Cape teams take second at Snow Hill Invitational

The Cape boys came up a half-point short Jan. 9 in Snow Hill, as they scored 69.5 points to Kent Island High School’s 70. It was the closest boys’ meet of the season so far, and the Vikings scored in all 15 events.

“We spread out very well. We do not have that top eliminator track athlete that will win three and four events, but we work hard to pick up a lot of points with third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishes,” said coach Ellis Gaulden. “The conference meet is coming up, and if we compete well we will be right in the mix of the action.”

The only event the Vikings won was the triple jump, as Dane Palmer leaped 40-feet-5-inches; however, the long jump and triple jump do not count in the team points, as Delaware teams are the only ones that compete.

Palmer was also second in the long jump with a leap of 20-feet-6 ¾-inches and third in the high jump at 6-feet-even.

Sophomore Isaiah Fillyau was second in the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 8.32, while jumper Giovanni Bendfeldt was second in the pole vault with a clearance of 11-feet-6-inches. The Cape 4-by-400-meter relay team grabbed second place in a time of 3:52.4.

Pat Tkach was third in the shot with a nice throw of 43-feet-2 ½-inches, while Cody Workman was third in the long jump at 17-feet-9 ½-inches. John Small was third in the triple with a jump of 36-feet-7-inches. The 4-by-800 relay was fourth in 9:14.2. Cape had three fifth-place performances, as Kolbe O’Donnell was fifth in the 1,600 meters in a time of 4:58.05, Bryan Ciabattoni was fifth in the 3,200 meters in 11:22.5, and Cesar Campos grabbed the final fifth-place finish in the 800 meters with a 2:16.3 performance from this former Mariner Viking.

The Cape boys will return to Snow Hill Wednesday, Jan. 16.

Alia Marshall leads Cape girls

Senior Alia Marshall, recently named Delaware Field Hockey Player of the Year, scored 40 points to lead the Cape girls to a second-place finish at the weekly Snow Hill Invitational Jan. 9. Marshall won both jump events, the long jump in 16-feet-4 ½-inches and the triple jump in 33-feet-5 ½-inches to start off the meet. Marshall returned to the track to capture the 55-meter dash in 7.82 seconds as well as the 300-meter dash in 43.48 seconds. Marshall’s 300-meter performance is the fastest in Delaware this season, and her 43.48 was .05 off the Snow Hill season best at that distance. 

“Alia has been away from track and field for three years now, but she is slowly getting back to being at her best,” said coach Gilbert Maull. “She has three real quality meets in the next two weeks, and then the Delaware State Championships to close out her first and last indoor season. It will be fun to watch her perform against some great competition and see what she can really do.”

The Vikings scored in 13 out of 15 events for 84 points and a second-place finish behind Kent Island, which won the 16-team meet with 95 points.

“We scored a season-high 84 points and did it with a team full of hardworking, talented freshmen and a few solid upperclassman,” said coach Jamie Loucks. “The girls competed tough today. We had girls step up and compete in new and longer events to try to get more points for the team, and we had girls like Taylor Johnson, who was ill, still get on the track and compete hard for the team.”

Other highlights for the Vikings were a win in the shot put by Mackenzie Parker with a toss of 33-feet-7 ½-inches, and the 4-by-200 relay of freshman Noelle Sabbagh, freshman Marin Buckaloo, freshman Ariyanna Dabney and anchor Sawyer Walker winning the event in 1:57.3. Taylor Johnson was second in the 800 meters in 2:43.8, while Walker placed second in the high jump in 4-feet-10-inches. Freshmen distance running duo of Mia Nuebling and Liz Melson both finished fourth in their races, Melson in the 1,600 meters in 6:03.0, and Nuebling in the 3,200 meters in 13:00.5. The 4-by-400 relay of Sabbagh, Dabney, Buckaloo and Walker returned to take fourth in a time of 4:47.0, while the 4-by-800 relay of Johnson, Melson, Fallon Moore and Neubling was also fourth in a time of 11:13.7. Rose Minni was fourth in the triple jump in 27-feet-5-inches.

The Cape girls will travel to Ursinus College Sunday, Jan. 13, to compete in the Bears Invitational.

Finish chute

In their first year, congratulations to Jay Diaz and his Sussex Academy team as they try to get the program going. The girls scored 14 points in the meet, led by their third-place finish in the 4-by-800 relay with the team of Emily Trout, Helena Helou, Sadie Tunnell and Alissa Swann.