Cape boys take top honors at Snow Hill event

The Cape boys’ indoor track team scored 97 points to capture the team title at the weekly Snow Hill Invite Jan. 17 as snow fell outside. Caesar Rodney and Parkside each scored 61 points for second.

Stephen Decatur was fourth with 55 points, followed by James M. Bennett fifth with 48 points, Wicomico sixth with 46 points, Cambridge South Dorchester seventh with 31 points, Lake Forest eighth with 24 points, Snow Hill ninth with 23 points and Crisfield 10th with 17 points.

James M. Bennett won the girls’ meet with a team score of 97 points, while second place went to Parkside with 77 points. Lake Forest and Cambridge South Dorchester each scored 59 points to finish third. The Cape Vikings scored 26 points for seventh.

Greg Boyce continued to be a force in the distance races for Cape, as he finished first in the 1,600 meters in 4:50 and fourth in the 800 meters in 2:11. A nice race of 5:01 was turned in by John DiStefano in the 1,600 meters, good for third overall. The 1,600-meter relay team from Cape captured first place in a time of 4:05, while the 800-meter relay and the 3,200-meter relay teams both finished in second place. Pole vaulter Gio Bendfeldt jumped 10-feet even to grab second and will look to go higher at next week’s championships.

Sprinter Curtis Purnell turned in a 6.99 for third in the 55 meters, while Christian Partlow was second in the 300 meters. In the jumps, Garrett Elgin leaped 19-feet even in the long jump for second, while Purtis Purnell was third at 18-feet-4-inches. Elgin returned to win the triple jump in 38-feet-9-inches, while Collin Ritchie was third in 34-feet-6-inches.

The Cape girls had a limited number of athletes in competition due to exams and another meet scheduled for Friday, Jan. 19. Sophomore Timesha Cannon ran a personal-best time of 7.72 in the 55-meter dash, good for fourth overall, and she returned to take fifth in the 300 meters in 46.8. Freshman Taylor Johnson ran her first 500-meter race and finished fourth in 1:36.33. She returned to finish second in the 800 meters in another personal best of 2:45.74. Hailey Craig tied for fourth in the high jump at 4-feet-4-inches, while Cannon jumped 15-feet-1-inch in the long jump for fourth place. Rose Minni was fourth in the long jump at 29-feet-2-inches.

The Vikings will return to Snow Hill Thursday, Jan. 25, for the Henlopen Conference Championships beginning at 2:30 p.m.

The Vikings girls’ team will compete at the New Balance Games in New York City Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19 and 20, as Taylor Johnson and Riley Klopp will run the 1,000 meters. Timesha Cannon will race in the sophomore 55 meters; Ce’yra Middleton and MacKenzie Parker will throw the shot put in the varsity division, and Rose Minni will long jump in the sophomore division. Cape will also enter two relay teams, as Aya and Amaya Daisey, Bre Kusen and Cannon will compete in the 4-by-200-meter and 4-by-400-meter relays for freshmen and sophomores. The Daisey duo will also long jump in the freshman division.  

Go FastRunning Camp

Go Fast Sports Performance, founded by coach Derek Shockro of Sussex Central High School, is in its second year and has released its 2018 schedule. There will be three camps this summer for athletes in the area. The Youth Running Camp Session I will be June 13-15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. for ages 6 to 10 years old, while Session II will be June 20-22 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. also for ages 6 to 10. The Elite Running Camp will be June 18-22 from 8 to 11 a.m. for ages 11 to 18.

A discount is available if you register before Wednesday, Feb. 28. For more information and cost, contact Shockro at 302-983-6050 or email gofastcamps@gmail.com.  Each camp is open to athletes in any sport and will have a unique training experience.

Running Book of the Week

“Once a Runner.” Originally self-published by John L. Parker Jr. in 1978, “Once a Runner” captures the essence of competitive running – and of athletic competition in general – and has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever published.

Inspired by the author’s experience as a collegiate champion, the story focuses on Quenton Cassidy, a competitive runner at fictional Southeastern University. It is Cassidy’s lifelong dream to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his school’s athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletes’ protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team. Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life against the greatest miler in history.