Ramblings 67

 June 7, 2002

by Marshal Manlove, Editor and Creator of Words.

The Year in Review

Each scholastic sports year begins with Football, and for some fans it ends there as well. But if I started and ended with Football this would be a short piece and I am more motivated than that.
The big question at the beginning of the year was "Who could knock prevent Newark from winning their fifth straight Division I championship?" The question at the end of the year would be "Who can prevent Newark from winning their sixth straight title in 2003?"
Led offensively by Austin and Drew Kisner, and Brandon Snow on the ground and Erec Spiese and from the air, the Yellowjackets mowed down their competition all year. Only a late struggle with William Penn left fans with any question about the final game against the Dover Senators who avenged last year’s playoff loss to Sussex Central to enter the final game as a favorite to win as far as downstate fans thought.
Pierre Bowers was the Senators big ground gainer with Jason Lilly a threat to go deep and run the end around as well as anyone in the state.
Those two undefeated teams didn’t disappoint the 5000 fans that stuffed themselves into Baynard Stadium. Dover scored first with a Bowers rushing td and Lilly caught a td pass of his own to match Drew Kisner’s two first-half scoring runs.
Kisner and his older brother Austin tried to regain control in the second half as they were relied on both offensively and defensively. It was Austin who scored the go-ahead and eventual winning touchdown late in the 4^th quarter to. He also added a fumble recovery (off the hands of Bowers) and an interception to seal the victory and increase the Jackets state record for consecutive state championships.

In Division II, the Delmar Wildcats also mowed down everyone they faced including the early season favorites from Middletown.
Wildcat starting quarterback John Wallace was injured 6 games through the season but in stepped freshman Brandon Hudson to chip in what he could to guide the Cats to an undefeated regular season.
The Wildcats took on the Hodgson Vo-Tech Silver Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. The Silver Eagles were led on offense by sophomore QB Lenzi Davis and the bruising fullback Joe Cylc. Davis opened up the game with a kickoff return for a touchdown but it was downhill from there. Senior tailback Sean Hudson scored four touchdowns in the game and gained 154 yards on the ground.
The Cavaliers of Middletown thought they were in the game that they were meant to win- The State Championship. Rashaun Lively rushed for 210 yards and four touchdowns in their 33-20 playoff win against St. Elizabeth and were confident they were returning to the top for the 4^th year out of 5.
But at Delaware State University the Wildcats and Cavs were playing a surprisingly scoreless tie until late in the second half when Sean Hudson ripped off a 63-yard touchdown run. Head Coach David Hearn must have lit a bonfire under his players at half time as they piled up 29 points in the 3^rd quarter. Even when the Cavs did manage to score in the third, the Wildcats returned the subsequent kickoff for a touchdown en route to their second straight Division II title.

Dover’s Pierre Bowers was named the Player of the Year while Newark’s Kevin Wiggins was given the lineman of year. Glasgow’s Steve Jewel earned honors for the Defensive Player of the Year. Hodgson head coach Larry Cylc was named the coach of the year.

In Cross Country Salesianum’s varsity seven was comprised of underclassmen. The Sals finished an undefeated regular season and picked up the first three spots in the Division I Championship. Tom Lord, sporting a hairdo that defied description, came from the middle of the pack to win ahead of Ryan Hamill and Mike Zeberkiewicz. P.J. Meany and Liam Corey also finished in the top 15 for Sallies.
Archmere was the definitive Division II favorites all year long until attendance was taken at Cape Henlopen midway through the season. That moved the Vikings back in to Division II where they crossed six of their seven in the top 15. Not even the presence of a Manlove (Mike, 12^th overall) could help the Auks on that day. Peter McBride was the top Auk (3^rd) ahead of the top Viking Nick Adams (4^th) but it was Cape 47 and Archmere 61 at the end of the say.

