Horsey shines at Burgess meet
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| Dover High's LeSasha Stewart makes a giant leap en route to a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles as eventual winner and teammate Kiara Reid approaches on the right during Saturday's Keith S. Burgess Invitational at Lake Forest. At left is Padua's Bridget Keegan. Delaware State News/James Pernol |
FELTON - Help a program regain its state championship stature is
all Ross Horsey wants to do.
Competing on a team that was reintroduced only a few years ago, and a squad that
doesn't even have a home track, Horsey has taken strides in making people notice
Woodbridge High's track and field program again.
He was the Division II state champion in the long and triple jumps last year.
On Saturday, Horsey won the long (21-61/4), triple (43-31/4) and high jump (6-2)
as well as placing second in the 100-meter dash to put together the best
individual performance at the 26th Keith S. Burgess Invitational at Lake Forest.
In the girls' meet, Caesar Rodney captured the team title for the first time in
at least 16 years as some of the top programs in the state got together for the
annual early-season event.
It has only been in recent years that Woodbridge brought back a
program that won three Division II boys' state title in four years between
1979-82.
"I'm just trying to put Woodbridge back on the map," Horsey said. "I'm not even
worried about myself. This year is just protocol. I'm just trying to put my
school out there so younger people will come here.
"It's an honor, just hard work I guess," Horsey added. "It's a lot of hard work.
My teammates push me sometimes, I've got to thank them too."
Horsey, who is deciding between accepting scholarships from LSU and Rhode
Island, was the standout for Woodbridge, which placed sixth out of 14 teams in
the meet despite having only nine competitors.
Salesianum took first with 108 points. Milford was the best Henlopen Conference
team at third with 68 points.
"It's fun to watch him compete," Woodbridge coach Charles Gibbs
said of Horsey. "Against the competition, I always tell my kids don't be afraid
of any competition and do the best you can do. He's just a fun kid to watch."
Smyrna, which took fourth place, got yet another good performance from Zack
Nellams.
Nellams, who placed fifth in the state last year in the discus, took first in
the discus (142-10) and second in the shot put (43-6) on Saturday. And he was
accompanied by teammate Matt Hesseltine, who placed third in both the discus
(127-2) and shot put (42-5).
"We've got a tandem that's taking the state by storm," Hesseltine said.
In the girls' meet, Caesar Rodney won eight events en route to 16-year coach
Brian Berns' first Burgess team title.
With 124 points, the Riders bested second-place Padua, which finished 112.
William Penn placed third with 62.
"We preached 'team' since day one," Berns said. "They believe it and they run
for each other.
"Speaking for Caesar Rodney High School, we are proud of this track and field
team. I can tell you right now, we haven't won this meet in at least 16 years."
Ashley Cox won both the 400-run, 100, and was a part of the winning 1,600 relay,
and 800 relay teams. She gasped for air after anchoring the 1,600 relay.
"I wasn't looking forward to (the meet) that much because I was just getting off
being sick," Cox said. "I came back from California for spring break and it was
pouring down raining and I think I got sick from the weather change."
Cox wasn't the only Rider who had success.
Jennifer Johnson pole vaulted 10 feet and seven inches for a pending state
record. The record is awaiting DIAA approval.
But she wasn't able to receive her medal or celebrate CR's win because she left
for a cheerleading banquet.
One of the more exciting races came in the girls' 300-hurdles.
Dover's LeSasha Stewart jumped out to an early lead. But halfway in, CR's Kiara
Reid put on a kick and quickly kept pace with Stewart.
Reid ultimately passed Stewart with about 50 meters left and won the event in
47.11.
Keith Burgess Invitational
FELTON - The results of the 26th annual Keith S. Burgess Invitational, run on
Saturday at Lake Forest High School:
BOYS
Team scores: 1-Salesanium 108; 2-Mt. Pleasant 70; 3-Milford 68; 4-Smyrna 41;
5-Cape Henlopen 40; 6-Woodbridge 39; 7-Middletown 37; 8-Tatnall and Caesar
Rodney 32; 10-Brandywine 30; 11-Dover 16 1/3; 12-Seaford 14; 13-William Penn 13
2/3; 14-Concord 12; 15-Lake Forest 14.
