Athletes of the Week May 17
Hannah Abel
Hannah is one of 13 seniors on the Cape Henlopen girls’ lacrosse team that posted a regular-season record of 15-0 heading into the state tournament, where the Vikings will open at home Saturday, May 18, hosting Archmere. Hannah has worked her way into a starting position on defense and has been solid all season. On Senior Night against Lake Forest, Hannah came up into the offensive end and scored a goal, and the Cape sidelines erupted, jumping in joyous celebration. “Hannah doesn’t make mistakes; she has good speed and is good on the clear,” said coach Lindsey Underwood. Hannah hopes to have three more games as a Cape defender while the Vikings chase state title No. 14, starting Saturday at Champions Stadium. Hannah will be heading to Catawba College in the fall where she will continue to play lacrosse.
Michael Hoffert
Scoring a hat trick in three straight games in a week’s span, Sussex Academy boys' lacrosse senior Michael Hoffert has played a big role in his team's four-game win streak to end the season. The Seahawks traveled to Indian River May 8 in a game that would decide the Henlopen South title. Hoffert, whose first sport is hockey, scored three goals and had four assists in the 12-6 win. He shrugged off his seven-point performance, praising Chase Ballinger, who scored three straight in the de facto division title game. Hoffert followed up that performance with a three-goal, one-assist showing against Newark Charter May 11. The senior ended his final regular season with another hat trick in the 7-6 win over Odessa May 15. Playing lacrosse since seventh grade, Hoffert also flashes his hand-eye coordination in hockey. Competing for the Delaware Junior Blue Hens and Harrington Havoc, he recently helped win the state championship. His favorite class is economics, which will be useful when he embarks on a business major at University of Delaware in the fall. The future Blue Hen enjoys playing EA FC in his spare time and says it actually calms him down to prepare for games. His advice for anyone wanting to play lacrosse or hockey is to start playing and not care what it looks like to start, because logging time will improve form.
Jazonte Levan
This Seaford speed demon notched three meet records at the Henlopen Conference Track & Field Championships held May 9-13 at Lake Forest. Levan blazed his 100-meter prelim in 10.55 seconds before winning the final handily, then covered 200 meters in 21.31 to outpace the field by more than a second. He also ran the second leg of the Blue Jays’ 4-by-200-meter relay, which clocked 1:28.62. Jazonte has rewritten the Delaware 100- and 200-meter record books over the last two seasons. He owns personal bests of 10.47 in the 100 and 20.61 for 200, both the fastest ever by a Delaware athlete. Last summer, he placed fourth in the New Balance Outdoor Nationals and third at the USATF Under-20 Championships over 200 meters. In the fall, he will join his good friend Yougendy Mauricette at national powerhouse USC, which has produced 35 Olympic gold medalists on the track.
Brian Sponaugle
As a sophomore decathlete competing for the Valparaiso Beacons of the Missouri Valley Conference May 10-12, Brian had the best javelin throw of all competitors, tossing the spear 174-feet-4-inches. He also placed second in the 1,500 meters, running 4:41.54, and second in the discus at 120-feet-1-inch. His 400-meter time was 54.2. Brian, a former Milton Little League catcher who started his track career at Mariner Middle for coach Kenny Riedel, moved on to Cape Henlopen under Matt Lindell, running cross country and middle distance. Brian is majoring in mechanical engineering. His two sisters are Rebecca and Amanda; his parents are Dan and Christine. Brian has a personal best 8K (5 miles) college time of 28:05. Brian graduated summa cum laude from Cape in 2022 with a GPA over 4.0.
