Cape track & field to compete in no-spectator state championships

Saturday will be the first track state championship held at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Md., and the first state championship where spectators will not be allowed. Due to the size of the facility, only athletes and coaches will be allowed into the track area.  

Cape Henlopen, with a rich tradition of track & field in Delaware, is coming off a double Henlopen Conference team championship last weekend at UMES.

Both Cape teams have backed off, spreading out for team points instead of going after individual events for season- and personal-best performances. The Cape girls and boys will be in the championship section in all three relay events.

On the girls’ side, Padua, Tatnall, Saint Mark’s and Cape are the only teams to make all three relay championships, while on the boys’ side, Salesianum, Polytech and Cape are the only teams to make all three events. Sophomore Hannah Maney and senior Tia Jarvis will run on all three relay teams. Katie Kuhlman will run the 1,600 meters, Lainey Shockro will pole vault and Grace Wiggins will long jump. Cape will send three high jumpers, Elizabeth Melson, Ari Dabney and Allison Head, to the event. Alexa Dougherty and Cadence McMahon will triple jump.  

On the boys side’ of the action, school record holder Ryan Baker will run the 1,600, 3,200 and 3,200 relay. In the high jump event, the Vikings have Barritt Ross, Konner Knarr and Billy Cerf all ready for personal bests, while three pole vaulters – Bailey Fletcher, Jakob Hayes and Henlopen Conference champion Eddie Houck – will compete. Malaki Lewis will toss the shot put, while Daniel Saez, Knarr and John Small will take part in the long jump. Small will also triple jump and run the 55-meter hurdles, while Ben Clifton and Brian Sponaugle will run the 800 meters. Andrew Wolak will run the 400 meters, and Joey DeGregory will race in the 3,200 meters.

Streakin’

Many people have streaks in the world of running and racing, and I think it is interesting to report on them. Here are a few that come to mind.

For over 20 years, local businessman and Cape wrestling alumni dad Ray Tartal Sr. has driven to Rehoboth Beach, parked at Funland and walked two miles on the Boardwalk at the same basic time and on the same basic course. “You would think after 20 years I would get tired of it, but I still enjoy to this day starting my day on the Boardwalk and watching the sun come up over the ocean,” said Tartal.

How about the late Doug White and his streak of his two favorite races – the Boston Marathon and Caesar Rodney Half Marathon. Doug logged nearly 90,000 competitive miles and ran 43 straight Bostons and 44 Caesar Rodneys.

John Wolff, my running friend from Virginia, has had a longtime running streak that ranks up with the longest in the country. Since Sept. 1, 1990, John has run a minimum of three miles per day. He will reach 11,500 consecutive days Feb. 24. The United States Running Streak Association requires a minimum of one mile per day. John currently stands at No. 62 in the U.S. for consecutive running days. 

Fredman walked 100 miles per month for five straight years for a total of 60 straight months, which is impressive to me. That works out to seven to eight hours of walking per week.   

Teacher and lifeguard Joe “Chico” Barranco made it to just under 15 years of running every day of the week. During a past winter blizzard, Chico had to run around his basement water heater to keep his streak alive. “I almost made it to 15 years, and then came down with double pneumonia,” said Barranco. “I missed three weeks and then started another that lasted about four years.” The streak finally caught up to Barranco about three years ago when he had to have a hip replacement. “These days, I run for 10 minutes and walk for 50 minutes.”

The late Cape coach Bill Degnan was involved in a streak while he was a student-athlete at Frostburg, but it was a quick one sprinting across campus from the dorms through the café and back to the dorms.

I have been involved in only a few streaks in my lifetime. I am closing in on my 1,500th consecutive column for the Cape Gazette. I have been in the same room as a teacher for 31 years, which I believe no one in the district can beat. Lastly, in 1988 as a junior as DSU, I put myself through five months of 100 miles per week to reach 500 miles, averaging over 14 miles a day.  

If any of my readers have an interesting streak they would like to share, I would love to hear about it. Drop me the facts at tim@seashorestrider.com.