The
Ramblings of a Madman
76
December 31, 2002
by Marshal
Manlove,
Editor, Creator of Words
The tenth Beast of the East Wrestling Classic has come and gone and
our local teams didn’t fare well this year. Our top team, St. Marks,
was 28th overall and only one wrestler, Brian Welch of
Hodgson, placed in the top eight (2nd).
Welch’s pin of the number two seed in the semifinals was the
highlight of the competition though. With a near capacity crowd on
hand (one set of bleachers was closed though) his pin, with his
signature move, the Big Cookie, caused an eruption in an otherwise
quiet arena.
That 2-minute period for Welch will prove to be worth thousands of
dollars for him most likely. Pins at that level against a wrestler of
that quality will almost guarantee that he will get offers for a full
ride scholarship to wrestle in college.
At the "Beast" Wilmington Friends freshman Ben Altman
broke his elbow in his second match after winning his first match. He
is out indefinitely and most likely for the entire season. Altman was
ranked second in his weight class at 103 pounds.
Brian Welch’s older brother Mike, a former Delaware Sports athlete
of the year, was in the arena watching his younger brother wrestle in
the finals. Mike is red shirting this year at Williamson Trade School,
which is a junior college. He will likely wrestle again next year as
he can only wrestle two years for that school.
Did anyone care all that much about the Slam Dunk to the Beach this
year? I think that there were only four Delaware teams present
including St. Marks, Sanford, Laurel, and Cape Henlopen. There was
plenty of talk that some schools were going to excuse themselves from
this year’s tournament because of the stink Bobby Jacobs created
with DSSAA and Bob DePew over the past couple of years. Many athletic
directors in this state stood behind DePew and were a bit resentful
over how he was treated in the end of the transition from DSSAA to
DIAA.
A few basketball observations now…just a few though.
I will be curious to see a St. Marks-William Penn girl’s matchup. As
it stands, St. Marks is our number one team, but I would pick the
Colonials to win a duel with the Spartans right now. They are for real
and are 6-0 right now, but the Spartans have earned that #1 slot and
will hold it until a local team knocks them out of it.
I get some letters about the Caravel team, which is currently 2-6. Joe
Pennell liked to stack his schedule with the toughest teams he could
find at the beginning of the year. He would take his lumps to improve
the overall quality of the team when the time came to play the local
schools. Local schools would be taken off guard by the improved Buc
team with a record that wasn’t so impressive and then the Bucs would
work their way up the top ten list. So I have been getting notes
trying to remind me about this (about which I am already aware) and
that this team is very deserving of a top five ranking right now. But
I just don’t see it yet, and even when Joe was there, this team didn’t
come out of this portion of the season with a losing record, so they
are out of the top ten and haven’t been in it yet at all. Let’s
see how they fare against our local competition in the next few weeks.
The buzz around the state is about two players who aren’t even high
school age yet, Khadijah Rushdam an eighth grader from St. Elizabeth
and Elena DelleDonne a seventh grader from Ursuline. Rushdan is
already on the varsity team and leading the state in scoring already
scoring over 100 points this year. With her talent level and a healthy
and positive attitude throughout her career, she will certainly break
the all-time scoring record set by Kristin Mills from Caravel Academy.
Mills was the only female athlete to score over 2000 career points in
Delaware as she was also an 8th grade varsity player.
The question remains whether or not Rushdan will stay here in Delaware
all five years to play basketball. Or, will she transfer out to a
school with higher visibility and tougher competition to fully prepare
her for a Division 1 college program.
Alongside Rushdan is her cousin Angel Henderson, a freshman, who is
now playing in Rushdan’s shadow. Henderson would be the #1 player of
many teams in this state even now and it will be interesting to see
what moves she will make to combat that situation. For our sports sake
and for the school’s sake I would hope that both stay put and keep
the Vikings program competitive and fun to watch for the next five
years. It will be fun to go to the St. E’s center and capture that
action over the years.