The girls also featured a flamboyant young runner at Brandywine High School in freshman Jessica Leitch. She carried a big smile and, at states, a pink feather boa, which had to help Bulldog morale all year long. Leitch complimented senior Jenn Kutney (4-time first-team all-stater) well and followed her across the finish line in third place at states. But the still young Dogs could only pull across their next three runners in the 30’s as Caesar Rodney was crossing three in the top 8.
Senior Jill Hajec, who missed the 2000 states with an injury, led the Riders. She had apparently healed 100% and finished 30 seconds ahead of Kutney to reclaim her championship. Junior Kashante Codner, freshman Elizabeth Paul and sophomore Kasheka Codner finished 6-7-8 for the Riders to help clinch the championship and offer reason to be confident of a repeat for next year.
Lost a bit in the shuffle, and feather boas, were the Pandas of Padua who quietly put together a small undefeated season (4-0) and finished second in the team standings. Freshman Jessica Walsh and sophomore Beth Meany were 10^th and 11^th at states followed by freshman Janet Cleary (14^th) senior Colleen Reid (15^th) and sophomore Annie Hartnett (18^th).

In Division II, the story for most of the year was Tatnall senior Meredith Lambert. She crushed course records all year long yet on the final couple hundred yards of the state championship, along came Tower Hill freshman Lisa Klein to pick up a win and register one of the greatest upsets of the high school sports year. (More on those later.)
Despite the second place finish by Lambert at states, she’ll still go down as Delaware’s greatest female cross-country runner. She finished her career with course records at Lums Pond (19:17), Killens Pond (18:52), and Bellevue (18:25, ironically the site of this year’s states). That’s three of the five major courses and doesn’t include any other marks she set at opposing school courses throughout the area. Lambert is headed to Princeton to join the track team in the Fall.
Lake Forest, behind seniors Lena Ewing and former State Champ Holly Wilson, edged out Seaford 66-71 for the Division II team title.
Leitch, Klein, and A.I. duPont’s Jackie Reifschneider were three freshman who made the first-team all-state team. It’s not as rare as one might think since it was accomplished in 1997 (Jill Brobst, Colleen Taylor, and Abby Nerlinger), but still worth mentioning because…well because it should be mentioned, ok? It also happened in 81, and 96.

Six was the magic number for the St. Marks Boy’s Soccer team- six consecutive state championships and 11 since 1986. Add the two girl’s titles won by the girl’s team in 00, and 01, and that makes 13 for head coach Tom DeMatteis.
The Spartans finished 17-3 and capped off their sixth straight win with a 2-0 shutout of Glasgow in the final game. Ryan Edwards assisted on the game-winning goal in the first overtime period and scored the insurance goal in the second overtime period. Spartan Adam Smith did his modern-day impression of the Knick’s Willis Reed and scored the game winner despite missing most of the game due to a back injury. He told DeMatteis "I can give you a couple minutes here" in the overtime, and he did all that and more.
The Spartans avenged their only in-state loss of the year in the semi-final round as they kicked out Salesianum 1-0 also in overtime. That was the early season score by which Sallies won to vault them into the #1 position in the Delaware Sports top ten for a majority of the season. Jeff Mangat’s goal was the one that propelled the Spartans into the final game.
A.I. duPont’s Brian Healy was named the boy’s soccer Player of the Year for 2001.

The Sanford Warriors cruised to a boy’s basketball state championship defeating Hodgson Vo-Tech in the final game at The Bob in February. Junior Wil Sheridan was the player of the year for his dominance throughout the season. He had help from the point in senior Earl Miller.
Sanford will not only have Sheridan back next year, but also the improving 6’9" junior Joe Dyson.
Hodgson was probably the flashiest team in the state led by Taurean Temple (who returns next year), senior Ladaye "Coolie" Johnson, and junior Malcolm Tiller. Think about what that team could have been if Art Bowers (a 2001 all-state player) and Harry Saunders (Glasgow transfer) had remained to play with Lou Bender.
Salesianum made a surprise visit to the final four with a short, but heart filled squad paced by Kyle Stem.
There was an outside chance of an All-Catholic Conference final because St. Elizabeth found themselves at The Bob up against the Silver Eagles. The Vikings had their own twin towers in Shane Sowden and Joe Scholz and just missed playing one more game by three points.
The Spartans of St. Marks three-peated behind Kristen Sullivan, Christine Armstrong, Natalie Bizarro and all of the others. The Spartans were clearly the deepest team in the state with probably 5 bench players who would have started on other schools in the state.
The Spartans run at the title finished with the A.I. DuPont Tigers who were buoyed by the transfer of Markeda Hollingsworth from Glasgow and the play of LaTanya Shazier. Hollingsworth missed last year’s playoffs with the Dragons but got herself together to help head coach Mark Alley guide the Tigers to a 25-2 overall record with both losses to St. Marks.
One of the best games I saw all year was the regular season St. Marks-A.I. duPont game. The Tigers wiped out a 22-point deficit to force a tie that the Spartans managed to break with just a minute to go.
The Seaford Blue Jays reached the final four playing what was basically a street-ball game. Kadedra Brittingham, Shirelle Tingle, Roniece Williams, Chaunte Kilgoe and Ashley Burbage were left to their own devices and finished with a 23-3 record.
The Polytech Panthers and Tyresa Smith complimented the Blue Jays in the finals. Smith was the real deal that the Spartans needed to shut down in the semi-final round game but she still managed 17 points en route to a first-team all-state team berth.
Caravel’s Daveneia Payne was named the Player of the Year.

