Pitts family has a rich track history at Cape

Bruce Pitts is the younger brother of four-time state champion Ricky Pitts, and Cape sprinter and long jump school record holder Jen Pitts. When you talk about the history of Cape track & field, the name Pitts has to surface. The Pitts name, along with the Savage family of state champions, put Cape track on the map in the mid-’80s and early ’90s, winning multiple conference and state championships.

At the 1986 Delaware State Championships, Ricky put the Vikings on his back and carried them to the team title in the Division I meet, capturing the 100, 200 and 400 individual titles along with anchoring the 4-by-400 relay. Late coach Bill Degnan won the first Division I track & field team championship and was named 1986 Coach of the Year.

Jen, nicknamed Pocket Rocket, ran on several 4-by-100 championship relays and long jumped over 18 feet to set the Cape school record which still stands today.

I coached Bruce in the early ’90s, and he was a huge factor in the Vikings winning one indoor and two outdoor state championships. Bruce was a 22-foot long jumper, a 45-foot triple jumper, ran 50.1 in the 400, 38.2 in the 300 hurdles, 1:57.5 at the High School Nationals on a Delaware all-star 4-by-800 relay team, and 54.9 to finish sixth in the 400 hurdles at the Nationals.

Bruce was one of the top all-round track & field athletes to come out of Cape, with jumping, hurdling and track range from 100 meters through 800 meters.

Bruce and Ricky attended the Cape versus Caesar Rodney and Sussex Central meet Tuesday in Camden and watched the action from along the fence at the finish line.

Following the girls’ 300 hurdles, in which Cape’s Alexa Dougherty won a close race with a new season best of 49.6, Bruce said, “Your girl in the 300 has way better hurdling form than I ever had. That was a great race.”

Four-minute mile

Delaware was one of seven states that did not have a person who could break the four-minute-mile barrier – until last Saturday at the Delaware Mile Challenge. At Tatnall School in Greenville, with a crowd of more than 1,000 spectators invited to the track to form a tunnel in lanes one and four, an elite field of 17 athletes went after the feat. A total of $16,000 in prize money was on the table for the top runners. 

Leading up to the highlighted race, there were middle school, high school, community and elite female races, along with a dedication of $1.3 million in track & field renovations and naming of the facility. The school surprised longtime and current Tatnall coach Pat Castagno by naming the facility the Castagano Track & Field Complex. The atmosphere was electric, and all eyes were on professional runner and 2012 Tatnall graduate Sam Parsons. The female elite race also saw a record fall, as Molly Sughroue of Colorado Springs Track Club won in 4:34.56 to claim some history of her own for the First State.

The pacer put the field of 60 on a 2:02 pace, then stepped off the track. The field was still tight through the 1,200-meter mark in 3:02. Villanova product Casey Comber shot to the lead, but Parsons went wide around the final turn and outkicked Comber to the line in front of the cheering crowd. The clocked stopped at 3:58.17, giving Parsons, who trains and lives in Boulder, Colo., with the Tinman Elite Club, a part of history and the $3,000 purse with a $500 bonus for breaking four minutes. Parsons ran 56.57 on his final trip around the oval. Comber finished second in 3:58.44 and claimed $2,500 for second and a $500 bonus for breaking four minutes.

High school track

Cape junior Ryan Baker broke his own 3,200-meter school record with a second-place finish at the Caravel Invitational with a time of 9:33.60. At the Keith Burgess Invitational, junior Katie Kuhlman won the 3,200-meter run in a personal best of 11:47.00, while senior Tia Jarvis won the 300 hurdles in 49.62. Sophomore Bailey Fletcher won the pole vault in 10-feet-6-inches.

Middle school track 

The Beacon Middle School track & field teams headed to Cape April 13, where they took on the Seaford Blue Jays. Both teams ran away with wins, as the girls’ team won 90-19 and the boys’ team won 98-7. The girls were led by a pair of triple winners. Seventh-grader Isabel Mastrangelo won the 55-meter hurdles in 11.2, high jump in 4-4, and 400 in 1:12. Eighth-grader Lily Noonan earned wins in the 800 in 2:53, 1,600 in 6:01 and triple jump in 28-2. 

Seventh-grader Mia Bender anchored the 4-by-100 and 4-by-200 relay teams to victory and also won the 200 meters in 32.0. The 4-by-100 team comprised McKenzie Everson, Leah Sheehan, Cora Emory and Bender. The 4-by-200 team comprised Mia Thompson, Kiera Fletcher, Everson and Bender. 

On the boys’ side, Bernard Jones was a triple winner, winning the 200 in 27.0, while competing with the 4-by-100 and 4-by-200 relays. Seventh-grade sensation Seth Benjamin crushed the field in both the 800 in 2:19 and 1,600 in 5:17, which are impressive times for this first-time track & field athlete.

Other double winners include: Daveyonn Conquest in the 100 and the 4-by-100, Ozmeer Daisey in the long jump in 16-2 and 4-by-100, and Carter Gibbons in the 400 in 1:01 and the 4-by-200 relay. Conquest, Jones, Daisey, and Jorge Ruiz combined to win the 4-by-100 in 48.6. The 4-by-200 relay team of Jones, Jamie Whitten, Jamar Beasley and Carter Gibbons capped off the evening with a time of 1:51.2.

Mariner eighth-grader Talia Pecoraro continues to bring home wins for her team. Coming off her double gold medal performance at the Blades Invitational last week in the 55 hurdles and 200 meters, Talia again took first in those two events April 13 against Selbyville, running a 9.6 in the 55 hurdles and a blistering 29.4 in the 200. On the Mariner boys’ side, Asher Woods, coming off his third-place finish in the 1,600 at the Blades Invitational, crossed the line in first place against Selbyville Middle School, running a 5:37. Brayden Woods was close behind, finishing second in 5:41.

Beacon and Mariner will face off Wednesday, April 28, at Legends Stadium at Cape Henlopen High School. Action is slated to start at 4 p.m. Come on out and support all of our middle school student-athletes.