Athletes of the Week Aug. 27
Ava Gumb
Ava ran the Fire Fightin' 5K in Rehoboth Beach Aug. 22. The 15-year-old rising sophomore from St. Joseph’s Hill High School in Staten Island, N.Y., cruised the course in 18:31 to place third overall and first among women. Ava owns a personal best 11:36 in the 3,000 meters as a ninth-grader and also ran 17:08 on a 2.5-mile cross country course. Her training log blends speed work with long runs of about nine miles. At the Breast Fest 5K Aug. 15 at Northbeach in Dewey Beach, Ava finished second overall and first woman in 18:29. Ava is well known on Staten Island. On June 13, she was the first woman finisher at the Michael Ollis 5K, a race that drew 1,000 runners.
Hannah Maney
Coach Kate Austin said, “Hannah worked hard in the off-season to improve her stick skills. She is extremely fast and able to keep up with our fast forward lines. She has impressive finesse that makes things look effortless for her when she has the ball on her stick.” Hannah ran track for the first time last spring as a freshman, earning the nickname “Hannah Money.” “Hannah always showed up for her events, which were all new, and absolutely never complained,” said track coach Tim Bamforth. “I’ve coached a lot of tough kids, but none tougher. I think track helped her discover the athlete that is inside her.” Hannah is an honors student who also takes AP classes.
Elizabeth Tretter
A 44-year-old masters runner from NYC who prefers marathons, Elizabeth was the female masters champion at the Rehoboth Fire Fightin’ 5K in 22.43, and she was quite ecstatic after her victory, telling race director Tim Bamforth that she’s been trying to win one of his races for years. Elizabeth moved to NYC from Ukraine when she was 17 years old. She is the mother of three and, on her Rise Resolute podcast, described herself as a patent prosecutor, runner and group fitness instructor with Equinox Gyms in NYC. Elizabeth will be competing in the 12th annual Sun Festival 5K and Biathlon this Sunday in Rehoboth sponsored by the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center.
Grace Wiggins
Field hockey coach Kate Austin said of sophomore Grace Wiggins: “Grace made the transition from being an attacker to an outside back this year. She has tremendous speed coming out of the backfield, and the longest wingspan on the team helps her cover space quickly defensively.” Grace is tall and smooth, and plays all the sports well. She played softball in middle school, but chose lacrosse as her spring sport her freshman year at Cape. Grace is an honors student who also does JROTC. Her late grandfather was a longtime rugby referee.