St. Marks won yet another girls swimming championship. Katie Kuczmarski set a state record in the 100-yard breaststroke at States. Their season became dedicated to the thoughts of the fallen Spartan Mary Husty who injured her spine in a freak diving accident suffered during a routine training session.
The 5K for Mary Husty attracted well over 300 runners who came out to run in a drenching rain. Athletes, coaches of all kinds came out to run with friends and family.
Mt. Pleasant’s Kaitlyn Brady switched individual events at States from the 50 and 100-yard freestyles to the 100 Back and 100 Fly. She promptly set state records in both.
Caesar Rodney’s Kristina MacLeish also set new standards in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle races. Both MacLeish and Brady still have another year left to swim in Delaware.
The oldest girl’s swimming record is now just 6 years old.

McKean’s Brent Deputy broke one of the oldest boy’s swimming records when he beat Seth Van Neerden’s record in the 100-yard breaststroke set in 1986. Van Neerden has been coaching Deputy at his swim club.
Salesianum won another boy’s championship behind 16-yr old sophomore Rory Connell. He set a new record in the 200-yard freestyle and was part of the new record setting 200-yard freestyle relay team as well.
A sign of respect that the McKean team has for Salesianum was witnessed at their dual meet in the regular season. There is a cheer that teams use that goes "10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2" and then all hands will rise with one finger extended to end the countdown. When the Highlanders did it at their home pool, the chant stopped at 3 and two fingers were extended instead. I thought that was a classy, and witty, thing to do. Head Highlander Coach Glen Moore did a good job with the Highlanders who, perhaps, were slight underdogs going into a regular season meet with Newark which they won by a single point.

The St. Marks Spartans won the Division I dual meet wrestling championship behind Andrew Donofrio, Bobby Shaw, Joe Ferrara and Chris Collins. Donofrio became the 7^th Delaware high school wrestler to win four state individual championships. Collins kept Hodgson’s Jordan Sianni from becoming the 8^th wrestler to win four state titles behind a first period 5-point throw from which the Silver Eagle could not recover. The Collins win went down in our poll as the number one upset of the year.
St. Marks ripped through Caesar Rodney in the finals despite a three-match streak at 160, 171 and 189 by the Riders.
In Division II it was Jordan Sianni’s Silver Eagles who won their 6^th consecutive D2 dual meet state championship. Brian Welch, Joe and Larry Cylc won individual state championships and along with Tyler Smith and the upcoming Scott Hinderer blew through both Lake Forest and Smyrna.
The Silver Eagles run at a 7^th straight championship will be guided by a revamped coaching staff as Jerry Lamey, the only head coach Hodgson has known, is moving on to an administrative job with greater responsibility. Also leaving will be Dee "The Most Dangerous Man in Delaware" Meyer and perhaps Paul Antonio as well.

The indoor track championships were highlighted by the McKean Highlander girl’s team, which finished with its best ever second-place finish.
The Glasgow Dragon girl’s team was practically non-existent at the beginning of the year. There were perhaps 5 athletes who were ready to take on the state. But new head coach Alan Duncan pulled a few rabbits out of his hat and behind super-junior Kamilah Salaam won the meet 86-56 over McKean.
Salaam set a new meet record in the 200-meter dash and Brandywine’s Aysha Gregory set a new meet record in the shot put.

