Cape girls’ track wins Cambridge Classic

The Cape girls’ track team kicked off its season on the right foot (or spike) by winning the 17-team Cambridge Classic with 103 points, just two ahead of Kent Island with 101. Kent Island is always a tough Bayside Conference team that spreads out nicely over the 18 events, but this night belonged to the Vikings.

Leading the way for the Vikings was the senior duo of Kennedy Johnson and Hannah Maney, who scored big individual points and won a relay together. Johnson won the 200-meter dash in 27.35 and finished second in the long jump in 16-feet-2 ½-inches, while Maney won the 400-meter dash in 1:02.99 and anchored both the winning 1,600 relay in 4:21.76 and the second-place 3,200 in 10:38.20.

Freshman Harper Mamele had a great clearance in the high jump at 5-0 for second place, while Mallory Kauffman was third in the shot put at 30-11. The 800 relay finished third in 1:56.79, while the 400 relay was fourth in 55.10. Also finishing in fourth place was Marley Fyock in the triple jump in 30-6, while Maile Godwin was fourth in the 800 meters in 2:36.92. Ashley Carrier was fifth in the 100-meter dash in 13.91, while Isabel Mastrangelo was fifth in the 400 meters in 1:07.36. Hailey Hassell was fifth in the 3,200 in 12:50.65.   

Sussex Tech captured the 400 relay in 53.93, while Ahmera Lyles of Sussex Tech was fourth in the 200 meters in 28.17 and Mariah McCabe was fifth in the 300-meter hurdles in 55.30. Tech was fifth in the 800 relay in 1:57.57.

Sussex Academy sophomore Katya Geyer finished third in the 1,600 in 5:35.76, fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 54.25 and fourth in the high jump in 4-10. Brianna Sordi was third in the 800 in 2:34.08, while Sussex Academy’s 3200 relay took fifth in 11:02.22.

The Cape boys grabbed second place in the team scoring with 81 points. Cambridge South Dorchester dominated with 129 points. Sussex Academy was seventh with 35 points, while Sussex Tech’s 5.5 points earned 17th place.

Several Vikings turned in top-five performances, starting with Brayden Redd winning the 3,200 in 10:24.87. Riley Stazzone was second in 10:32.62. Jason Baker finished second in the 1,600 in 4:31.74, while Cardin Benjamin was fourth in 4:34.52. Benjamin doubled back to take fourth in the 800 in 2:03.31, while Baker took fifth in 2:07.34. Elijah Shockley-Taylor was fifth in the 110-meter hurdles in 17.55, while Cape was second in the 400 relay in 45.07. Cape also took fifth in the 800 relay in 1:38.41 and fourth in the 3,200 relay in 8:58.25. Will DiPaolo was fifth in the pole vault in 9-6.

Thrower Max Rial highlighted Sussex Academy by taking a win in the shot put with a distance of 48-1, while also earning second in the discus in 124-0. Ethan Boladas had a nice 200-meter dash for sixth place in 23.77, while George Sapna was seventh in the 400 in 54.09. Ryan Moody was sixth in the 800 run in 2:07.70, while Justin Friscia was seventh in 2:08.55. Moody also had a great 1,600, placing third in 4:33.06. Jordan Welch of Sussex Tech tied for third in the high jump with a leap of 5-10. 

Mariner Track & Field

Mariner Middle School kicked off its outdoor track & field season March 25, when the boys split with Georgetown and Millsboro. Mariner topped Georgetown 62-47 and lost to Millsboro 63-54. Millsboro topped Georgetown 73-43. The Mariner girls went 2-0 on the day with an 83-26 win over Georgetown and a 73-36 win over Millsboro. The Georgetown girls topped Millsboro 58-51.

Highlighting the Mariner girls was eighth-grade distance runner Allison Ortiz-Rivera, who won the 1,600 in 6:19.0 and returned to capture the triple jump in 28-8 ½. Ortiz-Rivera also led off the 800 relay with teammates Natalie Arseneau, Kate Dowd and Tytiana Floyd to win in 2:07.0. Floyd won the 400 meters in 1:11.0, while Annabella Sapienza won the 800 in 2:57.0. Crystal Salinas-Montano won the discus in 60-10, while Natalie Horsey won the high jump in 4-6. 

Leading the Mariner boys was seventh-grader Donovon Hanwell winning the 200 in 25.9. Mariner also won the 800 relay with the team of Samuel Schubert, Kristopher Ramos-Morales, Geoffrey Davis and Jerry Jackson in 1:55.0. Nathaniel Cohen won the shot put in 35-5, while Ramos-Morales won the triple jump in 29-9. 

Milestone 10 & 20

One nice thing about being an older race director is that you see events reach milestones. Everyone loves to say they participated in the 10th or 20th or even the 30th annual event. The Seashore Striders have six events that are over 30 years and two events over 40 years old, and this year, we will have two events reaching the 10th annual and four events reaching the 20th annual. Reaching 10 years are the Oy Vey 5K and Walk (April 21) and the Fire Fightin’ 5K & Kids Dash (Aug. 18). Those reaching the 20th year include the Georgetown Library 5K & 1-Mile Walk (June 14), Jungle Jim’s 5K Splash (June 22), Cannonball 5K & Trenny Elliott Memorial Walk (Sept. 8) and Race into the New Year 5K & Kids Dash (Dec. 31). Come on out and take part in some long-standing events and keep them going. My long-term goal has always been to have a 50th annual event, and we are at year 42 with the Seashore 5-Miler, so we are not too far away if I make it.