Walk forcibly and carry a short stick; linemen for life love to score

Linemen with long poles - Fred Thomas long pole defensemen Colin Callaway got his chance to clear and crank a shot, but he missed. Linemen for Life in the stands DJ Schultz and Tyler Cohen-Kreis ribbed Colin, saying, “C’mon, man, you gotta make that.” Colin shouted back at them, “How many touchdowns did you guys score?” They answered back, exposing their non-skilled status, “We don’t score touchdowns. We're linemen. We're not even allowed to touch the ball.” Later, Jayson Cohen, a good kid with great feet, in his first year playing lacrosse, was given a short stick and allowed to play some offense in the fourth period. The big lefty rolled down the slot and whipped a shot past a frightened defender's helmet that whizzed by the goalie stick for a score. The Linemen for Life went bonkers in the bleachers. Jayson projects as a varsity starter on the line as a freshman, but now that he’s experienced the exhilaration of scoring, he may see himself as an attack weapon made in the mold of linemen Aarin Burton and Thomas Gibbs.  

Harrier hindsight - Looking back at the DAAD statewide middle school cross country championship race in 2017, the top 20 finishers tell a story one runner at a time. Boys’ medalists were: 1. Luke Burton (Beacon), 12:37; 2. Brexton Carter (Beacon), 12:43; 3. Jack Welch (Springer), 12:46; 4. Ethan Edery (Beacon), 12:48; 5. Jose Cordon (Dickinson), 12:50; 6. Brian Sponaugle (Mariner), 12:52; 7. Matt Gatune (Smyrna), 12:56; 8. Dalton Hignutt (Seaford), 13:04; 9. Aidan Ward (Springer), 13:07; 10. Elliott Bastian (Mariner), 13:10; 11. Hunter Jones (Beacon), 13:13; 12. Bahsil Laster (Smyrna), 13:20; 13. Conor Craig (Postlethwait), 13:20; 14. Seamus Ward (Springer), 13:21; 15. Quade Gannon (Chipman), 13:22; 16. Jon Notice (Providence Creek), 13:23; 17. Kenneth Guy (Chipman), 13:25; 18. Brody Smith (Beacon), 13:30; 19. Boaz Dernlan (Red Lion Christian), 13:30; 20. Daniel Williams (Springer), 13:38. The 2.136-mile race was held at Brown's Branch County Park. A quizzical result was seventh-grader Ryan Baker placing 105th with a time of 15:25. Now running for Lehigh University, Ryan has broken 15 minutes for the 5K. Basically, he is running a mile farther in less time.

Jelly Bellies - Growing up in a Catholic rowhouse neighborhood in North Philly, we boomers were on upstairs lockdown between the hours of 12 and 3 on Good Friday. Fast forward to the Cape Region, and the day is celebrated by a kite festival. Back when I was track coach, I organized the jellybean run where track guys would run to the entrance of the state park to pick up jellybeans and bug juice from the back of my three-door Chevy Suburban. It was a way to trick them into a five-mile run. But instead of running back, they had arranged to catch a ride, but at least they got cavities and a bipolar sugar high followed by a crash.     

Spider Marathon Man - Dan Farrar, 37, of Connecticut ran the CoDel Marathon April 13 in 3:55 in full Spiderman getup. Back in 1981, Gary Fanelli Sr. won the Lewes Marathon dressed as Elwood Blues. He ran 2:30. In 1984, Fanelli, a Philly guy, ran the Toronto Marathon in 2:20 dressed as Michael Jackson. 

Snippets - It only took a few days to name a new Cape superintendent. It’s been a few months for the girls’ basketball coaching position, but no new coach has been announced. Luke Burton is a saltwater athlete, as calm as a flat ocean at sunrise. He likes to skim, surf and fish. Back in middle school, he was a fluid and efficient cross country runner for Beacon, a No. 1 guy in a statewide race, winning the DAAD Invitational as a seventh-grader in 2017. But lacrosse was his destiny. He’s now a sophomore attacker at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla. Burton has 19 goals and seven assists along with 14 ground balls for the Saints, the No. 6 team in Division II lacrosse. Luke scored 25 goals as a freshman and is on pace to be the 100-goal guy over four years. He is a coastal environment science major. He’s the son of Rick and Kim Burton. His younger sister Allaire, also a talented distance runner, is a junior on the Cape girls’ lacrosse team. Luke is one of four nominees for Flagler’s Male Breakthrough Athlete of the Year. Jackie Robinson Day was April 15 in Major League Baseball; all players wore No. 42 on the back of their jerseys. There was no noise that Jackie Robinson Day should not happen or that his story should not be told. Mack Robinson, an older brother to Jackie, won a silver medal in the 1936 Olympics, finishing second to Jesse Owens in the 200 meters with a time of 21.1. Owens, wearing a prototype Adidas shoe, won gold in 20.7. Major League Baseball is 20 games into a 162-game schedule, and how many fans are already tracking their team like the quest for a championship has begun? One-quarter of MLB players are foreign born. There are 106 Venezuelan players. The country with the most players in the National Hockey League is Canada, 434, followed by United States with 288, Sweden with 101, Russia with 66 and Finland with 48. The Bunny Palooza 5K is set for Saturday, April 19 in Bethany Beach. Everyone should welcome the Easter holiday with an early morning  walk on the Boardwalk or sit on a bench and watch others run. Go on now, git!