Dover’s Jason Lilly continued his dominance on the track during the winter season. He was one of the top 3 400-meter runners in the country.
Smyrna’s Randy Faulkner became the newest record holder in the Pole vault as captured by the Delaware Sports Film Crew (me). The new standard is now 14’6" just a half inch shy of the new outdoor record set in the subsequent Spring season by his main Pole vault rival Matt Johnson from Christiana.
Salesianum’s Ryan Hamill won two of the more exciting races capturing the 1600 and 3200 with winning kicks at the end of both races.

Spring is the busiest of all three seasons with 12 different championships awarded (2 divisions in track). It’s tough to get to see as much as I would normally like so attending the bigger events becomes the logical choice.
The Christiana Relays featured a new state record in the girl’s pole vault by A.I. duPont’s Kim Rusk. She had just started vaulting about three weeks prior to that day and her 9’8" clearance opened people’s eyes.
At the New Castle County track championships Rusk blew away her record by clearing 10’6". Over at the boy’s pit Christiana’s Matt Johnson broke the 27-year old record in the pole vault by clearing 14-6 ½ inches.
With Johnson, Randy Faulkner, and Caesar Rodney’s James Handley all clearing 14 feet during the year, it marked the first time three Delawareans cleared 14 in the same year.
I had a lot of fun at the Penn Relays as well. I was only able to attend the Saturday portion of the competition and missed the majority of the girl’s events but I did get to see Newark’s Louis Broyles take a second place in the triple jump, which was respectable.
The Jamaican teams come in force and with a large contingent of fans also. I have a great tape of a race that featured a couple Jamaican teams with waves and waves of Jamaican flag waving fans in the stands. In the middle of this wave of black, green, and yellow, there was lone white guy waving a little American flag attached to a little stick. The contrast was comical.

The downstate softball teams seemed to be stronger than ever with Caesar Rodney, Cape Henlopen, Delmar, Indian River, Sussex Central, and Sussex Tech were busy knocking each other around all year. But it was the Smyrna Eagles who surprised them all by reaching the state final against the Caravel Buccaneers.
The 15^th seeded Eagles knocked out the #2 seed Caesar Rodney in the first round and then went on to eliminate Indian River, which was on a late season tear of their own.
St. Marks looked like the end of the road for Karen Pritt’s Eagles, but pitcher Jen Taylor was given an early lead with which to work and she did her part by shutting down the Spartans in a 3-1 win.
Caravel battled its share of adversity during the year. A midseason coaching change was necessary after Steve Baker left the program due to a disagreement with the administration over how a player was disciplined on the Bucs Florida trip. Skip Homiak, the father of the now five-time first team all-state pitcher Jackie Homiak, stepped in to finish the season.
As the tournament rolled around, the Bucs suffered a devastating loss when one of their 13-year old JV players was killed in a car accident.
Sporting armbands to honor their fallen teammate, the Bucs took on the Eagles and jumped out 3-0 in the first inning capitalizing on four Eagle errors.
But the Eagles kept fighting back. They chipped into the Buc lead by a run and nearly tied the game later when the potential tying run was gunned down at the plate by Caravel. So the Bucs became the first Delaware softball team to win four straight championships and thus enter the "Dynasty Zone."

A couple people coached the Brandywine baseball team. Chuck Clausius was listed as the head coach, but sitting in the dugout as well was long-time coach Larry Wheeler.
Someone- most likely all involved of course – did a heck of a job with the team. After all, winning the state championship is the best a team can do.
The Bulldogs championship was just their first in school history, which is a surprising bit of trivia. They needed to get through St. Marks in the semifinal round, the team they lost to in the finals last year.
Fortunately for the Dawgs, the Spartans Mark Romanczuk was ineligible to pitch in the semis, and therefore the door to the finals was wide open.
The Bulldogs faced the Caravel Buccaneers, eager to take home their second state championship of the last day of the sports season. But with the Bucs softball champions sitting in the stands at Frawley Stadium, the deep pitching staff couldn’t find the plate in the 3^rd inning. Brandywine’s 8 runs in that inning were all they would need to offset the early Buc 3-1 lead and get a chance to pile on starting pitcher Jacob Doyle at the mound at game’s end.

