Cape boys win Henlopen Conference Indoor Track Championship

The Henlopen Conference Indoor Track Championship was held Jan. 16 at the Snow Hill, Md., oval. After 15 events, it was the Cape Henlopen boys who took the title. It was the fifth straight title for the Vikings, who scored 196 points, well ahead of second-place Caesar Rodney with 108. Sussex Academy was fifth with 56 points, while Sussex Central finished eighth with 20 points.

The Vikings crowned six champions, as Trey Johnson got things going with a win in the 55 meters in a time of 6.59 seconds. Robert Redden won the next event, the 55-meter hurdles, in 7.94 in a close race over Caesar Rodney’s Caleb Johnson. In the infield, it was Will DiPaolo who won the pole vault with a 12-foot clearance for the win, while Jahmar Austin of Milford also cleared 12-0 but was second on the number of misses. Javian Wise grabbed the title in the 200-meter dash in 24.15, just ahead of teammate Elijah Shockley-Taylor, who was second in 24.19.

Distance ace Jason Baker won the 3,200 in 10:15.43, while Stephen Hart closed the meet winning his first title in the high jump at 6 feet. Hart also was second in the triple jump in 42-8 3/4, while Baker was second in the 1,600 run in 4:33.10. Baker celebrated Fire Safety Week in the first lap of the 1,600 with a stop, drop and roll on the backstretch, but he quickly recovered to put himself back into the mix.

Cardin Benjamin was second in the 800 in a good time of 2:04.91, just ahead of teammate Andrew Radka in third in 2:05.40 for 14 big team points. Bernard Jones went 21-3 in the long jump for second, while Bodie Frederick set a personal best in the shot put of 45-8 to grab second.

The team of Brayden Redd, Alex Ernakovich, Jamar Beasley and Emmett Wheatley was second in the 3,200 relay in 9:06.90, while the team of Trey Johnson, Elijah Shockley-Taylor, Jayden Messick and Robert Redden was second in the 800 relay in one of the closest races of the day. Smyrna clocked a time of 1:35.94, while Cape was timed in 1:35.96.  

Cardin Benjamin, Andrew Radka, Jamar Beasley and Emmett Wheatley were second in the 1,600 relay in 3:43.49.

Sussex Academy was led by a win in the 3,200 relay in a time of 8:57.28 with the team of Duncan Winger, Rocco Buonopane, Harrison Dabbs and Ryan Moody. Moody had a busy afternoon, as he also was second in the 3,200 in 10:33.79, third in the 1,600 in 4:35.00 and seventh in the 800 in 2:11.85 for a total of 6,400 meters or 4 miles of racing.

Jesse Jean Louis had a nice double with a third-place finish in the high jump in 5-8 and a third in the triple jump in 39-0.

Victor Perez was third in the shot put to lead Sussex Central with a toss of 44-5, while the Golden Knights were fifth in the 800 relay in 1:39.62 and sixth in the 3,200 relay in 10:29.91.

The 2025 Henlopen Conference Coach of the Year went to Matt Lindell of Cape.

On the female side of the action, the top four teams were separated by just 32 points. Smyrna rode its top sprint crew to the title, scoring 123 points. Cape spread out nicely over the 15 events to score 113 points, while Sussex Academy was close behind in third with 112 points. Polytech was not far off in fourth with 91 points, while Sussex Central was seventh with 25 points.  

Smyrna scored 72 points in the sprints and hurdles to Cape’s 16 points, while Sussex Academy only scored two points in the sprints and hurdles. Sussex Academy scored 49 points in the distance races and 33 in the jumps, while Cape scored 30 in the distance races and 33 in the jumps. Smyrna was able to win the meet without scoring in three events, while Cape did not score in two.  

A turning point late in the meet was the Eagles moving to the lead with a 1-2-3 sweep of the 200-meter dash and a huge 24 points.

Individually for the Vikings, Allison Ortiz-Rivera, just a freshman, ran in four events and scored 23 ¼ points, earning second in the 800 in 2:36.23, second in the 3,200 in 13:16.74 and third in the 1,600 in 5:50.68.  

The Vikings crowned two champions, as Mallory Kauffman won the shot put in 33-8 1/2 and Addison Bowman won the pole vault with a jump of 10-0. Teammate Keira Fletcher was second in 7-6, as the Vikings picked up a big 18 points.

Maile Godwin ran a nice 800-meter race in 2:36.86 for third, while Anejah Grace was second in the hurdles in 9.17, second in the triple jump in 31-11 1/2  and fourth in the high jump in 4-6 to score 20 points for the Vikings.

Sussex Academy won four events. Abigail Crowley won the 1,600 in 5:31.91 and the 3,200 in 11:44.50. Brianna Sordi won the 800 in 2:32.43 and anchored the 3,200 relay to the win along with teammates Riley Moriarty, Katya Geyer and Jordan Blades in a time of 10:57.32.  The four wins gave the Seahawks a sweep of all the distance titles in the meet.

Sussex Academy was also second in the 1,600 relay in 4:39.26. Geyer won the high jump in 4-10 and was third in the triple jump in 31-4 ¼. The high jump event propelled the Seahawks into a close race for second with the Vikings, as Sussex Academy scored 21 points in that event late in the meet. Joining Geyer near the top were third-place finisher Reagan Klahr in 4-6 and fourth-place finisher Avery O’Connor in 4-6.  

Sussex Central was led by thrower Zaigeya Sheppard-Tunnell who took third in the shot put in 28-6, while the Golden Knights also finished fourth in the 800 relay and the 3,200 relay.