Rodriguez wins Oy Vey 5K; Beacon wins packed meet

Seashore Striders runner Martin Rodriguez of New Castle/Selbyville captured the overall title at the annual Oy Vey 5K in Rehoboth Beach in a time of 18:34, while Melissa Wiley of Ocean City, Md., won the female race in 21:17.8. Paul Montini of Huntington Valley, Pa., won the male masters race in 20:32.9, while Kelly McCullough of Abingdon, Md., ran 24:14.7 to win the female masters title.

Beacon wins packed meet

In middle school action, the Beacon boys beat Mariner 68-41, while Mariner topped Seaford 83-26 and Red Lion 84-25. Fred Thomas beat Seaford 86-23. Highlighting the meet was Elijah Cain with 18 points via three first-place finishes and a second. Cain won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.4, the 800 meters in 2:28.8 and the long jump at 17-feet. He took second in the triple jump at 33-10. Jace Reddix won the 100 meters in 11.9, the 400 in 55.9 and the 200 in 24.8. Henry Nuefeld of Fred Thomas won the 1,600 in 5:36, while Elijauh Whaley of Fred Thomas won the shot put in 37-11. Fred Thomas also won the 400 relay in 49.1, while Beacon won the 800 relay in 1:48.6. Duke Spath of Fred Thomas won the high jump in 5-2. Nathann Fonseca-Andino of Mariner had a nice jump meet, winning the triple jump in 34-0, finishing second in the high jump in 5-0 and second in the long jump in 16-3.

In girls’ action, Beacon edged Mariner 56-53 led by Addison Wilson’s 18 points. She won the 100 in 13.1, the 200 in 26.7, the long jump in 15-10 and took second in the triple jump in 31-2. Mariner also beat Red Lion 106-3 and Seaford 100-8. Amani Johnson of Mariner won the 55-meter hurdles in 9.8 and ran the third leg of the winning 400 relay in 54.4. Mariner also won the 800 relay in 1:58.0. Francesca Pitts of Beacon won the 400 in 1:06.0. Avaiya Hazzard of Mariner won the shot put in 29-1 and the discus in 57-11, while Addi Mohacey of Mariner won the triple jump in 31-8. Eva Csaszar of Beacon won the distance double, taking the 1,600 in 6:07.7 and the 800 in 2:48.0. Quinn Clark of Fred Thomas jumped 14-11 in the long jump for second place, while Rylie Freeman finished second in the shot put at 24-11 and second in the discus at 52-11. 

Keith Burgess Invitational

One of the longtime popular invitationals, the Keith Burgess Invitational, was held April 18 at Lake Forest, bringing together most of the Henlopen Conference’s southern high school teams. The Henlopen North’s Cape team did compete, but many of the top scorers were not entered. Cape picked up big points in the pole vault with a 1-2-3 sweep led by Douglas Simpson at 12-9, followed by Nathan Ryu Licuanan at 11-6 and Eli Haschemeyer at 10-0. The Vikings won both the 1,600 relay in 4:28.29 and 3,200 relay in 11:11.09 for 20 points. Anejah Grace won the 100-meter hurdles in 17.00, while Natalie Schneider won the 1,600 in 5:37.66 and the 3,200 in a new personal-best time of 11:53.05. Maile Godwin won the 800 in a PR of 2:24.62.

Sussex Central hurdler Laniah Wright won the 300-meter hurdles in 50.03, while Kai Thornton won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.33. Sussex Tech jumper Jordan Welch picked up 30 points and three wins, capturing the high jump in 6-6, the long jump in 24-3.75 and the triple jump in 49-0. 

Tyrese White tossed the discus 157-0 to win the event for the Ravens.

Sussex Academy vaulter Claire Denham cleared 6-6 to win the event, while Jesse Jean Louis won the 300-meter hurdles in 40.88.

Moody in the mood

Many track athletes at some time in the racing career have a breakthrough and drop a significant amount of time off their previous personal best. Sometimes it is just a matter of having confidence to go out harder, or maybe in the middle of the race they start a finishing kick earlier.

For me as a junior at Cape, I was stuck between 4:32 and 4:36 in the mile, but I dropped to 4:26 at the state championships.

At Sussex Academy, state indoor 1,600 champion Ryan Moody is one of the toughest in the state. He showed that last year running 4:16 and this winter winning the mile state championship. But the breakthrough is not Ryan’s. Instead, it’s from younger brother Ben, who just finished third in the 800 meters in a super time of 1:59.69, just four-tenths of a second behind older brother Ryan, who ran 1:59.29 for second. Ben also ran 4:37.22 in the 1,600. Ben should be up for any most improved awards at the end of the season when looking at his progression and performances from the last year.

First Responder Series

The Plantation Lakes Twilight 5K will be held Saturday, April 25, at Plantation Lakes in Millsboro. The race will begin at 5 p.m. and is a part of the Seashore Striders First Responder Series benefitting the Shaffer Foundation and the Millsboro first responders. Following the race, there will be a post-race food fest where one can tempt their inner foodie at the Taste of the Shore Food Rally featuring local seafood, Southern-style food, Irish specialties and old-fashioned home cooking.

Penn Relays week

It’s Penn Relays week with many teams traveling to Franklin Field in Philadelphia for one of the largest and most exciting track and field meets in the world. Most of the teams in the state are entered in the 400 and 1,600 relays, while some of the top individuals may be entered in an open event. My four memories from the Penn Relays that stand out were when Fredman somehow got the Cape Vikings and my 4-by-800 relay team into a fast heat with several Jamaican teams in 1984 and we ran 8:11 to finish dead last in the race. James Boyer, Axel Swalblad and Tony Horsey were my teammates. I also ran the steeplechase in 1987 for Delaware State, which was quite a wet experience, to say the least. Kai Maull winning the high school long jump was one of the most accomplished performances in Delaware track history. My last time at Franklin Field, my Cape girls’ mile relay ran 4:10.2, which was the fastest team I ever had, with Hannah Maney leading off followed by Alexis Dougherty, Katie Kuhlman and Tia Jarvis.