Wild weekend of sports participation

Erik-Stephane - Cape and Swarthmore graduate in neuroscience Erik-Stephane Stancofski, 22, ran “just the half” marathon Dec. 4 in 1:45:49, holding on after running the first 5K in 23:46 with 10 miles still to run. He placed 234th out of 1,518 runners. Erik played lacrosse for the Garnet of Swarthmore in the spring and after graduation took a job with NIH, working in the Vaccine Research Center – mostly COVID and HIV research. “I plan to start medical school next year,” Erik said. “I’ve gotten my first couple of acceptances, but I’m still on the interview trail right now. I’m hoping to stay on the East Coast.” And what does this have to do with the Golden State Warriors? Dr. Erik Stancofski – Big Erik – went to medical school on a Malcolm and Ann Kerr Scholarship. Malcolm Kerr was president of American University in Beirut, Lebanon, and was assassinated in 1984. His son Steve is the head coach of Golden State.  

Southern Slam - The Southern Slam is a 30-team, two-day wrestling event in Taylors, S.C. The Cape Vikings dropped in last weekend to see what condition their condition was in. All teams were from South Carolina and Georgia, and to paraphrase an expression from my late friend Bruce Hefke, “You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a state champion.” Georgia is a Top 20 state nationally for high school wrestling. Woodward Academy of Georgia was the overall winner. Cape’s Dalton Deevey, Delaware state runner-up last year at 182, won the Southern Slam in the 220-pound weight class. Volunteer assistant Scott Kammerer, who has done the weight class slide over his young adult life, said, “Dalton has the skills and speed of a 182-pounder now wrestling the slower guys at 220.” Other Cape place winners and point producers at the Southern Slam include Alex Taylor, 195, third place; Mikey Frederick, 145, and Carson Kammerer, 170, fourth; Josh Alvares-Ramos, 126, sixth; and Andrew Schaen, 138, and C.J. Fritchman, 160, seventh.  

Paul VI Catholic - Anytime you schedule a basketball game against a school named after a pope with a Roman numeral attached to his name, you can expect them to drain nothing-but-net jump shots, back-door cuts and bounce passes, and convert free throws. And they will be in your waistband on defense. Cape girls lost at Paul VI Catholic of Virginia Sunday 60-28  after trailing 29-11 at halftime. Cape had three players with six points each: Ella Rishko, Lauryn Head and Mehkia Applewhite, who also pulled down five rebounds. Coach Pat Woods: “We played them tough. Just couldn’t get anything to fall (which is typical of a first game). It’s stuff we can fix. But energy, effort and competitive spirit was great – we can work with that.” Cape plays at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 7 at Dover.  The Senators opened the season with a 51-34 win over Sussex Central. 

Blogger blabber - A Cape van carrying half the wrestling team back from South Carolina was T-boned near Easton, Md., late Saturday night. I knew about it quickly and saw a posted photo of the van, which was totaled, windows blown out. It was what I call a “thank you God” moment because there were no injuries. All passengers were transported by ambulance to be checked out, then released to their parents, who drove to Easton to pick them up. Cape’s scheduled match at Sussex Tech for Wednesday was postponed just as a prudent precaution to give hard-nosed grapplers some time to ponder their own physicality and to assess if bumps and bruises are from the tournament or the collision. And yes, “Southern Slam” is an ironic title and ending to a two-day weekend tournament.     

Snippets - Nominations to the Delaware Sports Museum Hall of Fame can be made at the website desports.org no later than Wednesday, Dec. 15. Dr. Dave Robinson first nominated me in 2004 – I don’t know why – but 17 years of rejections has me hoping to live to see 20, at which time I will hold my own banquet; free admission will be granted to misspelled name tags and juxtaposed siblings, and the occasional parent who ended up batting cleanup or playing goalie in a lacrosse game. OK, maybe it was Gina, not Lori Voss, who had 10 saves in a lacrosse game, and Zack Gelof, not Adam, who roped the wind sending a home run over the fence at Chris Short Field. But first you have to know the muppets before you can mix them up, and therefore it’s all good. Go on now, git!