Beacon Middle track teams sweep Blades Invitational
The Beacon Middle School boys and girls went into the Blades Invitational April 17 with only one meet under their belts ready to face 12 middle school teams from around the Henlopen Conference.
“We knew we had a good team on the girls' side, and we knew we had some outstanding performances coming on the boys' side, but with only one meet it’s hard to know what to expect,” said assistant coach Gilbert Maull. “We just told the kids to use what they have learned, give 100 percent, and just do what they do best - compete!"
When the dust settled four hours later, the Beacon boys and girls were both taking home team titles. The girls set a new scoring record with 182 points, while the boys won by a slight margin over Postlethwait.
It was the first time ever that Beacon won both titles in the same year.
Dane Palmer led the way for the boys with 28 points, winning the triple jump in a new school record of 37-feet-7-inches, the 400 meters in a new school record of 55.5 seconds, and a second in the long jump at 17-feet-2-inches. Robert Marsh scored 18 points with a win in the mile in 5:16.0 and a second in the 800 meters at 2:20.0. Curtis Purnell scored 14 points, anchoring both relays with super splits including a 24.0 in the 800-meter relay anchor at the end of the meet, only to have the race taken away and medals stripped because assistant coach Gilbert Maull stepped on the track to celebrate before the race was finished. The boys scored 82 points, winning three events on the night, but were better than everyone else overall in the 13 events.
Alia Marshall led the way for the Beacon girls, scoring 40 points by winning four events and accomplishing a feat that no middle school track athlete has ever done in the history of the meet. Alia won the long jump in a meet record of 15-feet-6-inches, the triple jump in a school and meet record of 35-feet-4-inches, the 400 meters in a school and meet record of 1:02.1, and the 200 meters in a school record of 26.9. Zoe Callard won the 800 in 2:45, while Olivia Brosefski captured the 1,600 in 5:50, and Sydney Hollinger won the 55-meter hurdles in 9.3. The 55-meter hurdles was an event that Beacon placed three in the final, with Hollinger, Sam Wyatt and Breahna Kusen, just a sixth-grader. La’Keyisha Saintervil won the shot put in 35-feet-4-inches, while Ce'yra Middleton won the discus in 76-feet-11-inches. Beacon also won the 100 relay with Hollinger, Saintervil, Rose Minni and Tamesha Cannon in 53.4 and the 200 relay with Minni, Saintervil, Marcella Sabbagh and Cannon in 1:56.1. The girls scored 182 points, a new Blades record, and won 11 of the 13 events.
Beacon wins three duals
On April 22, the boys' track teams kept its undefeated record alive, scoring 78 points with wins over Mariner (29), Selbyville (40) and Seaford (50). Dane Palmer won the long jump and triple jump and set two more school records, jumping 19-feet-4-inches and 39-feet-7-inches, both high school caliber performances. Palmer also won the 400 meters to account for 15 points, the meet's top scorer. Curtis Purnell won the 100 meters and 200 meters into the wind, while Ziyear Brittingham won the shot put with the best throw of the year for his team at 37 feet 9 inches. Conner Dorney set a personal best in the discus with a throw of 91 feet 10 inches, while Robert Marsh won the mile in 5:20. Cory Barnes won the high jump at 5 feet even for Mariner.
For the girls, Beacon won 12 of 13 events and scored 131 points on the day to easily defeat Selbyville (29), Mariner (20), and Seaford (16). Eighth-grader Alia Marshall set another record in the long jump by jumping 16-feet-9-inches. She led the way with 15 points in the meet, also winning the triple jump and 400 meters. Other event winners on the day were Sydney Hollinger in the 55-meter hurdles in 9.6, Tamesha Cannon in the 100 meters, Olivia Brozefski in the 1,600 meters, Lakeysha Saintervil in the 200 meters, Marcella Sabbagh in the high jump, Zoe Callard in the 800 meters and McKenzie Parker in the discus. Beacon also won both sprint relays. Mariner did not win an event on the girls' side of the action, but several individuals were able to put in personal-best performances. Vienna Iocona was second in the 400 meters at 1:09.0 for Mariner.
Upcoming races
Saturday, April 25 - Inaugural John M. Scharp Memorial Geck-Go 5K Run/Walk, Dewey Beach, 9 a.m., races2run.com
Sunday, April 26 - 3rd Big Fish Grill 5K for CHEF, Rehoboth Beach, 8:30 a.m., races2run.com
Sunday, May 3 - 4th Daffodil Dash for Autism 10K/5K, Irish Eyes, Lewes, 8:30 a.m., races2run.com
Saturday, May 9 - 7th Mother's Day 5K Remembrance Run, Irish Eyes, Lewes, 9 a.m., seashorestriders.com
Sunday, May 17 - 3rd Wild Goose Chase 5K Run, Trap Pond State Park, Laurel, 9:30 a.m., seashorestriders.com
