Tear-stained eyes reflect on the struggle to survive

Joyful sadness - Miss Wilmington Rebecca Gasperetti sang the national anthem from a 1-foot elevated stage to 600 runners, walkers, survivors and their family of friends prior to the DE-feet Breast Cancer 5K May 21. The assembly of God was where the Tanger Outlets parking lot meets the Junction and Breakwater Trail. I panned the crowd through my lens and saw survivors and friends from Cape High, Jackie Restucci Quigley and Dr. Tania Brown. I saw the emotional sadness of survivors as they reflected on the past struggle, where it intersects the joy of just being alive in the real-time present. “My emotions tend to take over at the start of this race when I'm surrounded by fellow survivors and remembering my angels who fought so hard,” Jackie said. Personally, I failed the dispassionate, detached photographer test. Unlike Hootie, the dolphins don’t make me cry, but Jackie and Tania knocked me off the stage. Good thing it was only a 1-foot drop.

I stay relative - Adam Goss ran the mile at the Blockhouse Pond Run May 19 at George H.P. Smith Park in Lewes. Adam was just steps from the finish line and looking good when he stopped and said to me, “Hi, Fredman. Your son is doing a good job. He’s very funny.” My son Jack is his life skills teacher. The next day at the Run for the Books 5K in Rehoboth, Ginger Shaud, who ran the Blockhouse Pond mile May 19, was running her very first 5K. Heading to the starting line, she said, “Hi, Fredman. How’s Mr. Frederick doing?” Later in Wawa, a little girl and her mother were behind me at the counter. She looked up and said, “Hi, Fredman.” “How do you know who I am?” I asked. “You’re Mikey’s grandfather.” To which I answered, “Yes, I am,” then I went to my truck where I’m Darby’s daddy, that slobbering and shedding maniac.   

Two-day track meet - The team champions in Delaware track and field have been crowned after two days of competition at Dover High School. In Division I, the boys’ top three was Dover with 121 points, Salesianum with 90 and Caesar Rodney with 83. Sussex Tech was 12th with 18 points, Sussex Central 13th place with 13 points and Cape placed 15th with seven points. St. George’s captured the Division II title with 98 points, followed by Howard with 95 and Lake Forest with 89. Cape’s seven points came from Ben Ashby, who finished fifth in the long jump, and Ryan Head, who finished sixth in the pole vault. Sussex Central head boys’ coach Jen Cawthorn was happy to get a state champion in the discus in senior Dijon Hall, who threw 138-feet-9-inches. Padua was crowned the champion in Division I girls with 168 points followed by Smyrna with 125 and Caesar Rodney with 89. Sussex Tech was 10th with 21, while Cape placed 11th with 18 points. The Tatnall girls dominated Division II with 168 points followed by Lake Forest with 83 and St. George’s with 49. Cape’s points in the girls’ meet came from Olivia Brozefsky, who finished seventh in the 1,600 with a time of 5:36 and seventh in the pole vault with a jump of 8 feet. Sydney Green placed fifth in the triple jump at 34-feet-11-inches. Ce’yra Middleton placed second in the shot with a toss of 35-feet-11-inches and seventh in the discus with a hurl of 97-feet-6-inches. Cape has won 11 state titles in boys’ track and six in girls’ track, so when the Marvin Gaye lyric plays in your head, “What going on?” the question deserves to be answered.

Snippets - The Salisbury Seagulls boys’ lacrosse team is going to the national championship game Sunday, May 28, at 5 p.m., at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., after defeating Denison 12-11. The Gulls will play RIT, which ran over Wesleyan 22-9. That’s Rochester Institute of Technology. They are 20-2 with lots of New York and Ontario players on the roster. Cape boys’ lacrosse is a dangerous animal in the state tournament, which begins Tuesday at Cape with the Vikings hosting St. Andrew’s. Cape, if victorious, will play the winner of Conrad at Archmere Saturday, May 27. Both Sallies and Appoquinimink are on the other side and Cape could only see one if they get past Wilmington Friends to the final. It’s a good draw, but no one wants to say it out loud. The Ursuline Raiders - a girls’ Catholic school - have won 59 total state championships going back to 1974, including two this school year in basketball and swimming. Lacrosse head coach Feffie Barnhill was head coach at William and Mary (1982-1998) and is in the Virginia Hall of Fame, Ursinus Hall of Fame and Delaware Sports Hall of Fame. Don’t sleep or float on the Raiders. Go on now, git!