Two can make a dream so real; two can make a wish come true

Deuce it Up - Beware, this may be a theme column. The Lake Forest Invitational at Killens Pond on Saturday morning signaled the start of the high school cross country season. And just 400 meters into the girls’ race with 25 teams competing, there were Cape’s Katie Kuhlman and Olivia Brozefsky leading the pack. Katie is a freshman and doesn’t know any better, and Olivia is a senior and doesn’t know any different. The race is a 5K run over open fields and on shaded trails. Katie ran 20:27, good for fifth overall in the varsity A race. Olivia ran 20:41 for sixth place. Rounding out the top 7 for Cape were E-Beth Melson 22:31, Mia Neubling 22:38, Lindsay Rambo 22:54,  Taylor Johnson 23:33 and Caroline Maull 23:54. Smyrna won the Varsity A girls race with 25 points. Cape was second with 47. 

Cape boys place second - The Cape boys’ cross country team placed second in the Varsity A race at the Lake Forest Invitational with 34 points. Caesar Rodney was the winner with 30 points. Cape’s top 7 runners were Ethan Edery 17:13, Julian Callaway 17:58, Hunter Jones 18:09, Ace Howard 18:11, Sam Epstein 18:16, Daniel Adili-Khams 18:30 and Lance Kauffman 18:46. 

Players of the Game - I have a social media profile, and sometimes I select Fredman Facebook Players of the Game so I can post and fans can interact. The young athletes I cover like it. Last Saturday, I chose Cami Smith and Anna Stancofski, who each scored twice in Cape’s 5-0 field hockey win over South River. I don’t always go with obvious choices, but for Cami, Cape’s leading scorer last season, I know she struggled with the two-mile time trial in preseason, so her two scores proved a point – or two points, like here’s your first mile and here’s your second. And Anna is all grit; I told her, “You can play any position on the field, so now you’re back on defense but you get to come up on corners and drive a stake into the heart of your opponent, and you like that, don’t you?” Anna smiled and said,”Yes, I do!” 

Deuce it Up - A pair of 64-year-old runners who have run local races together over the last 45 years crossed the finish line Sunday at the 16th annual Cannonball 5K holding hands. Alan Quillen and Richard Tikiob crossed into the chute in 28:23. People made odd couple jokes, but the men seemed to be on a sentimental journey. “We ran the first Cannonball race, and Richard was first and I was second,” Alan said. “When we found ourselves side by side during the race, we just decided to come in together.” That means 34 years from now, Joey Hawley and Mike Marcino will cross over together. Have a good Cannonball Run, guys; I’ll be up in heaven hanging with Burt Reynolds.

Poppy and Ellie - Little Poppy Kevin Smith ran/walked the Cannonball 5K with Ellie Burris, his neighbor. Ellie sprinted away from Poppy at the end.

Boxcars - A pair of sixes rolled through the finish chute after a one-mile fun walk. Harper Serman and Abigail Rausch, forever young and forever girlfriends. 

Double overtime - Temple and Maine drove to Kent State to play some weekend field hockey. Kent beat Temple on Friday at Murphy-Mellis Field 3-0 and beat Maine on Sunday 2-1. But on Saturday morning with Temple and Maine locked in a scoreless double overtime game after 70 minutes of play, they were asked to cease and desist action because the field had to be made ready for a noon football game featuring the Golden Flashes of Kent versus Kennesaw State. Kent won the game 26-23 playing in front of 18,000 fans. The attendance for the Temple field hockey game on Friday was 54 fans. The Maine game attracted 49 fans, which means five went home early. By rule, the scoreless tie will be considered a scrimmage by the NCAA. With all the sports management majors running loose on campus, you would think in that collegial atmosphere someone would have figured out a “Let’s play this thing out” solution. Note: Temple was expected to release an official comment on the rude handling of the situation sometime Monday, Sept. 9.  

Dos Radios - The were two radio stations, 105.9 and 103.5, using two press boxes covering Cape’s two touchdowns last Friday night. The sports weekend was filled with commentating, but not at the cross country races and field hockey games I covered. There’s a reason older people start losing auditory acuity; it’s nature’s way of saying, “Trust me, you don’t want to hear it, you’ve already heard it all.”

Snippets - Ben Roethlisberger looks like a FatHead on a cast-iron light post. Delaware football will host North Dakota State Saturday, Sept. 14, at Delaware Stadium at 1 p.m. Temple football will host Maryland at noon at the Linc. Show up at either venue, and you’re getting inside. Go on now, git!