1600 Relay: 1. Caesar Rodney 3:35 (Jean, Stubbolo, Brooks, Purnell).
200: 1.Walters (Sa), 22.9; 2. Davis (M), 23.3; 3. Siler (S), 23.5; 4. Davis (C),
23.6; 5. Hicks (LF), 24.0.
800: 1.Buonocore (Sa), 2:01.4; 2. White (Mt.P), 2:03.9; 3. Brisco (C), 2:04.4;
4. Gambogi (Sa), 2:05.8; 5. Hammer (MD), 2:07.0.
300 Hurdles: 1. Whittington (Sa), 39.7; 2. Davis (M), 41.7; 3. Gaines (Mt.P),
43.2; 4. Holland (Sea), 43.3; 5. Willare (MD), 43.7.
400: 1. Kowal (Sa), 50.01; 2. Shelton (B), 51.01; 3. Purnell (CR), 51.52; 4.
Keech (Sa), 51.64; 5. Verucci (MD), 51.8.
400 Relay: 1. Milford 44.4 (Franklin, Dukes, Davis, Altidor).
1600: 1. Sklodowski (T), 4:34; 2. DellaPelle (Sa), 4:39; 3. Donnelley (Sa),
4:41; 4. Conlon (Co), 4:46; 5. Stroing (T), 4:48.
800 Relay: 1. Milford 1:31.7 (Altidor, Hill, Davis, Dukes).
100: 1. Backus (B), 10.8; 2. Horsey (WB), 10.9; 3. Dukes (M), 11.2; 4. Siler
(S), 11.4; 5. Altidor (M), 11.6.
3200 Relay: 1. Salesianum 7:57.8 (Buonocore, Dellafelle, Donnely, Kowal).
110 Hurdles: 1. Gaines (Mt.P), 15.2; 2. Holland (Sea), 15.6; 3. Hall (C), 16.5;
4. Powell (D), 16.6; 5. Pettyjohn (M), 16.8.
3200: 1. Weigel (Mt.P), 9:57.2; 2. Giblin (T), 10:19.55; 3. Vinton (T), 10:35.9;
4. Segars (Sa), 10:35.5, 5. Hill (Sa), 10:35.9.
Shot Put: 1. Latney (Mt.P), 46-0; 2. Nellams (S), 43-6; 3. Hesseltine (S), 42-5;
4. Merritt (MD), 42-3; 5. Terry (BW), 41-6 1/2.
Long Jump: 1. Horsey (WB), 21-6 1/4; 2. Dukes (M), 21-2 1/2; 3. Hicks (D), 20-1
1/2; 4. Henry (MD), 19-10 1/4; 5. Brewer (D), 19-1.
Pole Vault: 1. Reed (Sa), 10-6; 2. Cona (Sa), 10-6; 3. Taylor (M), 9-0; 4.
Thawley (WP), 8-6; 4. Tice (WP), 8-6; 4. Miles (D), 8-6.
High Jump: 1. Horsey (WB), 6-2; 2. Henry (MD), 6-2; 3. Gaines (Mt. P), 6-0; 4.
Croxton (WP), 6-0; 5. Giarracco (Sa), 5-10.
Discus: 1. Nellams (S), 142-10; 2. Merritt (MD), 136-8; 3. Hesseltine (S),
127-2; 4. Kelson (WP), 126-0; 5. Pollard (C), 124-8.
