Cape boys’ track wins Cambridge Invitational

The Cape boys’ track team captured the Cambridge Invitational with 158 points, while Kent Island was second with 85 points. Lake Forest grabbed the third spot with 58 points. The boys from Cape captured the 3,200-meter relay in 8:45 and the 400-meter relay in a hot March time of 44.46. Ryan Baker won the 3,200-meter run in 9:46, and Liam O’Donnell won the 1,600-meter run in 4:48. Other notable performances on the boys’ side were John Small with a second-place finish in the long jump at 20-feet-7-inches and a third-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.13; Joey DeGregory with a second-place finish in the 3,200 in 10:37; and a big 2-3 finish in the 800 meters with Julian Callaway taking second in 2:06.22 and Brian Sponaugle third in 2:06.54. Cape had another 2-3 finish in the high jump, as Keisha Mansfield cleared 5-10 and Steven Hart jumped to 5-8.

On the girls’ side, Lake Forest won the meet with 95 points, while Cape was second with 85 points. The Cape girls won two relays, capturing the 3,200 with Hannah Maney, Emma Duffield, Alexa Dougherty and Katie Kuhlman in 10:36 and the 1,600 with Dougherty, Duffield, Kuhlman and senior Tia Jarvis in 4:26. Lainey Shockro won the pole vault in 9-6 for the only individual title.

Middle school track

A marathon middle school track & field meet was held at Cape Henlopen High School March 30, with Beacon and Mariner playing host to Georgetown and Millsboro. When the dust had settled five hours after the opening gun, it was Beacon going 2-0 on both the boys’ and girls’ sides over Georgetown and Millsboro. The Beacon boys topped Georgetown 100-9 and Millsboro 72-37, while the Beacon girls topped Georgetown 87-21 and Millsboro 83-26. Mariner girls came away 2-0 as well, as Mariner topped Millsboro 58-47 and Georgetown 68-32. The Mariner boys split 1-1, as they topped Georgetown 67-24 and lost to Millsboro 88-20. On the girls’ side, Millsboro topped Georgetown 55-49 and on the boys’ side Millsboro topped Georgetown 86-21.

Some notable girls’ performances on the Beacon side were Lily Noonan with a win in the 1,600 in 6:29.0, Shiloh O’Grady taking first in the 800 in 3:10.1 and Erin Noonan winning the triple jump in 27-5. Z Sheppard won the shot put in 25-11. Mariner’s Mi’Kiyah Bellamy-Hicks won the 100 meters in 14.8, while Talia Pecoraro won the 200 in 30.1.

Some notable boys’ performances on the Beacon side were Daveyonn Conquest winning the 100 in 12.7 and the 200 in 26.5. Osmeer Daisey won the high jump in 5-6 and long jump in 16-9, while Will DiPaolo won the triple jump in 27-7. Mariner’s Jason Baker ran the 1,600 in 5:49 and the 800 in 2:44.

Cape girls celebrate indoor season

The Cape girls got together for their indoor track & field banquet Thursday night at Fish On in Lewes to celebrate the season and the Henlopen Conference championship. 

Former Cape track & field coach Dave “Fredman” Frederick was the guest speaker, and, of course, he told stories about Gilbert Maull and me to the crowd of 90 guests.

Each athlete was called up to receive their end-of-the-year certificate, letter and pins before moving to the season-ending awards.  

Rising Star Awards went to six athletes, all of whom competed in either the conference or state championships in just their opening year with the program. Anna Fantoli showed huge improvement in the shot put. Cadence McMahon leaped past 31 feet in the triple jump. Allison Head reached 4-6 in the high jump. Anna Kucharik scored in the 400 meters in the conference championships. Lina Frederick ran some great 600 and 800 races. Ella Ruppert competed in the 400 and 800 events.

The 3-D Award for dedication, determination and desire went to ironwoman Alexa Dougherty, who has a range from 400 meters to 2 miles and also can hurdle, long jump and triple jump. She may be the most versatile girl on the team.

The Performance of the Year Award went to Lainey Shockro, who set the school record of 10-4 in the pole vault and earned the only medal on the team at the state championships.  

The Sportsmanship Award went to Montana Jones, who would do anything for the team.  

The Rookie of the Year Award went to Landon Diehl, who was a member of the conference championship 4-by-200 and 4-by-400 relay teams.

The Most Improved Award went to Haley Archambault, who improved by more than 5 feet in the shot put.  

The Leadership & Dedication Award went to Tia Jarvis, who always leads by example, and works hard in the gym and on the track.

The MVP Award went to Hannah Maney and Katie Kuhlman. Maney led the team in the 200, 400 and 800 distances, and led off all three events in the championship sections of the Henlopen and state championship events. The second half of our MVP turned in her best season indoors and scored 22.5 points to lead the team to the conference championship by anchoring the 4-by-800 relay, winning the 1,600 and finishing the day winning the 3,200, both in convincing fashion. She set her 1,600 personal record in Virginia Beach, set her indoor 3,200 personal record in New York and also broke the school record in the 1,000 meters.

The Coaches Award went to Elizabeth Melson, another assistant coach on the team who has done so much for the program. Melson, who will attend Penn State next year, also won the DIAA Academic Award and put together the season-ending slideshow for the guests to enjoy. It was a great night that even I enjoyed as I was Zoomed in on the big screen from Hotel Jefferson Hospital.

Cape track & field camp

The second annual Cape Track & Field Clinic was held last Sunday morning with 111 young athletes coming out to learn track & field.  The athletes were put through a dynamic warmup and a speed session, and were introduced to hurdles, sprints, high jump, baton handoffs, shot put, long jump and triple jump. This Sunday, April 3, will be the second camp session. Each athlete will receive a T-shirt and a sling travel bag for participating.