Cape girls’ track and field shows off talent in NYC

The Lady Vikings traveled to New York City this past weekend to take part in the New Balance Games at the Mecca of track & field – The New Balance Armory. Sophomore Tia Jarvis had one of the best meets of her career by winning the sophomore long jump in 16-11 ¼ for a new meet record. Reagan Ciabattoni finished second in the long jump in 15-2¼. Jarvis also anchored her 4-by-200 and 4-by-400 relay teams in come-from-behind fashion to victories on the 200-meter banked oval. The Vikings held on to win the 4-by-400 relay in a time of 4:22.78, just missing the Cape school record of 4:21. Ciabattoni, Noelle Sabbagh, Katie Kuhlman and Jarvis made up the relay team of three sophomores and a freshman. 

The Cape team of Ciabattoni, Sabbagh, Elizabeth Melson and Jarvis ran 1:53.96 to finish third out of 28 teams in the 4-by-200 relay. Melson was ninth in 3:22.58 and Mia Nuebling was 17th in 3:28.77 among 53 girls in the 1,000-meter run, while Kuhlman finished 11th of 23 freshman girls in 3:20.13 in the 1,000-meter run. Taylor Johnson was 12th in 6:35.62 in the one-mile steeplechase, while Olivia Brozefsky was 38th in the mile in 5:50.19 and 11th in the vault at 8-feet-6-inches.

Next up for the Lady Vikings is another trip to New York, this time to the Ocean Breeze facility in Staten Island Sunday, Jan. 26.

Cape boys win at UMES

The Cape boys’ indoor track & field team traveled south Jan. 18 to Princess Anne, Md., to take part in the Eastern Shore Invitational hosted by University of Maryland Eastern Shore. When the dust had settled on the 200-meter Mondo track surface, the Vikings had captured the team title. Highlights for the Vikings were three individual championships, led by a personal record in the shot put by Josiah Miller with a throw of 48-feet-8 ¼-inches. Ethan Edery ran 4:39.11 in the 1,600 meters and is almost back to 100 percent following a post-cross country injury. Giovanni Bendfeldt won the pole vault in 11-6 to cap off the third win.

Brian Sponaugle finished second in the 500 in 1:15.50, while Hunter Jones ran a nice 1,600 in 4:43.84 to also grab second. Cape was second in the 1,600 relay in 3:42.24 for a season-best time, while John Small was second in the triple jump with a leap of just over 39 feet. Taking third was the 800 relay team in 1:42.12, while David Smith II was third in the 800 with a personal-best time of 2:04.76. Andrew Wolak was third in the 400 in 54.86, while Nathan Loucks was third in the 500 in 1:16.06 and fourth in the triple jump in 37-9 ¾. Daniel Adili-Khams was fourth in the 3,200 in 10:36.13.

Local highlights: Congratulations to the following athletes who grabbed championships in the meet. Julian Roach of Sussex Tech won the 60-meter dash in 7.18. Noah Thomas of Sussex Central won the 500 in 1:15.17. Central’s Travon McVicker won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.47. Sussex Central took the sprint medley in 3:49.21. P.J. Stratton of Sussex Central won the high jump in 5-10, while Ja’Kai Jones of Sussex Tech won the triple jump in 43-1.

Ny’Ashja Brown, a sophomore out of Cape Henlopen, won the shot put in 32-1 ½, while freshman Anna Fantoli tossed a personal best 24-7 ¼ to finish sixth.