Some of my more memorable moments from the past year were:
~ All of the new state records set at the girl’s swimming championships.
~ The Concord-Brandywine girl’s swimming dual meet.
~ The Division II football championship 3^rd quarter in which Delmar scored 29 points against Middletown.
~ Dee Meyer’s National powerlifting record in the squat.
~ Tatnall’s Meredith Lambert crushing competition in Outdoor Track competition.
~ Tower Hill’s Lisa Klein’s upset of Lambert at the Cross Country states.
~ Salesianum’s Tom Lord’s hair during Cross Country season.
~ The Ursuline Cross Country team not attending the Lake Forest Invitational out of respect for the 9-11 attacks. (I’m sure there were other examples around the state, but that one sticks in my head)
~ The Caravel softball team’s 4^th straight championship battling through a controversial coaching mid-season change and the tragic death of a JV teammate just around playoff time.
~ Hodgson’s sixth straight wrestling title.
~ Newark’s fifth straight football title
~ Chris Collins upset of Jordan Sianni at the wrestling championships.
~ Mark Romanczuk’s opening game perfect game in front of 21 major league scouts.

During January and February we taped a few shows live at The Charcoal Pit in Prices Corner. The shows were sports trivia contests to which we invited a few schools.
Our first contest featured male and female athletes from St. Marks. Four-time state tennis champion Katherine Bushey led her female teammates to a convincing victory over her male counterparts, who left the show early as the girls continued into the second round.
We also shot a Wilmington College – Goldey-Beacom trivia contest at The Pit. We all know how this rivalry has grown throughout the past few years so it was a great concept. Wilmington created flyer and distributed them through the campus to attract fans to the event while Goldey was a bit more conservative. The Wildcats came with their cheerleading squad (YAY!) and even the Wildcat himself came while Goldey wore dress warmups to represent.
The loud and excitable crowd was predominantly leaning toward Wilmington, but Goldey didn’t crack under the pressure and pulled out a large victory for them.
We hope to try and do a few more of them someday.

The sports radio show that I host during the school year, the Brandywine Sports Corner, offers its share of memories for me. One that stands out was an appearance by the A.I. duPont Volleyball team. During that show, Maureen Dugan, Ketti Viohl and Kelly Gast performed their pre-game ritualistic dance in the middle of the studio. Picture the three of them grabbing one of their ankles and dancing around in a circle hopping on the remaining leg singing some goofy song. After that display, I managed to talk them into singing for me as well but Dugan and Gast never did join Viohl as she belted out a great rendition of the National Anthem.
After the swimming championships, McKean’s Brent Deputy and Caesar Rodney’s Erin Courtney made a guest appearance. I thought they made a good-looking couple so I tried to hook them up on the air. Turns out that Erin’s boyfriend was listening on the Internet to the show from his college somewhere in Pennsylvania. Oops!
The next time I saw the two of them was at the Mary Husty benefit run where I found out that they were now dating each other. I’m now thinking of a new local TV show dedicated to match making.

My special thanks go out to Brandywine’s Dana Anderson, Newark’s April Desai, and Ursuline’s Karyn Keenan who were key student staff members at Delaware Sports. Their unique look at sports from their perspective helped to round out the coverage upon which we wish to build in the future. The three of them are trailblazers here at Delaware Sports and are destined to become members of our Hall of Fame someday.
Further thanks go out to Dr. Jack Hocutt for writing a column dedicated to the Tower Hill girl’s basketball team that he follows on a game-to-game basis. Also, more thanks to the Sports Editor of the Cape Gazette, Dave Frederick for his amusing contributions during the year.

The Delaware Sports Athletes of the Year have been selected and will be presented their awards soon. Pictures and descriptions will be posted here and shown on our TV show shortly after they have been given.

The Delaware Sports Cup will be awarded to St. Marks sometime in September. Congratulations to the Spartans for becoming the first winner of that award.


The final standings for Delaware Sports Fantasy League will be finalized shortly.

We asked for reader input regarding a variety of categories relating to events from this past scholastic athletic year. Let’s go through and see what the majority thinking was during the year. Keep in mind that all of these one name or word answers are listed here because there were at least a few responses with those same answers.

