The Cape boys’ team opened its first outdoor season track and field meet in two years with a 91-50 home win over Sussex Tech March 22. Sussex Tech sprinter and hurdler Yougendy Mauricette was the meet’s high scorer, as the talented sophomore won the 110 high hurdles in 16.6, the 200 meters in 22.9, the long jump in 19-feet-3-inches and an impressive 400-meter dash in 51.6 for 20 total points. The Vikings won three of the four relays for 15 points, and both teams were disqualified in the fourth relay for a double violation.
Ryan Baker won the 1,600 meters in 4:38 and returned to win the 800 meters in 2:11. Lance Kauffman won the 3,200 meters in a personal best of 10:29. Of the eight individual events on the track, both teams won four each.
Josiah Miller was a double winner, taking first in the shot put and the discus with throws of 45-feet and 124-feet-6-inches. Michael Cerf won the high jump in 5-feet-6-inches, while Jordan Baines won the triple jump in 38-feet-4-inches.
The Vikings will take on Sussex Central and Sussex Academy Tuesday, March 30, at Sussex Central in Georgetown.
Girls roll to first victory
The girls of Cape Henlopen opened the track season with an easy 118-25 win over Sussex Tech March 22. Mehkia Applewhite sprinted her way to 16.25 total points, winning the 100 meters in 13.5, 200 meters in 28.5, shot put in 28-feet-5.5-inches and running leadoff on the winning 4-by-100 relay. Applewhite is coming off a successful basketball season and will be leading the Vikings in the sprints this spring. The Vikings won all 18 events in the meet and showed a lot of depth as only Tia Jarvis won two events outside of Applewhite’s performance. Jarvis won the long jump in 17-feet-0.5-inches and the 400 meters in a time of 1:03.2. Noelle Sabbagh won the 100-meter hurdles in 18.6, Taylor Johnson took the 300-meter hurdles in 51.7, and Emma Duffield won the 1,600 meters in 6:02. Lexi Dougherty won the 800 meters in 2:40.1, with Duffield close behind in 2:42.3. Mia Neubling won the 3,200 meters in 13:13. Haley Archambault won the discus in 75-feet-7-inches, while freshman Lainey Shockro won the pole vault in 8-feet. Senior Aya Daisey won the high jump in 4-feet-10-inches, while Reagan Ciabattoni won the triple jump in 32-feet-6-inches. Cape was solid in the sprint relays, with the 4-by-100 team running 54.9, the 4-by-200 team running 1:52.9, and the 4-by-400 team running 4:22.4.
Striders boys shining in college track
Former Delmar standout Austen Cave, a student-athlete at High Point University in North Carolina, won his opening race this spring, capturing a big 5,000-meter race in a personal-record time of 14:38. That time is just about two minutes faster than he ran at the Henlopen Conference Cross Country Championships as a Delmar runner and averages just over 4:40 per mile. Cave ran with the Seashore Striders club team and was an All-American at the national championships while in high school. Cave was also a product of the Go-Fast Running Camp operated by coach Derek Shockro, head track & field coach at Sussex Central High School.
What makes this race so much better is the fact that the ninth-place finisher was another Delaware product, Albert Norman. Norman, a Sussex Central grad who also ran for the Seashore Striders in high school, now runs for Delaware State University and finished in 15:06, which is a huge personal best for him. A big day for two runners out of Delaware who have proven that they graduated to the next level. Congratulations to both.
Track & Field Clinic II
The Cape Henlopen girls’ track and field team will host two more track clinics this season for young athletes. Clinic II is ready for registration. “The future of track & field is upon us” is the motto as we aim to show the young athletes what the great sport of track and field can do for them. The clinic will be held Sunday, April 18 and Sunday, May 2, with athletes through grade five from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and athletes in sixth grade and above from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The clinic will be held at Cape Henlopen High School’s Legends Stadium in Lewes. Registration info is located at seashorestriders.com or you may contact coach Tim Bamforth at Shields Elementary School in Lewes, timothy.bamforth@cape.k12.de.us.
