Athletes of the Week Jan. 24
Isaiah Ayers
Isaiah is a 2024 graduate of Sussex Tech who is now a freshman for the NHTI Cougars at Concord Community College in New Hampshire. Ayers scored 26 points in a recent 121-107 win over Bristol Community College. Isaiah was 8-for-11 on three-point shots. A post from the college Facebook page reads, “Not only did men's basketball score 121 points last Saturday, they did it on simply unreal efficiency. They shot over 50% from the field and over 60.5% from 3PT, including an absolutely unreal 14-for-19 from behind the arc in the second half.” Ayers had seven of those 14 second-half triples and was named Player of the Game. Coach Irvin Harris: “But beyond the numbers, what truly inspires me is the hard work, focus and togetherness these athletes display both on and off the court. They understand the importance of balancing academics and athletics, achieving the highest GPA among our sports teams semester one. This commitment to excellence is what sets them apart.”
Bodie Frederick
This Cape senior is a left tackle in football and a shot thrower in track and field. He has been getting steadily better since he first showed up at Cape from Chester County, Pa., as a sophomore JV football player. Bodie has bought into the weight room – he had no choice, as his dad Mike is the football coach – and has gotten bigger and stronger and more explosive, which easily translates from football to throwing a 12-pound steel ball. At the recent Henlopen Conference Indoor Track Championships, Bodie threw a personal-best distance of 45-feet-8-inches to capture second place and help Cape to the team championship. Last fall, Bodie was a team captain on the football team and was selected first-team all-state. He is looking at West Chester and Delaware to continue his education while playing football. After playing JV as a sophomore Bodie said, “If there was a JV all-state team, I think I would have been first-team.” His sense of humor lies in the zone between serious and silly. His goal this spring is to throw 50 feet.
Stephen Hart
Stephen is a senior jumper focusing on the high jump, but he also competes in the triple and long jumps. Long and limby with no wasted weight, Stephen looks like a high hurdler – and had some early success in the event – but his focus his senior year is on the jumps. At the recent Henlopen Indoor Track Championships, Stephen won the high jump at 6-feet-even and placed second in the triple jump at 42-8. His points helped the Cape boys capture the conference championship. An oddity in Stephen's no-pressure teenage world is not only was his high jump coach Ellis Gaulden a 7-foot high jumper at the University of Connecticut, but his father David Hart cleared the 7-foot mark while jumping for Purdue University back in his college days. Stephen takes honors and AP classes and does Academic Challenge. A realistic goal for Stephen this outdoor season is 6-feet-6-inches, but field event athletes sometimes make dramatic improvements.
Xavier Zimmer
A guard on the Cape Henlopen unified basketball squad, this freshman has made quite the impact in just his first year on the team. He scored two points and snagged multiple rebounds in the Jan 21 game against Caesar Rodney. "X is awesome," said Cape head coach Katie Collick. "He just loves to be on the court, and he's ready to go in whenever he's called. He's dynamic and throws the opponents off with his voice and how he talks with everyone during the competition. He has great skills and shoots when he gets open. He is really positive and we hope he continues in our program for the next few years." Xavier plays Special Olympics bowling, bocce ball, softball, corn hole and basketball. He hopes to represent Delaware in the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota for bocce ball. He is also member of the Cape unified football team and the unified choir.
