Successful spring for Cape Region sports

It was quite a spring for Cape Region high school sports. 

Between Cape Henlopen and Sussex Academy, four teams and many individual athletes won state championships in the last few weeks. 

Cape’s baseball team is the latest champion, earning a 4-1 win over Appoquinimink June 6. It’s the school’s second baseball championship. 

Sussex Academy’s golf team won the school’s first state championship June 1, topping runner-up Tatnall by six strokes. The Seahawks’ Hannah Lydic won the individual girls’ championship over teammate Sawyer Brockstedt. Hannah’s sister Sarah finished fourth, just two strokes behind. 

The Cape’s girls’ lacrosse team state title is probably the least surprising. The Vikings continued their in-state dominance May 26, with a 16-4 win over Tatnall to claim their 13th straight state championship. The last time Cape lost to a Delaware opponent was May 2, 2009, a streak of 165 games. 

Cape’s unified track team celebrated a state title May 11. Then May 20-21, Elle Nauman, Carrie Reed and Tony Palmer won individual titles, and the 4-by-200 relay team of Jay’Lier Long, Alejandro Alvarez-Roman, Giovanni Barney and Palmer was also victorious. The Cape boys’ track 4-by-800 relay team of Ben Clifton, Brian Sponaugle, Liam O’Donnell and Julian Calloway won the state title May 21.

It’s worth noting Cape’s boys’ lacrosse team reached the state finals, falling by just two goals to perennial powerhouse Salesianum. Sussex Academy’s girls’ lacrosse team achieved its best season yet, amassing a 14-1 regular-season record before reaching the state semifinals. 

Cape’s tennis teams also gave tremendous efforts, each finishing with 8-2 regular-season records, and the Vikings’ boys’ volleyball team, in only its second season, finished 12-2 and reached the tournament’s second round. 

These young athletes’ accomplishments are impressive, as is all the students’ perseverance over the last two school years. As the 2021-22 year winds down, Cape Region kids have a lot to be proud of, whether on an athletic stage or making it through one of the most difficult times to be a student. Congratulations to all.