Caesar Rodney boys and Smyrna girls win Henlopen track titles
Henlopen Conference high school indoor track teams, all from Delaware, traveled deep into the Maryland peninsula Feb. 1 to contest the conference championship.
Delaware schools quick to cancel athletic events on a forecast of a dusting of snow waited out an early morning snow squall then hit the highways to Snow Hill, Md., for the six-hour meet held at the Worcester County Parks and Recreation Facility at Public Landing Road off Route 113.
“There was no make-up date,” said meet director George Pepper. “The meet started at 2:30 with flexible scheduling whenever you can get there,” but it wasn’t my call. If one school had cancelled or dismissed from school early, the meet would have been called off.”
Six hours after the first shot was fired, the trophies were presented with the boys' meet going to Caesar Rodney at 151 followed by Dover at 101 and Cape at 76.
The girls' competition was won by Smyrna at 114 with Caesar Rodney at 111 in second and Cape with 85 placing third.
Cape’s coach Matt Lindell was voted Boys' Coach of the Year and George Pepper was the Girls' Coach of the Year.
“The award goes to the kids, so I’m going to have them all sign it,” Lindell said. When reminded the award was a plaque, Lindell just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
The Cape boys had three conference champions in Austin MacElrevey, who ran away from the field on the final two laps of the 3,200 for a time of 10:17; fearless upside-down man Sam Young, who won the pole vault at 11-feet-6-inches; and Jeremiah Cohen, who captured the high jump at 6-feet-4-inches, barely missing 6-7 when a tick of the toe on the way down dislodged the crossbar.
“Maybe next week at the states," Cohen said. “The last two weeks we just weren’t able to practice except for drills and conditioning. I just walked in here and started jumping.”
Cape’s Kadijah Doughty, the leading scorer and rebounder on Cape’s basketball team, threw a season-best 39-feet-2-inches to win the shot put. When reminded that both sports involved balls - one was just smaller and a lot heavier - Doughty just smiled and shook her head.
And fearless in flight, Melissa Aucoin won the pole vault with a jump of 8-0 for her first conference title.
A full listing of results can be found online at www.n5cta.com. The Indoor Honor Roll and entries for the Friday, Feb. 8 Delaware State Championship Meet can also be found at that web address.
