Cape Region is a running mecca that goes back 50 years

Meep meep - Cape kids have been running the roads of the greater Lewes area for 55 years, so it’s no surprise cross country is a solidly popular sport that now includes three middle schools. Running mecca aptly describes the racing community of Sussex County, as some members log 100 races a year. The Cape boys’ cross country team will head out on Saturday afternoon at Killens Pond in pursuit of its first Division I state title since 2020. Cape boys won Division II state titles in 1977 (Frederick), 1979 and 1982 (Pepper), and 1999 and 2001 (Pollock). Individual state champions were Jay Reed (1975), Lance White (1976 and 1977), Tony Sheppard (1980), Danny Harmon (1982), and Taiwan Savage (1991 and 1992). This fall, 150 athletes competed in the sport from high school down through Cape’s three middle schools.

Bad bad ball girls - I got to the semifinal field hockey game at Mike Drass Field Nov. 4, and before the game started, a game manager official asked me to move back beyond the yellow line, which was 10 yards from the sidelines. “Expecting some double-X refs?” I hesitated to quip, realizing I generated no power. The game got going and a Charter ball girl kept stopping in front of me  because she was focused on doing her job. I thought it was funny and said nothing because the night was more her world than mine. In the second half, a different ball girl cheered so loudly – “Let’s go, Charter!” – that I called her Meg for megaphone. But no one told her to tone it down. I respected her spirit, and as the minutes of the game dwindled toward a collision with triple zeroes on the scoreboard clock, the Charter fans amped up their enthusiasm. The game ended with Cape a 2-1 winner, having withstood The Force, which was not with them but after them. I walked across the field, and as coach Windy (Kate Austin) was getting ready to talk to her team, I said, “Coach, I have three words for you: Let’s go, Charter!” Everyone flashed a silent smile.     

Ball girls of the western world - Four of my granddaughters were field hockey ball girls, sharing the sidelines on game day with Fredman, their photographer grandfather. Lizzie, Katie and Lina were state tournament ball girls, while Anna said, “I never rose to the level of tournament ball girl, but I had a few regular-season gigs.” Katie, reported to be the most like me in personality and delivery, said hello to me before the state championship game, saying, “Hi, Fredman, guess what? I’m a ball girl.” And she said ball girl as only a teenage girl can draw it out, somewhere between a valley girl and a child from the stoops of Philly. “Watch out, Fredman! Ball girl coming through.” Life’s sports journey is about paying your dues or getting a transfer and riding a different bus.    

Bad News Bears - The Lewes Polar Bears have been plunging five times a year on the first Sunday of the month from November through March, except New Year’s Day, since 1982. The club, always resistant to attempts at organization, agreed in 1997 to join Delaware Special Olympics and move the February jump to Rehoboth. Since then, millions of dollars have been raised for Delaware's special athletes. The following folks plunged Nov. 3: Connie “Kinetic” Miller; Greg Mack; Kim Raschdorf; Greg Raschdorf; Bryan Mack; Lyle de la Rosa; Kevin Rough; the Egolfs – Bruce, Brad and Joe;  and Wendy and Tom Gusmer. “It was fairly calm, a little windy and warm for November,” Connie Miller reported. I retired from plunging one New Year’s Day when I pulled a hamstring racing out of the ocean. My status has been downgraded to doubtful every New Year’s Day since.  

Three-sport athletes - Winter sports tryouts and practices begin Monday, Nov. 11. A general rule is that three weeks of practice are required before the first scheduled competition. Many athletes who play complementary fall and spring sports take the winter off to work on strength and fitness while enjoying more personal-freedom time. The winter season always seems the longest, starting in early November and going into March. Sports offered are basketball, swimming, wrestling, cheerleading, unified basketball and indoor track. The middle schools offer basketball, wrestling and cheerleading. 

Snippets - The Salisbury University field hockey team is ranked No. 2 nationally in Division III with a 14-2 record. The Gulls will host No. 5 Christopher Newport at 6 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9, for the C2C Championship. Cape’s Devon DeGregory is a freshman middie/defender for the Seagulls. Regan Nacrelli of Smyrna has started all 16 games, registering four goals and six assists. The Salisbury roster is sprinkled with players from Delaware. C.J. Fritchman shut it down last year while rehabbing a shoulder injury. Now a sophomore, he is back on the pitch as a face-off specialist for Salisbury lacrosse. He got the start last weekend in scrimmages versus Adelphi and Franklin & Marshall. Shippensburg, ranked No. 1 in Division II field hockey, will play Bloomsburg Friday, Nov. 8, in the semifinals of the PSAC tournament. Mckenna Boyle (Sussex Central) has played in all 17 games for the Raiders, recording seven goals and two assists. Ella Shockley (Delmar) has started all 19 games for the West Chester Golden Rams, tallying four goals and five assists. West Chester lost to Bloomsburg 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the PSAC tournament.  Top 10 Division I field hockey teams with Henlopen Conference players are Northwestern, 18-0, ranked No. 1, with Alia Marshall, a grad assistant working on her master’s; Maryland, 12-5, ranked No. 5, with first cousins Josie Hollamon and Maci Bradford out of Delmar in the starting lineup; Duke, 11-5, ranked No. 6, has Cape’s Reagan Ciabattoni on the roster; and Michigan, 12-4, is ranked No. 9. Ryan Langford is an assistant coach at Michigan. He is married to Maren Ford, former Cape star, which makes Mayor Jim and Teresa his in-laws, so he gets 20% off at Kids’ Ketch when he visits Lewes. Dru Moffett, a freshman out of Smyrna, has appeared in 14 games for the Wolverines. Madge Layfield (Sussex Central) pitched two shutout innings for Central Arkansas in a fall ball game versus Ole Miss. Layfield was the 2024 Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year. Josie Hollamon, a Maryland Terp, was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for field hockey. The Eagles are favored by seven at Dallas on Sunday. Take the Boyz and the points. Go on now, git!