Runner goes down as trainers race to the rescue

She wobbled, I waited - No human being on the planet has watched more runners finish races in the last 20 years than I have. At the Henlopen Conference Cross Country Championships Nov. 2 at Killens Pond State Park, streams of high school girls were crossing into the finish chute in the varsity girls’ race. I looked 30 yards away and saw a runner wobbling. I knew she was not going to make it. I should have gone to her right then, but I snapped a couple photos, then I looked up and she was down. Trainer Taylor Hatfield was working the chute. I said, “Taylor, runner down!” Taylor and another trainer sprinted to lend assistance. Derek Shockro was on the scene, and so was Tim Bamforth. A complete and deliberate assessment was done. The rescue guys came with a stretcher. All precautions were taken. I didn’t realize at the time that I knew the girl, Olivia Hudson, and her mom Jen Perry. Jen Perry’s comment later on my Facebook page: “The response by the medical team and by Tim was outstanding. I cannot express my appreciation enough to all during what was an extremely scary situation for us. Liv is doing better, and we will be following up with the doctors. The other athletes/parents were also very supportive, and it was so nice of everyone to clap when she was wheeled away. I cannot tell you how many runners reached out to Liv with concern and prayers. It’s nice to know that excellent sportsmanship still exists, and these kids have the biggest hearts. Thank you again, everyone.” 

Alpha, argue and out - Even an alpha dog with a baseball bat doesn’t argue balls and strikes with the umpire a foot away because one simple complaint, and you’re out like a base stealer with gout. Try yelling one critical comment at a judge in a courtroom; you’ll be held in contempt and thrown in jail. Those same quick penalties should be applied to fans in the stands. One cross word yelled at an official; you are off the property with an additional week’s suspension from all sports activities on campus. There is a name for games without referees. They’re called pickup, where you call your own fouls and infractions, and sometimes fight. Seriously, officiating numbers are going down. It’s just not worth the money for the abuse taken. The solution is to pay starting officials more, offer incentives to the best officials, and enforce rules of order. 

Coach, I thought! “You what? You thought? Your job is not to think, it’s to do your job, to do what you’ve been coached to do. Thinking only leads to indecisiveness. When the whistle blows, just get after somebody, anybody. What we don’t need is some egghead standing around thinking.” I came up with football coaches who talked like that all the time. Guys wearing unflatteringly tight polyester coaching shorts with elastic waistbands. I mean, what were they thinking? I guess they weren’t. By the way, where are my Birdwells?

Quit banging on Bryce - There is free agency in professional sports. Even some fans are free agents and switch teams in the middle of the season. And so why is Bryce Harper the bad guy? Let’s see if Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon, now free agents, stay in Washington. And if they don’t, do they deserve to get booed if they return in a different uniform? Bryce Harper gets booed, and so did Jayson Werth, and why is that? Maybe it’s the hair?

Snippets - Beacon Middle School student Justin Friscia, who runs for the Seashore Striders, was the overall winner Nov. 2 at the 29th Open Junior High Cross Country Championships at Winterthur in a time of 12:27. There were 151 runners in the boys’ race. Sophia Holgado of Holy Cross won the girls’ race in 13:32. The Temple Owls field hockey team completed the regular season with a 7-10 record. Annie Judge, a sophomore out of Cape Henlopen, started all season on defense for the Owls. The West Chester University Golden Rams, a Division II school, finished the regular field hockey season undefeated 18-0 with a 7-2 win over Mansfield. Seven seniors were honored on Senior Day, including Cape’s Sydney Ostroski, who was listed as a tri captain. The Rams now move to the PSAC tournament this weekend. Karissa Worley, an all-state defender on Cape’s 2019 state championship lacrosse team, is on the roster as a freshman for the 2020 LaSalle Explorers. Proceeds from the Moo Cow Run ($1,500) were presented to the Food Bank of Delaware by Brian Kugelman, general manager of Hopkins Creamery, and Tim Bamforth, CEO of Seashore Striders, to representatives Chad Robinson and Lisa Mangiello of Food Bank of Delaware. Make mine a double-decker. Go on now, git!