Sundance Run and Swim showcases a diverse array of athletic talent

Ocean Atlantic - Swimmers crossed the finish line before runners and biathletes at the Aug. 27 Sundance fitness festival, and the first guy out of the water, Talbot Jacobs, looked too big to be that guy. He looked like a member of the Linemen for Life tribe, whose members all suffer from lack of buoyancy. Jacobs, 21, grew up in California but listed his hometown as Rehoboth Beach. He is captain of the Brown University swim team and clocked 8:29 for his half-mile ocean swim. The only swimmer close to him was 14-year-old Thomas Weeks of Rehoboth Beach in a time of 9:45. Amazingly, Caleb Boggs, 82, of Lewes, swam 24:32.

A different drummer - I once wrote of a high school football player, Bill Mauer: “In the ’60s, when so many heard a different drummer, Bill Mauer was an air guitar.” I, on the other hand, am the buffoon who sometimes rocks the contrabassoon. In the Athletes of the Week section Aug. 25, I changed the name of Anna Stumme to Anna Strummer because I can play both parts in a Dumb and Dumber movie. The upside is her grandfather Mike O’Neill, who plays for the Olde Tymers softball team sponsored by Community Bank, thanked me for featuring Anna before pointing out that Strummer wasn’t her actual name but Stumme. In the same lineup, under Brent Reed’s photo, I mentioned that his aunts Ann and Amy, former Cape basketball players, are twins, which they are not, but Ann and Amy thought I did it on purpose because they are so completely different and no one could be as daffy as I sometimes pretended to be. I’m the same guy who thought actor Ed Norton was Art Carney’s son. Hey, Norton! 

Law of Aging - “I don’t want a tickle, just want to ride my tricycle.” “As we age, we don’t slow down, our tricycles just get bigger.” In the middle of photographing hundreds of athletes crossing over computer pads through the Seashore Striders archway Aug. 27, a woman on a giant tricycle came rumbling through; it was cute or annoying, depending on your perspective. I liked it because it was my first giant trike photo of the summer. 

Six innings a better game - You know the joke, “Baseball was first mentioned in the Bible, ‘In the Big Inning.’” The best thing about the Little League World Series was that games were six innings long. Let’s face it, unless you’re a player, nine innings is too long to pay attention to a slow-paced baseball game. Throw in a 90-minute soccer game or those NFL games that stretch 60 minutes of playing time into a three-and-a-half-hour game. But you can’t beat watching a 10K race on the track, only 25 laps, or the 3K steeplechase, except perhaps fishing for sand sharks at the Point at Cape Henlopen State Park.  

Snippets - I’ve read most of the online stuff about Colin Kaepernick and a lot of social media commentary. I guess if I were a general manager who considered Colin an upgrade to any one of the three QBs I had in the stable, I’d sit down with him and his agent - or kneel down, whatever they wanted - and ask, “Will you take backup money to play here?” And I might ask: “What are your social activism plans going forward? Just so we all understand each other.”

Delaware field hockey beat Indiana 7-0 Aug. 25, but lost to host Louisville Aug. 27 3-1 in front of 795 fans. Maggie Delp started the Indiana game and saw plenty of action against Louisville. Tess Bernheimer (Cape), a Drexel Dragons sophomore, scored two goals in Drexel’s 2-1 win over Richmond in front of 217 fans. Drexel lost to VCU Aug. 25 1-0. Torrie Huk (Sussex Tech), a field hockey player for UMass Lowell, has scored two goals this early season for the 1-1 River Hawks. Heading into the 2017 season, the junior has scored 19 goals with six assists.

Cape volleyball coach Tyler Coupe mentioned that freshmen Katie Knarr and Emily Lamb have looked good this preseason. “Based on our potential talent, I’m really excited for this season,” Coupe said.

Delaware will host Delaware State Thursday, Aug. 31, to kick off the football season for both squads. Delaware is at Virginia Tech Saturday, Sept. 9. Temple opens its season Saturday, Sept. 3, at Notre Dame. Cole Boozer, 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, is a redshirt senior for the Owls. His late father Chris was a former Salisbury University player and member of the Rehoboth Beach Patrol. Wesley football, with Devin Miller starting at tackle, will open Thursday night, Aug. 31, at Delaware Valley College with Sammy Mohr in starting lineup. Hold out for grilled dogs. Go on now, git!