We are the champions, my friends; track athletes close out season

Two guys - There is no more athletic event on the track than the 110-meter high hurdles. It requires reaction time, explosion, speed and coordination, and a fearless attacking approach to 10 hurdles spaced 10 meters apart. Lynyrd Skynyrd said, “Give me three steps,” because if you take four or five between hurdles, you will work hard for no money. Elias Elzey of Laurel, the Division II state champ, and Robert Redden of Cape, the Division I state champion, showed up and showed out May 20 at the Meet of Champions on the Dover High track, running clean races and placing one-two. Elzey finished in 14.68 to Redden’s 15:05. Elsey also placed second in the 300-meter hurdles in 39.8. The Laurel team, the Henlopen South champions, were the surprise feel-good story of the season. Coach Dave King was voted Henlopen Conference Coach of the Year. Leadership in the sport of track and field is everything. 

Discus - Rhymes with meniscus and probescus – think knees and noses – but it is a mysterious event to coach. The plate is aerodynamic, so let it go at the wrong release point and it will fly like the Liberty Insurance emu. Cape coach Rob Perciful learned how to coach the discus and shot put from legendary Bill Degnan. Rob is a great example of “you don’t have to throw it to know it”  because I’m sure I never saw CP throw no discus. Cape’s Mallory Kauffman, a junior, came from nowhere over the rainbow to win the discus at the Meet of Champions with a throw of 116 feet. Liam Ramsey, a junior competing on the boys’ side, placed fifth with a throw of 140 feet. The high school discus for boys weighs 1.6kg (3.5 pounds), while the girls’ weighs 1.0 kg (2.2 pounds). The metric system is considered more simple than English measurements, but no American knows their weight in kilograms. How much is a skinny half gallon of milk? And what would Half Pint’s nickname be in Europe? 

Topper - No, I’m not talking about Phillies manager Rob Thomson, but I’ll admit I’d pay to see him attempt a 3-foot high jump and 6-foot pole vault. I’m thinking of Cape’s Will DiPaolo, a vaulter who stayed on top all season, winning the Henlopen Conference title, the Division I state title and the Meet of Champions. Will closed out his junior year with a jump of 13 feet for first place. Late Cape coach Tom Hickman was a believer of “jump high enough and run fast enough to win – the numbers are for the fans.”  

Style and smile - Anna Bockius is stealth, a smooth strider and easy glider, her smile is naturally leveled up to her talent. At the Meet of Champions, the Padua distance star set a state record in the 800 meters running 2:07.21. Anna is a junior who wants to run to a next-level bonafide track school from the Big Ten all the way to the SEC. They come to watch her run. Her first cousin Patrick Wisniewski, a wrestler, graduated from Johnson and Wales this spring. Katie Quinn Wisniewski’s brother Bob was a classmate and friend of my daughter-in-law at Notre Dame. Her daughter Ella was Notre Dame drum major in 2022. Ellen Quinn Bockius is married to Troy (RBP), a thread of a long story. Trust me, here at Sesame Street by the Sea, the families connected by the Quinn sisters are honorary muppets, at least I’m claiming them. 

No sprinters - Cape boys’ track team scored no points in the Division I state meet in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. They were also shut out in the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400 relays. Yet, they came within two points of winning the Division I state championship. I’m thinking “ain’t got no sprinters,” then at the Meet of Champions, the team of Elijah Shockley-Taylor, Navin Duffy, Jayden Johnson and Javian Wise ran a blistering 1:29:65 in the 4-by-200 relay to break the Cape school record of 1:30.10. That is the fastest 800-meter relay in the 50-year history of Cape track. The oddity of the reality is Cape placed fourth in the race won by Middletown in 1:27:09, a Meet of Champions record. Go ahead, old guys along the fence, talk among yourselves. 

Snippets - Tufts will play Dickinson Sunday, May 25, for the Division III boys’ lacrosse national championship. Tufts is the heavy favorite. Check out insidelacrosse.com for all the weekend championship matchups. All rankings, ratings and bracketologies aside, it’s single-elimination tournament time. You have to beat the team in front of you. Go on now, git!