The Cape Vikings left in the early morning of Feb. 1 for the Ocean Breeze Sports Complex in Ocean Breeze, N.J., and its beautiful 200-meter banked indoor oval, one of the fastest facilities in the United States.
The three-hour trip north to seek top competition was well worth the ride, as the Vikings lowered a tough school record in the 4-by-200 relay. They not only lowered it; they did it twice – once in the trials and again in the finals.
An all-junior team of of Trey Johnson, Elijah Shockley-Taylor, Jayden Messick and Navin Duffy ran 1:31.13 in the trials to win their heat and rank fifth overall. Just an hour later, the same team shaved another second off the record by running 1:30.02 to finish third in the championships. The Vikings got out to a strong start with Johnson handing off in the lead. After two legs, it was still the Vikings in the lead, as Shockley-Taylor handed off to Messick. Duffy was a fill-in, according to coach Ellis Gaulden, as his teammate pulled a hamstring muscle in the open 200 meters. The previous record of 1:33.06 was set in 2023 with the team of Konner Knarr, LT Messick, Brandon Woods and Jayden Messick.
Johnson led off the meet with a time of 6.48 in the 55-meter trials to finish third. He also took third in the finals with a time of 6.46 seconds against some of the toughest sprinters on the East Coast.
Will DiPaolo set a personal record in the pole vault by clearing 13-feet-even, while Nick Petito finished third in the mile run in 4:50.25 and 14th in the 800 in 2:16.02. Jason Baker was 18th in the mile run finals in 4:28.77, while Stephen Hart had a solid meet, clearing 6-0 ¾ in the high jump, 20-3 ¼ in the long jump and competing in the pentathlon, where he scored 2,863 points. Bodie Frederick tossed the shot 43-3, while Bernard Jones finished 10th in the long jump in 21-1. Addison Bowman finished 10thin the girls’ pole vault with a jump of 9-6.
The Vikings will travel to Kutztown, Pa., this weekend. There is no 4-by-200, but the 4-by-400 event should be fun.
Sussex Academy, Central
An outdoor meet with Sussex Academy and Sussex Central took place at Sussex Central in Georgetown Jan. 29, with only the 800 meters listed in the results on websites4sports.com. Duncan Winger ran 2:02.9 to win the boys’ race, while Rocco Buonopane ran 2:10.3 for second and Harrison Dabbs was third in a time of 2:18.0. Jordan Blades ran 2:43.9 to win the girls’ race, while Riley Moriarty was second in 2:48.6 and Bailey Chrobak of Central was third in 2:53.0.
The DIAA State Championships are set for Saturday, Feb. 22, in Philadelphia.
Finish chute