Who was the male athlete who made the most progress this past year? This didn’t necessarily mean who has the best year, but who made that leap into the next level from a year ago. Not everyone fully grasped this, but there were no incorrect answers.
Mark Romanczuk, St. Marks baseball. Tom Lord, Salesianum cross country and track; Matt Jackson, Cape Henlopen cross country and track; Louis Broyles, Newark track; Brent Deputy, McKean swimming; Pierre Bowers, Dover football Lauren Rothe, Ursuline tennis; Jake Watts, McKean basketball; Anthony Clark, Charter football; Ryan Hamill, Salesianum cross country and track; Shane Sowden, St. Elizabeth’s basketball; Peter McBride, Archmere cross country; Joe Dyson, Sanford basketball; Eric Seifert, Caesar Rodney lacrosse; Luis Quinones, McKean; Jason Windett, Caesar Rodney; Kevin Hannan, Archmere basketball; Mike Pennewell, Smyrna football; Luke Helmar, Concord baseball; Matt Johnson, Christiana track; Earl Miller, Sanford basketball; Jeff DiGiacobbe, Wilmington Christian; Brian Cimorosi, William Penn wrestling; Kevin Dunn, Salesianum volleyball; Dean Whetham, Brandywine baseball; James Handley, Caesar Rodney track; Ryan Edwards, St. Marks soccer; John Drummond, Polytech track

Who was the female athlete who made the most progress this past year?
Christina Kirby CR softball, Ashley Smeltzer, St. E soccer, Kelly Mark, Ursuline basketball and track; Ashley Judge, Concord field hockey; Katie Kuczmarski, St. Marks swimming; Kamilah Salaam,Glasgow track; Mandy Stille, McKean track; Kim Joyce, St. Elizabeth softball; Erica Razze, Ursuline volleyball; Natasha Howard, Sanford basketball; Ashlyn Houska, Caesar Rodney soccer; Katherin DeVilbiss, Cape Henlopen track; Kim Rusk, A.I. duPont track; Danielle Shields, Sussex Tech softball; Daphne Patterson, St. Andrews lacrosse; Rebecca Singh, Sussex Tech track and cross country; Kate Holden, St. Marks soccer; Jessica Schultz, Caesar Rodney; Kelly Sammons, Dickinson softball and volleyball; Kia Murphy, Concord track; Ali Crouse, Sanford basketball; April Yanacek, McKean; Aysha Gregory, Brandywine track; Kristen Sullivan, St. Marks basketball; Dana Olmstead, St. Elizabeth volleyball

Who would you choose as Coach of the Year?
Ralph Heiss, Salesianum cross country, Pat Pollock, Cape Henlopen track; Carol Wood and Judson Wagner, Concord swimming; Joe Mills, Tower Hill girls soccer; Jim Solomon, Dover track; David Byers, McKean track; Jim Zimmerman, William Penn wrestling; Jerry Lamey, Hodgson wrestling; Karen Pritt, Smyrna softball; Tony Papili, St. Elizabeth softball; Sarah Commito, St. Andrews lacrosse; Dicky Howell, Caesar Rodney wrestling; Phil Shultie, Sussex Central wrestling; Chip Hannig, Salesianum; David Hearn, Delmar football; Steve Bastianelli, St. Marks wrestling; Kelly Parsley, Hodgson track; John Coveleski, Caesar Rodney football; Chuck Clausius, Brandywine baseball; Tom Dematteis, St. Marks soccer; Sheila DiNardo, Sanford basketball;

Which athletic program made the best progress from a year ago?
Tower Hill girl’s soccer (since there wasn’t one a year ago); St. Marks boy’s lacrosse; Charter girl’s soccer; Sussex Tech overall; Brandywine spring sports; Concord girl’s lacrosse; St. Andrews girl’s lacrosse; Padua overall; Red Lion Christian overall