DelleDonne was the subject of a NJ article this morning that tells
about how she has already been recruited by colleges to play ball and
she is just a 7th grader. At 6’2" with the ability
to handle and shoot with the best of the rest locally, the Raiders can’t
wait to get her in their lineup. It’s easy to project her being a
varsity level player next year while in 8th grade. So add
her to Kate Mills, who is playing well so far this year, and Sarah
Williams, who is obviously feeling more comfortable on the court this
year, and the near future is very bright for UA. I wouldn’t expect
to see DelleDonne transfer anywhere however, which is good for UA.
In boys competition, we still have Sanford in the #1 slot because
someone needs to knock them out of the top slot the same way it needs
to be done in girls play. Hodgson is probably going to go undefeated
this year unless they totally choke somewhere along the line. Their
schedule is not exactly strong and they are already 7-0. But there
lack of a true point guard is where they will have trouble later.
Tauren Temple and Malcom Tiller are both top notch and Maurice Furrowh
is a nice third option for head coach Lou Bender, but the graduation
of Ladaye "Coolie" Johnson, has left the Silver Eagles a bit
shy at the point.
No more letters about the William Penn boys team please. They lost
about everyone from a year ago and I think they are still winless. I
had three people sending me these notes about how clueless I was
because I didn’t put them in the top ten in the winter preview.
Right now, I am looking pretty smart aren’t I?
Please take a look at our All-Heart Team section and feel free to make
a nomination of a deserving person. We will give out awards sometime
in April or May. Following is a press release from Washington College
in Maryland about a Delawarean who will fit right into our All-Heart
Team.
December 19, 2002
All-American Swimmer Returns from
Open-Heart Surgery to Capture ECAC Gold
CHESTERTOWN, MD - When Washington College senior Stacy Sines
(Wilmington, DE/Mt. Pleasant) touched the wall first in the
200-yard freestyle at this year’s ECAC Division III Swimming and
Diving Championships, she put the finishing touches on her greatest
victory. Sines had won her share of races before – she was an NCAA
Division III All-American each of the past two seasons, after all –
but this gold medal wasn’t only about finishing ahead of other
swimmers. No, this challenge was much greater than a race. Just four
and one-half months after undergoing open-heart surgery, Sines was
back on top of her sport.
It was September of 2001 and Sines was barely into her first
semester at Florida Atlantic University, where she had transferred to
from Washington College. A diagnostic ultrasound test revealed an
aneurysm in Stacy’s heart. In January of 2002, Sines returned to
Washington College and her friends, family, and familiar health care
in nearby Wilmington, DE.
While she underwent tests and debated her possible medical options,
Sines shined in the pool for Washington, winning gold medals in two
individual events and one relay at the Centennial Conference
Championships and then finishing 14th in the 200-yard freestyle at the
NCAA Division III Championships to earn All-American status.
After reviewing her options, Sines chose open-heart surgery, a
decision that she noted as the most mentally taxing aspect of her
ordeal. The surgery was performed successfully on July 23rd, but it
left her far from her top swimming shape. While in the hospital, Sines
received support from her family and friends and teammate Carolyn
Myers, now a junior, who was "at the hospital every day."
"Carolyn was there through everything," Sines recalls.
The challenge she faced to get back to competitive swimming became
apparent the first time she got in a pool after her surgery. "It
took me 43 seconds to get from one end of the pool to another,"
Sines remembers. Less than five months later, she would cover that
same distance in less than 14 seconds in the opening lap on her way to
gold at ECAC’s.
"It would have been easy for her to give up her last year of
collegiate swimming," remarks Washington College head coach Kim
Lessard, "but she has been determined to come back and help the
team her senior year and qualify for the NCAA Championships."
Sines missed several weeks of preseason practice and has only been
practicing continuously and in full force since early November. The
strength she showed to come so far in such a short time has not been
lost on Lessard. "She is a very focused young lady and puts 100%
effort into her training. The hardest part for her was at the
beginning, when her doctor told her she could only train 45-60 minutes
a day. She always wanted to do more, to push things to the next
level."
In Washington’s early-season dual meets, Sines swam well, and at
the ECAC Championships in early December, she excelled. Her winning
time in the 200-yard freestyle was 1:56.17, a provisional qualifying
time for the NCAA Division III Championships. She also finished second
in the 500-yard freestyle, and ninth in both the 100-yard butterfly
and 100-yard freestyle, and helped the Shorewomen defend their
400-yard medley relay title in an ECAC record-breaking time of
4:06.56.
