Running sports have the most state titles at Cape Henlopen

Spring track - Matt Lindell enters his 20th year coaching at some level of spring track. If this were the A&E channel, I’d do a biography on him. Tim Bamforth ran track for Cape Class of 1985 and Delaware State Class of 1989. He’s been coaching track and the Seashore Striders uninterrupted the last 30 years. This spring, he takes over the Cape girls’ program for the first time, replacing George Pepper, who coached the previous 41 years. March 2, under ideal weather conditions, there were athletes all over the track. The track athlete’s sense of history lies between now and the last race. But running sports at Cape – cross country, indoor track and outdoor track – represent more state titles than boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, which has a combined 18. The running sports have 26. 

New sport in town - Cape will feature a boys’ volleyball team this fall, offered at the club level, coached by Dion Lamb and Tyler Coupe. The spikers will play Delmarva Christian twice, Dickinson, Indian River and Charter School. If I write that it will never catch on, then that makes it a certainty to be a raging success in two years. 

College kickbacks - I email college media relations people often asking for a high-resolution photo and a coach quote about a local athlete, identifying myself as Emeritus Man of the Cape Gazette. Mostly I get sent back what I asked for within a half a day. And then there are other schools that never get back, and I think that is a bad sign, a reflection that their athletic organization is at the adaptive level but their websites look good. By the way, the University of Virginia sent me a podium photo of Sam Young wearing his pole vault gold medal from the ACC championships. Amazingly, I just requested a head shot. They threw in the podium shot.  

Welcome to my house - Charter beat Sussex Central 53-31 in the opening round of the DIAA Girls’ Basketball Tournament and will play at Cape on Friday night at 7 p.m. A Vikings victory would give Cape a quarterfinal home game against the winner of Caesar Rodney and Tatnall. Delmarva Christian (19-1) will host Caravel (9-11) Friday night. The Royals are the No. 4 seed while the Buccaneers are seeded at 20. The semifinals are Wednesday, March 11, at the Bob Carpenter Center, with the finals scheduled Friday at 7:30 p.m. Cape hasn’t won a state title in girls’ basketball in 47 years.  

That’s good enough - A song by Molly Tuttle, “There comes a time to say that’s good enough.”  Sports have loss and rejection embedded in the outcome; that’s what makes winning so glorious and fat cat satisfying. But there comes a time when you cannot play at the next level or even make your high school team, perhaps it’s a college rejection letter or a graduate school sends a letter, “You didn’t make the cut; after all, we have our standards.” I was recently rejected by the voting members of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame and for a brief silly second I was like a high school kid from the 1960s who saw his name written on a cut list pasted on the cafeteria wall near the make-your-own hoagie lunch wagon. “It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry.” – Bob Dylan.

Snippets - Jaron Dukes Hazzard invited me to the basketball banquet for the Milford Middle School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. Jaron was a coach on the undefeated boys’ team with Jawon Sivels and Tony Hazzard. Three classy young men. I am proud to know them. College conference basketball tournaments begin next weekend. Gus Johnson is the voice of the Big East Tournament. He is my favorite play-by-play guy for football and basketball. Cape is moving fast on the selection of a new athletic director and before March comes in like a Lexus and out like a Lamborghini, the school board will likely have made its decision. And now it’s time to play how long does it take to select your team and post a numbered roster? Girls’ soccer coach Patrick Kilby wins, having posted a 19-person alphabetical roster highlighted by sisters Sophia and Sydney Zych. There are nine sports management majors on the Delaware State baseball roster. I’m not sure how that projects for future employment other than a two-year commitment to the internship army. Go on now, git!