Triple Jump: 1. Horsey (WB), 43-3 1/4; 2. Gaines (Mt.P), 42-5; 3. Henry (MD),
41-2 1/4; 4. Joachim (CR), 40-5 1/4; 5. Holland (Sea), 40-3 1/4.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1-Caesar Rodney 124; 2-Padua 112; 3-William Penn 62; 4-Dover 48;
5-Brandywine 44; 6-Cape Henlopen 41; 7-Milford 32; 8-Lake Forest 26; 9-Tatnall,
Concord and Middletown 14; 12-Seaford 13; 13-Woodbridge 4; 14-Mt. Pleasant 1.
1600 Relay: 1. CR (Puckett, Reid, Guzman, Cox).
200: 1. MacDonald (C), 27.5; 2. Brooks (LF), 28.0; 3. Johns (M), 28.7; 4. Seal
(P), 28.7; 5. Webster (MD), 28.9.
800: 1. Charris (Co), 2:24.6; 2. Lichtner (P), 2:25.1; 3. McCaffery (P), 2:26.0;
4. Flynn (B), 2:33.5; 5. Murphy (D), 2:35.6.
300 Hurdles: 1. Reid (CR), 47.11; 2. Stewart (D), 48.67; 3. Taylor (LF), 51.45;
4. Veech (P), 51.47; 5. Franklin (D), 54.25.
400: 1. Cox (CR), 1:01.4; 2. McGuire (WP), 1:02.17; 3. Webster (MD), 1:03.6; 4.
Brooks (LF), 1:04.37; 5. Jones (MD), 1:04.68.
400 Relay: 1. Padua 52.78 (Cahill, Burns, Williams, Seal).
1600: 1. Brousell (B), 5:08; 2. Leitsch (B), 5:24; 3. Lichtner (P), 5:30; 4.
Costagno (T), 5:45; 5. Carlton (T), 5:47.
800 Relay: 1. Caesar Rodney 1:47.0 (Tyson, Reid, Anderson, Cox).
100: 1. Cox (CR), 12.7; 2. Cahill (P), 12.8; 3. Johns (M), 13.2; 4. Brooks (LF),
13.3; 5. Fletcher (WP), 13.3.
3200 Relay: 1. Brandywine 10:01.2 (Brousell, Graham, Flynn, Leitsch).
100 Hurdles: 1. Stewart (D), 16.1; 2. Reid (CR), 16.2; 3. Truitt (Sea), 16.6; 4.
Bacon (WP), 17.0; 5. Veech (P), 18.1.
3200: 1. Watunya (P), 11:40.1; 2. Castagno (T), 11:58.0; 3. Paul (CR), 12:12.6;
4. Nimmerichter (MD), 12:32.6; 5. Vernon (CO), 12:34.0.
Long Jump: 1.Anderson (CR), 16-2; 2. Burns (P), 16-1 3/4; 3. Dillard (D),
16-1/2; 4. Smith (D), 15-9 1/2; 5. Felix (WB), 14-11 1/2.
Pole Vault: 1. Johnson (CR), 10-7; 2. Bouchard (CR), 7-6; 3. McDonald (M), 7-0;
4. Hersher (P), 6-0; 4. Johnson (SF), 6-0.
High Jump: 1. Romoro (P), 5-2; 2. Dewson (P) 5-0; 3. Anderson (CR), 4-10; 4.
Hanna (CR), 4-8; 5. Felix (WB), 4-8.
Discus: 1. Hucks (WP), 118-2; 2. Riedel (C), 104-1; 3. Buhls (C), 98-8; 4.
Neeman (LF), 91-0; 5.Houington (CR), 90-5.
Shot Put: Younger (CR), 35-4; 2. Hucks (WP), 35-2; 3. Brittingham (C), 34-1 1/2;
4. Moses (C), 33-3; 5. Hazzard (Sea), 30-10.
Triple Jump: 1. Dillard (D), 35-8; 2. Robinson (WP), 32-6 1/4; 3. MacDonald (C),
32-2; 4. Anderson (CR), 31-11; 5. Burns (P), 31-10.
State record pole vault, Jennifer Johnson Caesar Rodney, 10-7
Meet record, 1600, Brousell, Brandywine, 5:08.