Things might not have turned out the way they did if it hadn’t
been for the ultrasound that is part of Florida Atlantic’s regular
screening of athletes. It is Stacy’s hope that more colleges will
incorporate the test into their screenings.
Two other reasons Stacy’s story has been such a success is her
character and resolve. Lessard calls her a "great role model for
the team" and "someone that loves to swim and can’t
imagine not doing it." Lessard adds, "I have seen her change
and grow as a person and competitor." Sines also recognizes just
how her experience has changed her.
"I’m so much more appreciate of everyone and everything in
my life. When I swam so well at ECACs, it was the best feeling ever. I’ve
never felt that way before."
Alexandra Coppage, a freshman from Wilmington Friends school,
won the high jump at the Colgate Women’s Games at Pratt Institute in
Brooklyn with a leap of 5’4". This is a height that she clears
easily. Unfortunately, Friends doesn’t have an indoor track team so
I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to see Coppage compete in the
state championships where she would have a great shot at a state
record.
The state basketball championship finals are 3-8 for the girls, and
3-9 for the boys. The indoor track championship is 2-22 and the
swimming and individual wrestling championships are 3-1.
So another year is in the books. The year 2003 begins tomorrow and
unfortunately I will have to make a New Years resolution to lose the
weight that I swore I wasn’t going to need to lose at the start of
the New Year. I just ate too much chocolate in December.
Let’s take a look back at some of the highlights of the past
calendar year. Don’t be offended if your personal favorite isn’t
included here, I am just going back through some notes and pulling out
some my own top memories.
We started out the year producing a few "on location"
sports trivia shows from the Charcoal Pit on Kirkwood Highway. St.
Marks boys battled St. Marks girls teams and lost with tennis star
Katherine Bushey stealing the show.
A battle between Wilmington College and Goldey Beacom college was well
attended and included appearances by the Wildcat cheerleaders and the
Wildcat himself (or herself, I didn’t check that close).
Goldey-Beacom, although not supported by the numbers of fans that the
Wildcats brought, was the clear winner.
On January 11th St. Marks swimmer Mary Husty suffered an
accident while diving into a pool during a routine practice session.
The accident caused swelling in her spine and she was rendered
paralyzed and hospitalized. The local sports community rallied around
Mary all year long and hosted a series of fund-raising events. To
check on Mary’s progress see http://www.maryhusty.dca.net/
Highlights of reader mail from the year prior were talked about and
included the following…
Q: How come you spend so much time on boy’s sports?
A: I don’t really. I actually prefer to cover girl’s and women’s
events. It’s an attitude thing more than anything else.
Q: How come you spend so much time on girl’s sports?
A: See the second part of answer number 1.
Q: You are wasting valuable web space. Quit and die.
A: That wasn’t really a question. But I think I know what you are
going for. First, there is plenty of space out there and I have
purchased my share of it to achieve some goals that I have. Second, I
won’t quit, but someday I will die, so you will have your wish at
that time, but not before my time.
Q: Thank you for putting forth the effort that you do to promote
our kids and our state.
A: It’s fun and that’s why I do it.
Q: How do you choose what games to cover on your website and on
your TV show?
A: During the regular season, it sometimes is as simple as figuring
which game is closest to where I will be when my regular work day is
complete. That usually ends being someplace close to my house, but I
get to wherever I think will have the best game that I wish to see.
During the playoffs, if there isn’t a crew available to help me
shoot tape, then I pick teams that I haven’t covered as much first,
then the next choice is which game will be the best.
Q: What is your favorite sport to write about?
A: First, get it out of your head that I am a writer. Stephen King is
a writer. I am a hack with some free time. But when I have that free
time, I prefer girl’s sports. Basketball is my least favorite, and
softball is my favorite.
Q: You suck!
A: Show me where I said that I didn’t.
Q: Who does the top ten rankings?
A: You are talking to the main person. But, there are five other
people that help me reach certain conclusions who shall remain
nameless so that they can stay free of bribery attempts.
Q: Who are you to decide whom the top ten teams are? The News
Journal does the top ten teams.
