Cape girls win Henlopen Conference Championship

The Cape Henlopen girls’ swim team made it five in a row as they took top honors at the Henlopen Conference Championships Feb. 11 at Sussex Academy Aquatic Center. The senior girls have never lost in Henlopen Conference competition. The Vikings finished with 417 points. Sussex Tech took second with 393. Cape also won the girls’ dual-meet conference championship this season with an undefeated record. The Cape boys’ team took second place in the championships with 318 points, while Caesar Rodney took first with 354.

Cape coach Bill Geppert was chosen as Henlopen Conference Girls’ Coach of the Year, while Molly Weeks received the Vince Morris Outstanding Female Swimmer Award. Cape’s Alec Hochrein received the Vince Morris Outstanding Male Swimmer Award.

After 18 events at the meet, 15 Cape individuals and teams set new personal bests.

“It’s a great way to end the conference season,” said Geppert. “The conference meet is all about depth, and we had great depth this year, and they all delivered. It’s not all about the top-place swimmers, but about the swimmers who come in third, fourth and so on to win the conference meet.”

Geppert was quick to recognize the contribution of the award winners.

“I was really excited to see Alec and Molly get the Outstanding Swimmer Awards,” he said. “Molly also received it in 2015, and Alec is the only boy to ever receive it for Cape.”

“It was an amazing experience,” said Hochrein, who bettered his personal best in his 50 and 100 freestyle wins. “It’s the biggest event of the year for us. Everyone swims their best because of the adrenaline rush from swimming in the championships. This is the best team I’ve ever been a part of in my high school career.”

“I’m so proud of my team and what we’ve accomplished at this meet,” Weeks said. ”I feel sad that it’s my senior year, but the conferences will always be one of my favorite events.”

Senior Sarah Rambo, who broke the 100 backstroke record with a time of 1:01.12, credits all of her teammates for the victory.

“Each swimmer was valuable to our victory,” she said. “It was a tough year for scoring, and we needed every point to pull off the win.”

“I’m so happy with our win this year,” said senior Amelia Nigh-Johnson. “Everyone stepped up and scored points.”

“Our performance at conferences was really exciting,” said senior Sarah Hyde, who won the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. “It will definitely fire us up for states. We are looking forward to working hard for the next couple of weeks.”

Cape will travel to the University of Delaware Wednesday, Feb. 22, to compete in the DIAA State Championship.

Girls’ winners:

200 medley relay - Cape’s Molly Weeks, Sarah Rambo, Sarah Hyde and Amelia Nigh-Johnson, 1:52.22

200 freestyle - Cape’s Molly Weeks, 1:58.06

200 individual medley - Cape’s Sarah Hyde, 2:16.28

50 freestyle - Sussex Tech’s Hannah Venables, 25.07

100 butterfly - Cape’s Amelia Nigh-Johnson, 1:00.78

100 freestyle - Cape’s Sarah Rambo, 55.54

500 freestyle - Cape’s Molly Weeks, 5:21.36.

200 free relay - Sussex Tech’s Morgan Purdue, Amy Venables, Bridget Johnson and Hannah Venables, 1:45.37

100 backstroke - Cape’s Sarah Rambo, 1:01.12

100 breaststroke - Cape’s Sarah Hyde, 1:08.15

400 freestyle relay - Cape’s Sarah Hyde, Sarah Rambo, Amelia Nigh-Johnson and Molly Weeks, 3:40.76.

Boys’ winners

200 medley relay - Indian River’s Josh McIntire, Patrick Banks, Blake Shurt and Jonathan Kohr, 1:46.91

200 freestyle - Sussex Academy’s Evan Davis, 1:59.17

200 Individual medley - Dover’s Nathan Turner, 2:10.08

50 freestyle - Cape’s Alec Hochrein, 22.23

100 butterfly - Indian River’s Josh McIntire, 56.94

100 freestyle - Cape’s Alec Hochrein, 49.24

500 freestyle - Caesar Rodney’s Ethan Herring, 5:14.20.

200 freestyle relay - Caesar Rodney’s Nick Hartmann, Andrew Chen, Tommy Pomatto and Alex Harfeld, 1:33.34

100 backstroke - Caesar Rodney’s Nick Hartmann, 57.26

100 breaststroke - Sussex Tech’s Jonathan Lee, 1:06.62

400 freestyle relay - Caesar Rodney’s Nick Hartmann, Francis Tamesis, Ethan Herring and Alex Harfeld, 3:29.00.