The inaugural Robert Neylan Relays, formerly the Dover Relays, was held April 19 in Dover with a small eight-team field racing to honor late Dover coach and administrator.
The Dover Relays was the meet of the year and was always an all-boys meet with the best teams in the state attending. Many times, faster relay performances were achieved at the Dover Relays than at the conference and state championships. While the boys were at the Dover Relays, the girls traveled north to the Twilight Relays.
This year’s new format and new title brought girls to the meet, with the Cape girls winning the inaugural trophy with 155 points over second-place Lake with 107. Sussex Academy was fourth with 45 points.
Dover won the boys’ meet with 135 points, while Cape was second with 83 points. Sussex Academy was sixth with 51 points.
Highlighting the local championships were as follows: The Cape girls won the rarely run shuttle hurdles in 1:16.05 with the team of Norah Block, Anejah Grace, Maddy Gazze and Maxine Ruggerio. Cape also won the sprint medley in 4:42.26 with the team of Ashley Carrier, Grace Heers, Anejah Grace and Maile Godwin. Individually Addison Bowman jumped 8-feet-6-inches to win the pole vault, while Anejah Grace won the triple jump in 32-feet-½-inch. Harper Mamele, just a freshman, won the high jump in 5-2. Sussex Academy won the distance medley with the team of Lily Bowe, Peyton Stanislav, Brianna Sordi and Katya Geyer in 14:01.16.
On the boys’ side, Cape won the distance medley relay in 10:52.67 with the team of Cardin Benjamin, Joey DeGregory, Benjamin Clifton and Jason Baker. Stephen Hart won the high jump at 6-2, while Sussex Academy thrower Max Rial won the shot in 43-2 ½.
Double deuce
I nicknamed this week the double deuce week as I had two former young runners who specialize in the 800 meters in track & field reach out to me to tell me they set personal bests in their specialty. It was cool because both personal bests were achieved at different levels in the sport. The first was April 22, when eighth-grader Allison Ortiz-Rivera ran 2:34.5 to set the new Mariner school record as she put quarters back-to-back in 1:15 and 1:19 and won the race easily. Allison knows all about running fast, as she has been one of the best age group cross country runners nationally and has been a top 25 finisher at the national level.
Then April 24, Cape senior Hannah Maney went through the opening 400 meters in 1:11 trailing standout Rider Caskey and made her move on the backstretch at the 250-meter mark and came back with a 1:15 to hold on for the win in a personal-best time of 2:27.2. Maney, heading to Iowa to play field hockey in the fall, is talented and strong both mentally and physically. If she is in the race with 100 meters to go, it’s money in the bank. Congratulations to Maney and Ortiz-Rivera for mastering one of the hardest races on the track.
Cape over CR
The Cape girls beat the Caesar Rodney April 24 by a 96-50 score with the Vikings winning all four relays as well as nine individual events. Some notable performances on the wind-aided day were hurdler Anejah Grace running 16.7 in the 100 hurdles and 51.1 in the 300 hurdles for a nice double. Kennedy Johnson went 12.5 in the 100 meters, while the 400 relay ran a nice 51.8. Jade Warrington won the discus in 90-0, while Addison Bowman won the pole vault in 9-6. Sussex Central lost to CR 90-46 and to Cape 121-24. Domonice White won the 200 meters in 26.8.
On the boys’ side, Cape beat CR 82-64 by winning only seven races and no relays. It was depth that carried the Vikings to the win by grabbing a lot of second- and third-place points. Cape won the 100 with Trey Johnson in a wind-aided 10.7, while Jason Baker won the 1,600 in 4:31.6. Ben Clifton won the 800 in 1:59.5, while Brayden Redd won the 3,200 in 10:19.9. Stephen Hart won the high jump in 6-2 and the triple in 41-6, while Will DiPaolo won the pole vault in 11-0. Sussex Central won both sprint relays, taking the 400 relay in 43.9 and the 800 relay in 1:33.4. Isaiah Ro won the 110 hurdles in 15.2, while Brock Elliott won the 400 in 53.2. Malik Kelcik won the 200 in 22.3. Cape topped Central 104-36, while CR topped Central 103-39.
Mariner track
The Mariner boys beat Dover 79-30 April 22, as high-scoring seventh-grader Donovan Hanwell of Mariner tallied 11 3/4 points on the day. Hanwell won the 100 in 12.2 and the 200 in 24.7, while also leading off the 800 relay team that recorded a 1:45.7 performance. Dylan Harp won the 1,600 in 5:47, while Quinn Kluchnik won the 800 in 2:29. Nate Cohen won the shot in 35-1, while Kris Ramos-Morales won both the long and triple jumps in 14-7 and 32-8, respectively. Jerry Jackson won the high jump in 4-10.
On the girl’s side of the action, seventh-grader Tytiana Floyd of Mariner scored 11 ¼ points, while eighth-grader Allison Ortiz-Rivera broke the school record in the 800 in 2:34.5. Floyd won the 400 in 1:07.0 and the 200 in 29.5, while she also led off the 800 relay winning in 2:01.2. Natalie Horsey won the 55 hurdles in 10.3 and the high jump in 4-8, while Hannah Wells won the triple in 28-11. Addison Mohacey won the 1,600 in 6:29.
Beacon traveled to Seaford April 24, but results were not posted for the world by the home team.
