Ramblings of a Madman 52

 January 22, 2002

by Marshal Manlove
Editor

I have changed the name of this column because I think it is far more descriptive of what is done in this location on some sort of a regular basis. 

The Concord Raider girl's swimming team finally beat the Brandywine Bulldogs team in a match which can be seen on this date's TV show. On paper, the Raiders looked like a lock, and it turned out to be that way in the water this year also.
Chelsea Ademski, Marny and Katie Hearn, Kelly Carr, Julia Bonfante, and Jen Gilbert form the core of swimmers that led the Raiders to their 9th win against just one loss (to St. Marks early in the year.) 
With top five times in all of the relays and with Ademski and Katie Hearn's names in the top five ranks also, the Raiders are confident that they can swim well against Newark in their last meet of the year. It should be one to watch for sure.

Snow ruined the Saturday schedule last weekend as I went to cover the boy's indoor track competition at Tower Hill. Only the shot put was completed and it went as expected with William Penn's Carlton Rose and William Brown going 1-2.
The Colonial's Lateefah Vaughn set a state record in the shot put just a couple weeks ago, but it has already been broken by Brandywine sophomore Aysha Gregory, who cracked the 41-foot barrier on Saturday. Each thrower now has a win apiece this season at Tower Hill.

Diamond State Games gold medallist Rebecca Singh from Sussex Tech won the 800-meters in convincing fashion on Saturday. Her time of 2:30 wasn't particularly blazing, but it was on those sharp angled turns at Tower Hill and without much competition in the race that day. Most runners that I have asked tell me that they just don't like the Tower Hill track for competing, but besides the U of DE, there isn't anyplace else to go around here.

Our second "Delaware Sports On Location" went well again at the Charcoal Pit in Prices Corner. I thought that there might be more people curious to watch attending, but again I think people didn't want to risk driving in any potentially slick conditions.
It was Hodgson night at DSOL and the Cross Country team took on an assorted mix from the football, soccer, wrestling, and lacrosse teams. 
Although the latter team fared as well as could be expected with short notice that they were taking part, the cross country team cruised to the final round. Led by Nicki Bee, the cross country team advanced to take on head football coach Larry Cylc and his number one son Joe.
Again, the Cylcs were pressed into action and the cross country team went home winners, but Joe Cylc did at least answer the Hodgson specific question "Who was the Hodgson football player selected to the First-Team All-State Football team?" Of course, the answer was Joe Cylc.

So that closed out a fun night that even included the answer "Diana Ross" shouted out to the question "which Silver Eagle holds three indoor track state records?" (Dayne Ross was the correct answer.)

If you haven't nominated someone for an All-Heart Team award, what are you waiting for? We have about eight nominations so far for our third team, but would like to see a few more. This is a great opportunity to highlight a young athlete in a different and heart-warming way. Remember that Delaware Sports is a place where we encourage input from outside sources; we mean to be interactive.

Friday the 25th, we will head over to tape the St. Marks-Newark swim meet, which should still be exciting, if not a little sobering at the same time. For it will be without Newark's Cassie Connell and also a key member of the Spartan team. 

On Friday, January 11 while practicing a diving drill at her swim club's practice, St. Mark Spartan Mary Husty had an accident. It still is not known whether her head hit the water funny or hit the bottom of the pool, but there was damage to the C5 vertebrae in her back that at the same time may have caused damage to her spinal cord.
Mary was immediately transported to Christiana Hospital by the State Police where she had surgery to stabilize the area.
Mary, for a short while did not have use of a large part of her body and there was a large amount of swelling around the C5 area.
Mary has regained use of her arms and can do bicep curls although she cannot properly handle smaller items such as spoons and forks right now. 
She has been transferred to Magee Rehabilitation Center at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia where she can now sit up and is in a wheelchair, which indicates there is still a lot of hope. Unfortunately, there will be a long waiting game for the swelling to go down to see the extent of the damage.

If you would like to send a get well card, the address is:
Mary Husty
Room 548
Magee Rehabilitation Hospital
1513 Race Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102

General visiting hours are 4-8 p.m. during the week. Call ahead before making plans to visit on a weekend since rehab hours vary during those days.

We will keep posting updates on Mary's condition as we get them from the family. 

The high school diving community has also lost two of its top female divers. Last year's state champion Kim Rusk from A.I. duPont was in a car accident about two month ago prior to the beginning of the season. She did begin the diving season, but the slight injury to her neck wasn't improving, so she was told to stay off of the boards for a while. She is back in action and will be able to dive at states. I previously reported that Kim twisted her neck diving. This was accurate, but it was this past summer when she performed a belly flop (wonder what the degree of difficulty is for a belly flop) and suffered a bit of whiplash. I got mixed up because I am old. 
Padua's Caroline Krystapolksi fell down some stairs and fractured her ankle recently. Her return in time for states is questionable but she is projecting that she can dive in two more weeks. That may be a bit optimistic, but let's all hope for the best.

The Wilmington College softball program will get a shot in the arm from a few familiar incoming players in the upcoming spring season. Sussex Central graduate and former Delaware Sports Athlete of the Year Betsy Lecates will join the Wildcats and former Golden Knight teammate Sandy Samsel. Lecates transferred from Rider after her freshman year and already appears to be the number one starter.
Caravel and DE Tech Stanton graduate Erica Richardson will join the Wildcats outfield. Richardson was the leadoff hitter and centerfielder for Caravel when they won their first state championship three years ago and will bring speed to the top of the order and solid defense in centerfield. Richardson also pitched for DE Tech, but is not likely to do so with Wilmington.
Hodgson graduate Katie Gallagher will bring a booming bat with her and the catching gear as well. Gallagher will strikeout a couple times during the season but will offset those minor nuisances with some monstrous homeruns.
The Wildcats will have a fairly potent offense with Gallagher, Samsel, Lecates, and Lisa Scanlon, all who hit for power. They will miss Jaleah Brown who transferred to DE State for the 2002 softball season, but the addition of Gallagher and Lecates more than make up for that loss.  

Speaking of the Diamond State Games, it appears to be official that we will postpone them until 2003. The planning for a 2002 event was underway until we were attacked on 9-11. The extra security and insurance costs blew out any chance of making a budget since it was then coupled with hesitation by local businesses to spend extra money. We also had someone misspend over 10,000 dollars, half of which was the DSGs. We are still contemplating pressing criminal charges or just flat out suing (or both) to recover our money. All of those factors have led to the decision to postpone. 
This is all a shame because we got the hard year out of the way. We were about 50 athletes shy of my initial projection of 2000 athletes in our first year, which many people thought was impossible. It's also a shame because this event turned a pretty decent person into a lying, cheating, lowlife, dirt bag of a human being who helped to ruin a good thing for Delaware and nearly bankrupted me personally.  And one day, I will tell you all who that piece of filth is and all of the details! (See why I changed the name of the column??!)

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Marshal Manlove