Which male athlete is most likely to succeed in life?
Joe Vavala, Cape Henlopen; Mark Romanczuk, St. Marks; Tom Lord, Salesianum; Jared Hughart, St. Marks; Tyler Grenda, Salesianum; Bobby Shaw, St. Marks; Jason Lilly, Dover; Ryan Hamill, Salesianum; Wil Sheridan, Sanford; Brinck Slattery, St. Andrews; Brandon Snow, Newark; Richard Dondarski, Sussex Central (which is saying something since he is a freshman); D.J. Bell, Caesar Rodney; Davenia Payne, Caravel; Trevor and Travis McLaurin, McKean; Brent Deputy, McKean; Kerry Miles, Mt. Pleasant; Brian Healy, A.I. duPont; Henry Palmer, St. Andrews; Matt Goff, Glasgow; Jordan Sianni, Hodgson; Andrew Donofrio, St. Marks; Carl Bakomenko, Salesianum

Which female athlete is most likely to succeed in life?
Maren Ford, Cape Henlopen; Kim Joyce, St. Elizabeth; Kelly Mark, Ursuline; Cassie Connell, Newark; Megan Collins, Caesar Rodney; Laura Goeller, Tower Hill; Margaret Farland, St. Andrews; Kaitlyn Brady, Mt. Pleasant; Kimmie Bausch, Sussex Central; Jackie Ciconte, Tatnall; Meredith Lambert, Tatnall; Danielle Unflat, William Penn; Hillary Schmidt, Tower Hill; Shannon Bradbury, St. Marks; Michelle Huyhn-ba, St. Marks; Lindsay Subers, Archmere; Jackie Homiak, Caravel; Jill Hajec, Caesar Rodney; Courtney Kendall, Sanford; Larissa Broglie, Ursuline; Daveneia Payne, Caravel; Mandy Stille, McKean; Kim Whalen, Ursuline

Name the biggest rivalry.
It did seem that a lot of schools claim St. Marks as their number one rival up north. Here are most of the main ones overall.
St. Elizabeth and St. Marks in anything.
Salesianum and St. Marks in anything.
Ursuline and St. Marks in anything.
Ursuline and Padua in anything.
Caesar Rodney and Dover in anything.
Caesar Rodney and Cape Henlopen in lacrosse.
Newark and St. Marks in girls swimming.
St. Marks and William Penn in wrestling.
Newark and William Penn in football.
Hodgson and William Penn in wrestling.
Smyrna and Middletown in anything.
Christiana and Glasgow in anything.
Howard and Charter in football.
Brandywine and Concord in girl’s swimming.
Tower Hill and St. Andrews in girl’s lacrosse.
Caesar Rodney and Sussex Central in wrestling.
Sanford and Tower Hill in anything.
Caesar Rodney and Tatnall in lacrosse.
Tower Hill and Tatnall in anything.
Archmere and St. Elizabeth in anything.
Glasgow and Caesar Rodney in girls track.
McKean and Newark in boy’s swimming.

Which male athlete has the best smile?
Yearbooks ask the questions so why shouldn’t we?
Tom Lord, Salesianum; Jason Lilly, Dover; Brandon Menchaca, Concord; Chris Hudson, Newark; Mike McCreary, Salesianum; Ryan Hamill, Salesianum; Anyone at Tower Hill or Tatnall; Eric Seifert, Caesar Rodney; Adam DiMuzzio, Archmere; James Moore, Dover; Jason Justison, St. Marks; Kyle Stem, Salesianum; Wil Sheridan, Sanford; Chris Barnes, St. Elizabeth

Which female athlete has the best smile?
Kelly Mark, Ursuline; Amanda Warrington, Cape Henlopen; Cassie Connell, Newark; Danielle Nourie, A.I. duPont; Dana McCreary, Ursuline; Jessica Leitch, Brandywine; Leslie Wason, Brandywine; Anyone at Tower Hill or Tatnall; Alison Sanchez, Brandywine; Ashlyn Houska, Caesar Rodney; Aisha Word, Hodgson; Mandy Stille, McKean; Kim Rusk, A.I. duPont; Jessica Schultz, Caesar Rodney; Jill Hajec, Caesar Rodney; Leslie Baldino, Sanford; Lauren Lewandowski, St. Marks soccer; Ashley Hultberg, St. Elizabeth; Kaitlyn Brady, Mt. Pleasant; Erin Courtney, Caesar Rodney

We tossed out the best-dressed category since most athletes are usually seen in a dirty and sweaty team uniform of some sort.

