Cape girls’ track finishes dual-meet season undefeated

The Cape Henlopen girls’ track & field team finished off an emotional dual-meet season with an undefeated record of 8-0. Next up are the Henlopen Conference Championships to be held at Jim Blades Stadium at Lake Forest High School in Felton. The Vikings lost teammate Maggie Browne during spring break in a terrible accident and dedicated their season to the late sophomore jumper.

“We wore the letter ‘M’ on our uniforms as we dedicated each meet to Maggie,” said junior Tia Jarvis. “The Smyrna girls presented our team with a large framed picture of Maggie, which was so nice, and we take the picture of her to every meet. She was definitely a part of each win with the girls.”

The Vikings finished second to Smyrna at the Panther Challenge Invitational April 29, and won their eighth straight dual meet May 3, topping Caesar Rodney 98-42. The Vikings won 13 of the 18 events, including all four relays in the meet. Individually for the Vikings, Reagan Ciabattoni won the long jump, triple jump and 400 meters to lead the team with 15 points. The Duke University-bound junior won the long jump in a new season best of 16-feet-5-inches and also won the 400 meters in 1:02.0 for another season best. Emma Duffield won the 1,600-meter run in 5:48, and freshman Hannah Maney won the 800 in 2:36. Taylor Johnson won both hurdles races, while Mehkia Applewhite won the 100 meters and grabbed second in the shot put. Mia Nuebling won the 3,200 in 13:26.

The Cape Henlopen boys’ track & field team moved to 8-3 with a win over the Riders of Caesar Rodney 82-64. Both teams split on the track with each winning six events. Cape won four of the six field events to make the difference. The Vikings won the 800 relay in 1:38.2 and the 1,600m relay in 3:42.0. Individually for the Vikings, Josiah Miller won both the shot put in 47-feet-8-inches and the discus in 139-feet-8½-inches, while Daniel Saez won the 100 meters in 11.6. Ben Clifton won the 400 meters in 53.6, while Julian Callaway won the 800 meters in 2:04.2. Senior Lance Kauffman won the 3,200 in 10:27.0, while Michael Cerf won the high jump in 5-feet-6-inches. Sophomore Jakob Hayes won the pole vault with a 9-feet-9-inch clearance.

The two best races of the day were the 1,600 meters, where Riders senior Blaise Moyer ran 4:30.2 to hold off charging Cape sophomore Ryan Baker, and the 800 meters, where Cape junior Julian Callaway ran a season best of 2:04.2 to hold off CR senior Justin Green.  

Seashore Half Marathon & 5K

The 11th annual Seashore Half Marathon & 5K will take off from Irish Eyes in Lewes at 8 a.m., Saturday, May 8, with the half going into Cape Henlopen State Park and down to the Gordons Pond turnaround. The 5K will remain in Lewes. Packet pickup will be from 4 to 6 p.m., Friday, May 7, at the Lewes library. Event parking will be at the public beach parking lot behind the Dairy Queen or off Market Street behind the Beacon Motel close to the start and finish area. A limited post-race ceremony will be held at Irish Eyes following the event with social distancing and mask-wearing. Last-chance packet pickup will be from 7 to 7:30 a.m. at Irish Eyes on race morning.  

Relay members will exchange ankle chips at the turnaround, located about 300 meters before they get to the Gordons Pond parking area. The first runner will cover approximately 6.12 miles with the second runner doing approximately 6.98 miles. Relay members will have to get to and from the exchange on their own, since transportation will not be provided as it has been in the past.

Senior Day celebration

The Cape Henlopen track & field program celebrated Senior Day prior to the Caesar Rodney meet.

The Unified Track & Field seniors are Erin Frye, Carter Gofus, Donald Jefferson and Brooke Kochinsky.

The girls’ track & field seniors are Taylor Johnson and Amaya and Aya Daisey. Seniors on the boys’ team are Daniel Adili-Khams, Michael Cerf, Bryan Garcia, Lance Kauffman, Nathan Loucks, Josiah Miller, Terry Pettyjohn, Jayden Sheppard and Cody Workman.

Congratulations to all the senior Vikings.