By ED MURPHY
Staff reporter
05/21/2002

FELTON -- Cape Henlopen High scored a rare double victory at the 59th annual Delaware High School Track and Field Championships on Monday.

The Vikings braved temperatures in the high 40s during the six-hour rescheduled meet and won the Division II boys and girls team titles at Lake Forest High.

Katherine DeVilbiss and Antonio Alford starred for Cape Henlopen, but it was depth and strong performances in the field events that led to the team championships.

"We're blessed with some strong runners and people in the field events," Cape boys coach Pat Pollock said. "It's exciting for our program to win both titles. We have a lot of depth."

The Vikings waltzed away with the boys championship, winning by an incredible 111 points over Polytech.

DeVilbiss led the Vikings to a 23-point win over Lake Forest in the girls division.

Howard was the last to win both Division II championships in 1989.

"This is my 24th year, and it's our first team title," Cape girls coach George Pepper said. "The girls stayed focused and they were determined."

Alford won the long jump on Friday with a leap of 22-6 3/4 , and added golds in the triple jump (43-10) and 400 relay on Monday.

The Vikings scored big points in the triple jump, with Larry Miller finishing third and Robert Dorman fourth. Cape scored 20 points in the 800 as Matt Jackson took first in 2:02.54, Andrew Freeman was second and Vince Lewis finished third.

Jackson also won the 1,600, with Nick Adams finishing second for the Vikings.

Cape's distance runners came through, too. Alford, Miller, Mike Blankenship, and Dewayne Holloman won the 400 relay, and Holloman teamed with Jackson, Dan Redard and Shawn Hopkins to win gold in the 1,600 relay.

Nick Lemmon was second and Kevin Butler finished third in the pole vault for Cape.

Polytech senior John Drummond won the 110 hurdles, ran a leg on the winning 800 relay team and won the 300 hurdles.

"We had a good meet," Drummond said. "I won all the events I wanted to win."

In the girls competition, DeVilbiss, a sophomore, won the 100 hurdles in 15.86, led off the winning 400 relay team and added a gold medal in the 300 hurdles with a 47.96. DeVilbiss also won the girls pole vault on Friday with an 8-9.

"It was exciting," DeVilbiss said. "I didn't expect to win all of those events. Our team has been dedicated. We wanted the team title and we stuck together the whole way."

Tatnall distance runner Meredith Lambert swept the titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200, and Concord sprinter Schachia Murphy captured golds in the 100, 200 and 400.

Woodbridge won its first girls event at the state meet when Rayna Horsey, April Cannon, Connie Pleasanton and Kanesja Brown won the 800 relay in 1:49.14.

Reach Ed Murphy at 734-7946 or emurphy@delawareonline.com.

The News Journal/BOB HERBERT

Smyrna's Randy Faulkner wins the Division II pole vault as he clears 13 feet on Monday.

Cape Henlopen's Matt Jackson (right) and Nick Adams finished one-two in the Division II 1,600-meter run.