on-base percentage, five stolen bases and nine runs scored. Eden is a rising senior at Cape Henlopen High School and a member of the softball team that reached the state semifinals before falling to Sussex Central. Eden’s older sister Marissa is a junior pitcher at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Cory Kinley

Locals may remember this Lewes product and 1995 Cape graduate as a rock-hard, athletic soccer player who played four years at Moravian University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. Or one may remember he had a stump-grinding business. To update Cory, the athlete, check this out: Cory qualified to compete in the 45-49 age division at the 2024 CrossFit Games, set for Aug. 29 through Sept. 1, in Birmingham, Ala. The four-day competition will test the strongest masters athletes in the world with the purpose to crown the fittest on earth. Cory makes his home in Folsom, Calif., where he is a self-employed consulting arborist. The crossfit consulting arborist is certainly a unique combination of brawn and brains and knowledge of things that can hurt you or your house.

Christian Wright

This rising junior for the Sussex Academy swim team is often able to hold his breath the entire 25 meters of the pool. During the Lewes Yacht Club/Sussex Family YMCA home opener against Sea Colony, Christian proved the hype is for real for the future Division I swimmer. As a member of both the 200 freestyle and medley relays, Christian helped his teams secure first place in each event. In the individual races, he took first in the 50-meter butterfly and freestyle contests. Wright spends the majority of his time in the pool working to trim precious seconds off his time across multiple events. The freestyle events are where Wright really shines, breaking Sussex Academy's school record multiple times in the 50 and 100 meters this past season.