Best or Favorite Stadium.
St. Elizabeth’s Center, Sallies gym for basketball, Cape Henlopen’s gym, The Snyder Center at Wilmington Friends, A.I. duPont fields all received modest recognition. By far any away, Baynard Stadium up north and Polytech down south were the favorite places to compete other than The Bob.

Best Concessions
Baynard Stadium; Newark; Salesianum; Dover; Any food is good.

Upsets of the year.
~St. Elizabeth beating Caesar Rodney in softball.
~Archmere losing the boys cross country states to Cape Henlopen.
~Concord girls swim team medalling in two relays at states.
~Salesianum beating St. Marks in soccer during the regular season.
~Brandywine girls cross-country only taking third at states.
~Ursulines lacrosse team beating St. Marks during the regular season.
~Sanford’s basketball team beating Salem at the Slam Dunk to the Beach.
~Dover losing to Newark in the football final. (No one from upstate thought that was an upset)
~The biggest upset of the year went to St. Marks’ Chris Collins who defeated three-time state champion Jordan Sianni in the wrestling state championship final.
~Sanford’s men’s tennis team beating Archmere in a regular season match.
~Lisa Klein beating Meredith Lambert at the Cross-Country State Meet
~Caesar Rodney not winning the lacrosse championship.
~ When A.I. High School, in the State Tournament, knocked out Caravel Academy girl’s basketball team.
~ Glasgow and Dover getting beat at the Outdoor Track State Meet
~ Cape lacrosse beating CR in semifinals boys lacrosse.
~ When St. Elizabeth's girls volleyball team defeated St. Marks in the regular season.

Fondest memories.
~Newark’s Megan McLaughlin said " When Newark volleyball played William Penn at home a couple days after 9/11, I remember the chills that went through me when we went outside with the rest of the world and all held hands with candles while we sang the national anthem. That's what sports are all about."
~Watching Meredith Lambert, from Tatnall, run.
~The state football championship between Newark and Dover.
~St. Elizabeth’s basketball team makes it to The Bob.
~Delmar’s football team wins its second straight title.
~McKean’s girl’s track team takes second place in indoor track.
~Smyrna takes second place in wrestling states and softball.
~Triple overtime game between Padua and Ursuline.
~Friends football Coach Bob Tattersall getting his 200^th coaching win.
~ Megan Collins beating state scoring record in soccer.
~ Brent Deputy breaking Seth Van Neerdens old record in the breaststroke.

What changes would you make to any sport if you could?
~Better officiating in basketball.
~Less rules in XC and track about uniforms and I don't like shorter quarter in Lax either.
~Girl’s lacrosse should definitely get more coverage than it does!
~Mercy rules for soccer games because SOME schools find it necessary to run up and embarrass other schools. These weaker teams have players that enjoy soccer and are out there to have fun but people wonder why those same girls don't play again the next season. Maybe they hated being unnecessarily embarrassed.
~Back to longer periods in lacrosse.
~The point system for how a team is chosen in the state girls lacrosse tournament. Give teams high ranking only if they have played teams ranked in the top 5. It doesn't make sense how Brandywine is #2 when they did not play any of the top 5 teams in lacrosse on 2002 before the state tournament. Each team should be required to play 2 teams from each league in order to be able to participate in the state tournaments, one being in the top 3 from the previous year
~ Throw out track Meet of Champions. Start dual-meet state final instead.
~Girls' lacrosse needs to be more physical like guys.
~ The tennis state tourney should reduced back to 16 teams and all 16 should be seeded. Furthermore, the boys and girls tournaments should be held during the same weekend. DSSAA should also think about holding the tournament at Sea Colony in Bethany Beach.

I realize that I didn’t touch upon all that I could have here. But in my word processor, this piece is ten pages long. I may add to it over the next couple day and if I do so, I’ll note that on the main page.

I would like to thank all of you who are regular and frequent visitors to Delawaresports.com. It is flattering to have regular readers visit something that was created from scratch as just a hobby.
Hopefully, we can make improvements to the site to provide more information and entertainment in the future. With everyone’s continued support, we will be able to fulfill our goals here and give everyone reason to keep returning.

Marshal Manlove