Cape boys’ track fronts a championship legacy
The boys of Cape Henlopen track and field have won 11 state championships in the history of the school, the first in 1971 and the last in 2002.
Coach Matt Lindell is in his 10th year as Cape’s head coach, and has been coaching track and field for the last 21 years.
Cape’s cross country team won the Division I state championship in the fall; they were the first Henlopen Conference team to win the Division I title.
The point is, Cape takes the running sports seriously and always fields a representative, if not contending, team.
The Vikings are coming off a winter season under the direction of Ellis Gaulden when they placed third in the Division I state meet with 72 points behind Salesianum with 117 and Smyrna with 86.
“There are seven dual meets and one invitational at Caravel on April 10,” Lindell said. “Our major focus is the championship phases of the season, and we will use the dual meets to develop and move athletes around to find their best events and maximize our potential to earn points in the conference and state meets at the end of the season. We are fortunate that we have not had a major drop-off in numbers of student-athletes on the team due to the events of the last year, and their work ethic has been solid.”
The spring track format has 18 events, which includes four relays, two hurdle races, and open races in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters. The field events include the long, triple and high jumps, pole vault, and shot put and discus.
The format favors teams blessed with sprinters and jumpers, but distance depth and solid throwers are another way to win championships.
“Coach Ellis Gaulden continues to develop jumpers, and we have more sprinters than we’ve had in the past,” Lindell said.
Back in spring 2019, the boys finished 7-3-1.