A: They have their opinions and so do we. Sometimes they are right
where we are wrong and vice versa. It makes for good water cooler
chatter though doesn’t it? Sometimes we are even both wrong and
sometimes we are even both right! I see five games a week and more and
have what I think is a decent eye for talent and talented teams. So,
since I pay for the space, I reserve the right to express my opinions.
That is why America is the most awesome country in the world.
Q: You really shouldn’t be on TV. You’re not very good looking.
A: Never said that I was and I don’t disagree. But I pay for that
space too and I think I do a decent job announcing highlights so I’m
staying.
Q: You are a handsome man. Are you married? Do you party, big guy?
A: Not according to what the other dude says. But thanks, and no.
Never was married and I don’t have any children. That is also a long
sad story that I won’t go into here, but for now just realize that I
cover high school sports and love to do it partially because I don’t
have kids. I gave up partying a long time ago much to the delight of
everyone who knew and knows me.
St. Marks’ Chris Collins pulled off one of the biggest upsets
since I have been following local sports when he defeated Hodgson’s
Jordan Sianni in the finals of the state wrestling championships. His
five-point throw in the first period held up through a fierce comeback
attempt by the Pitt bound Sianni.
There were eight new state records set at the swimming championships
including Kaitlin Brady’s two set in the 100 back and 100 butterfly.
Those were added to the ones she already held in the 50 and 100
freestyle. McKean’s Brent Deputy broke the oldest record in the book
when he set the new standard in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Kamilah Salaam scored 40 points in the indoor track championship to
nearly single-handedly help Glasgow capture the team championship.
Ryan Hamill from Salesianum registered two wins in the 1600 and 3200
meter runs coming sprinting from behind in both races to capture
titles.
I mentioned the All-Heart Teams before and will just refer you to them
again as one of my highlights for the year.
"Bommalooga" became part of the Delaware Sports vernacular.
See http://www.delawaresports.com/news/ramblings_60.htm
for that description.
Hodgson won its 6th consecutive Division 2 wrestling
championship. Head coach Jerry Lamey announced his retirement shortly
thereafter.
The Spartans Mark Romanczuk threw a 21-strikeout opening day perfect
game in front of dozen pro scouts as a prelude to his outstanding
year. Romanczuk later was selected by Tampa Bay in the MLB draft but
opted for his full-ride scholarship to Stanford for the fall.
Caesar Rodney soccer star Megan Collins set the state record for
career goals.
My partner Dee Meyer set a National record in the squat thrust for
45-49 year olds in Virginia.
Christiana’s Matt Johnson set a new state record in the outdoor pole
vault at the New Castle County Championships.
St. Andrews Daphne Patterson scored a tournament record nine goals in
the championship final against Brandywine as the Saints captured the
girls’ lacrosse championship.
Tatnall running star Meredith Lambert won the 800, 1600, and 3200
meter runs at the state championships, a triple that not too many
people can claim winning over the years.
Dover’s Jason Lilly and Tatnall’s Jackie Ciconte were named the
Delaware Sports Athletes of the Year for 2001-2002.
Caravel Academy won its fourth straight softball championship despite
losing the firing of their head coach during the middle of the year
and the death of one of their JV players just prior to the tournament.
Jackie Homiak became a five-time first-team all-state player.
All of the disciplinary actions at Wilmington College that led to the
dismissal of Steve Lenderman from the Volleyball team and the demotion
of Athletic Director Bud Livingston who also lost his head basketball
job. The volleyball team was taken over by assistant coach Amanda
Moran and went to the Nationals while the basketball team is still
looking for its first win. (The men’s and women’s teams are a
combine 0-24 at this point).
The Newark football, St. Marks Soccer, and St. Marks Volleyball
dynasties all came to an end as William Penn, Salesianum, and
Ursuline, respectively, became the new targets of everyone else in
their respective sports next year.
That’s about it off of the top of my head for some of my personal
highlights during the year. Let’s hope that 2003 is a year that will
go down in history for something, whatever it may be…as long as it’s
positive and sports related anyway.
Thanks to everyone who continues to support Delaware Sports by reading
the website and watching our TV show and listening to our radio show.
My best wishes to you all.
