Middle school track athletes put on a show at Cape

The Selbyville boys won the Delaware Middle School Classic May 3 at Cape Henlopen High School with 91 points. Postlethwait was second with 73 points, while Kirk rounded out the top three with 70 points. Host Beacon was fourth with 55 points, while Mariner scored 15 points for seventh. 

Beacon seventh-grader Justin Friscia won the 800 meters in a new school record of 2:16.6, while eighth-grader Liam O’Donnell ran 2:19.4 for a season-best performance and second overall in the race.

O’Donnell captured the 1,600 in smooth fashion, running 5:08.4 for a season best. Friscia was second in the 1,600 meters in 5:14.0, while Mariner’s Jakob Haynes ran 5:26.6 for a season best.   

Beacon’s DeShaun Lewis jumped a season best of 5-feet-2-inches in the high jump for second place overall. In the 400-meter final, Cape had three finalists as Trey Leggins of Mariner ran fourth with a 59.0, while Lewis ran 59.9 and Beacon’s DeShaun Callaway was seventh overall in 1:00.1. With these three quarter-milers coming soon to the high school, it only means good news for the Cape Henlopen High School program.

On the girls’ side of the action, Postlethwait scored 101 points to win the title, while Beacon was second with 71 points. Milford grabbed third with 49 points, while Mariner was sixth with 33 points.

Beacon’s Kacie Gibbons remained undefeated in the 55-meter hurdles, cruising through the trials in 9.5 and returning to win the title in 9.3 seconds. Gibbons also was second in the triple jump in 29-8. Montana Jones of Beacon was third in the 100 meters in 13.5, while Lindsey Fernandez of Beacon was fifth in the 1,600 meters in 6:12.5. Beacon’s Jania Curry ran a 1:07.4 for second in the 400 meters, while Beacon’s Ariana Adili-Khams was fourth in the 800 meters in 2:44.4. Beacon’s Hailey Archambault was second in the shot put in 30-9 and also second in the discus in 75-2.

Mariner’s Ally Stevenson ran 6:01.9 for fourth in the 1,600 meters, then 2:42.6 in the 800 meters to take third. Anna Kucharik of Mariner was third in the 400 meters in a good time of 1:09.7. Mariner’s Cailyn Bledsoe was fourth in the shot put in 29-8 and also fourth in the discus in 68-9.

Track note - Beacon seventh-grader Justin Friscia broke the only school record this season on the Beacon team, lowering the 800 record from 2:17.8 run by Robert Marsh in 2016 to a blazing 2:16.6. 

Run for Recovery 5K

The third annual Run for Recovery 5K was held May 4 at Cape Henlopen High School, with just over 100 participants. Masters runner Matt Sparacino of Harrington ran 19:31 to average 6:17 a mile and run away from the field, while Kelsey Oliphant of Laurel ran stride for stride with her sister Alexis to win the female overall title in 22:34. Chris Moosey of Harrisburg, Pa., won the male masters title in 22:32, while Nina Smeltzer of Rehoboth Beach won the female masters title in 27:51.

Bennett Brumbley, 11, of Laurel ran 21:02 to win the 10-13 division, while young Theo Hart of Lewes won the 9-and-under group in 26:56. Ashley Womack of Dover won the 10-13 group in 52:03.

Mayor Ted Becker welcomed the field at the start, followed by organizer Stacy Robinson with a few words about the event and the high addiction rate in Sussex County leading to a high number of overdose incidents.

Gone but not forgotten

I traveled with my assistant track coach Gilbert Maull May 4 to attend coach Ron Hovington Jr.’s funeral at Lake Forest High School with a packed house of friends, family and young athletes. Coach Hovington, just 39, was the coach of the Chipman Middle School track & field team and passed away April 28 due to heart complications. Coach Hov, as he was called, was very excited to bring his team to Cape to compete in the final quad meet against Beacon, Dover and Mariner. I dedicated that meet to coach Hov, and he would have been proud of the way his team competed last week.

Coach Hov, a standout football and track athlete at Sussex Central and Delaware State, was a fun-loving guy who was always smiling and making the best of each and every day. Coach Hov is gone but not forgotten, and he will be missed by all his track family and friends. But now the late coach Bill Degnan has a big-time shot putter on the All-Heaven Team.