Runner is a two-time state champion, same event on same day

Two-time state champion - Junior McKenzie Winward of Newark Charter School is the two-time DII state champion in the 100-meter hurdles. The oddity of the reality is that she won the race twice on the same day, in the same hour. The rules committee decided the race needed to be rerun because a knocked-over hurdle and a careering runner ended up in an adjacent lane, impeding a contender’s chance to win the race. But the callback to the track was not timely, and the recently crowned state champion’s daddy got loud, and he was good at it. Just before he was escorted out of the stadium, relay runners in a paddock area gave him applause for sticking up for his daughter. I said to newfound friends along the fence, “That is why I’m glad I’m not in charge of anything.” The knocked-out-of-her-lane Tatnall runner, Arianna Montgomery, had the fastest time in the trials but was disqualified because the rules say, “You can’t be visiting another lane during a race.” McKenzie Winward won the rerun, so all was right in her world, and that includes her supportive dad. Negotiators will tell you there are no win-win situations, but this entire scenario was a bit of a lose-lose. 

Weeble-wobble - No one has taken more finish-line photos of runners than I have. “Anticipation,” sung by Carly Simon in 1971, is my song. I know the jumpers, “they gather before leaping into the air,” and I can spot the crashers as they wobble, then go flaccid Gumby. To quote Woody Allen, “My mind can never know my body, although it has become pretty friendly with my legs.” I sounded the alert when I saw Kevin Howard of Middletown go from a strong second heading into the final lap of the 3,200 meters to struggling on the straightaway to reach the finish line. I yelled, “Somebody catch him; he’s going down!” I was wearing a Cape track shirt. I thought, “Catch him, you maroon,“ (Bugs Bunny joke), but If I did and helped him across the finish line, by rule he would have been disqualified. That would have resulted in Cape winning the state title, and there would have been a contract on my head In Middletown, instead of my dumb “We in Lewes” podcast hat. 

Fat Albert - Years ago, I heard baseball player Albert Pujols address steroid accusations, saying, “If I was on steroids, do you think I’d look like this?" My reaction was the same when I heard the breaking news that Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado was suspended for 80 games for testing positive for PEDs. “Jose, get your money back,” I thought. Eighty games without pay starts today. Jose, who is a great guy, is not in a doghouse, clubhouse or clearinghouse; he is “out the house.” The initial spin was a weight-loss drug. Wegovy is one such drug, allegedly used by Trump to drop 20 pounds. A  day later, the banned substance was defined as a performance-enhancing drug called exogenous testosterone. Medically, exogenous testosterone is often used to address symptoms of hypogonadism, a subject that is off-limits in the clubhouse. The Phillies should go get Mason Fluharty from Toronto straight up for Ranger Suarez.        

Ryder Trucks - Ryder Uszenski lost a shoe during the Dairy Queen 5K on Sunday, so he carried it like a football and still ran 22:37. Adversity in real time can be simply handled; that is what we are looking for from young athletes. 

Split allegiances - Loyal Cape mom Lori Voss’s daughter Gina is the head lacrosse coach at Caesar Rodney. Lori is a champion of Gina, but you will never hear her root out loud against Cape. Taylor Gooch is the head coach of Sussex Academy girls’ lacrosse. Uncle Eric goes to most of her games and takes photos. You will never hear Eric root out loud against Cape, but let’s get serious; blood always comes first. Back in 2009, before a Cape versus Saint Andrew’s lacrosse game at Middletown, I ran into Lewes boys Karl Saliba and Randy Johnson. Karl’s daughter Grace was on Saint Andrew’s team, and he and Randy were “boys” since birth. I got Randy to admit  that he was a Cape guy but had a stronger allegiance to Karl. I told him, “I have been hyping you and your state title in wrestling and pole vault and six letters your senior year, but today you're a St. Andrew’s guy?” Randy is Caravel’s head coach of softball, and the Buccaneers will play Cape in the semifinal Tuesday, May 27, at the University of Delaware. I’ve known Randy for 50 years, and I know all his Cape boys from back in the day. None of us could root against Randy out loud. I hope Cape wins the state title, but if Cape vs. Caravel happens, I’ll be like I am at home on my couch, in a state of suspended animation.  

Snippets - Yougendy Mauricette is a 2023 Sussex Tech graduate and a Gatorade boys’ track Athlete of the Year. Running for Southern Cal, Youngendy just won the 400-meter hurdles at the Big Ten Championships in a personal-best 49.9 seconds. Sussex Tech also graduated Maxine Fluharty, who played field hockey for Michigan and was a Big Ten Player of the Year in 2014. Go on now, git!