Everybody loves Tia Jarvis

Circle Game - Coach Tim Bamforth is working with runner Tia Jarvis to determine if she is better suited as a long sprinter (400 meters) or middle distance runner (800 meters). On the track versus Caesar Rodney Feb. 16, Tia won the 400 meters in 64.3 seconds, then said, “That wind on the final turn was kicking my butt.” And then Tia said to me, “Thanks for coming to the meet and taking pictures.” If you want to know why everyone loves Tia Jarvis, just talk to her once and then you will know, and I told her that after the first time I talked to her.

Roger Franks - I emceed the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame banquet in 1997. I remember vividly looking down the dais of inductees at 70-year-old swimmer Roger Franks and saying, “A senior swimmer looks like Vincent Price on steroids.” Frank is credited with 75 championship wins over the course of his life, including 42 national and 14 world records. He was a torch bearer for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. When Roger came to the podium at the 1997 banquet, he said matter-of-factly, “We senior athletes have a saying, ‘He who lives the longest wins.’” Franks died in 2017 at the age of 90. 

Realignment and refinement - The following comments appeared in this column Dec. 10, 1998 - “Delaware scholastic football needs to realign conferences and expand the state tournament to move into the same century with the contiguous states, whatever that means. Dover and Caesar Rodney should get booted to Blue Hen Flight A and play in a conference with similar-sized schools like William Penn, Newark, Christiana and Brandywine. Those teams along with large independents like Saint Mark’s and Salesianum would make up Division I. Mid-size schools like Cape, Seaford, Middletown, Sussex Central and possibly others from Blue Hen Flight B would make up another conference and Division II. And the smaller schools like Laurel, Delmar and Woodbridge, and some of the smaller private schools would make up Division III. Even a down-under state like Louisiana has six divisions within the state ...” I was ahead of my time and should have stayed there. 

Cape Cheer - Cape, coached by Courtney Hennessey, placed first in the coed varsity division at the Christiana cheer competition Feb. 7. They followed that up on Feb. 14 with a coed varsity first-place finish at the Polytech Spirit Jam. Next on the schedule is the Delaware Cheerleading Coaches Association Championship for Coed Cheerleading, essentially the state championship. That will be filmed in an empty Cape gym ... the custodians are not allowed to cheer. The routine is filmed and submitted in real time. It takes 10 days to hear from the judges’ panel. Seniors Lauren Pribulick, Jormir Della Cruz Baltazar and Bryan Garcia were named to the DFRC Gold team. If the squad wins that competition, they should absolutely hang a state championship banner in the gym.  

Snippets - Katie Frederick, a president's list psychology major at the University of Delaware, was voted by her peers to be team president of the Blue Hens club field hockey team. Kara Voss of Cape was field hockey club president her senior year at Delaware 2012-13, when the Blue Hens won the national championship. Veronica D’Amico was social chair for that team. Gina Voss and Teenie Bristowe were co-chairs their senior year at Delaware 2015-16. Eddy Shoop is listed as a senior on the 2021 University of Florida women's lacrosse team. Eddy is a 2020 Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll member. Last I talked to Eddy, she wanted to be a veterinarian, or was that vegetarian? Perhaps both. Eddy suffered a serious knee injury recently, so I’m not sure if she is coming back to play. Cape’s Cailey Thornburg scored two goals for Mercer University, which dropped its lacrosse opener at High Point 13-11. Chloe Schaeffer had a goal on two shots. Iseabal Cryne went the distance in goal for the Bears, recording 15 saves. Wesley College will be under DSU control by June 30, and that is the end of the Wolverines’ Division III sports programs. Wesley’s posted tuition costs and a full array of athletic programs – nine women's and eight men’s programs – always made the small college a financial mystery. It just seemed no one was paying full price or the same price. Karissa Worley (Cape) is a sophomore on the LaSalle University women's lacrosse team. A total of 14 weight-class brackets for the end-of-season state wrestling tournament will be seeded Saturday, Feb. 20. Pass the doughnuts. Go on now, git!