By BUDDY HURLOCK
Staff reporter
05/21/2002

FELTON -- Caesar Rodney made its presence felt in nearly every event in winning the Division I title in Delaware High School Girls Track and Field Championship on Monday at Lake Forest High.

The defending champs won just four events, counting Friday's 4x800-meter relay. But CR tallied 131 points to beat Brandywine (81) and Glasgow (73).

Glasgow senior Kamilah Salaam won four events - the 100- and 200-meter dashes and both hurdles races.

But the meet belonged to CR, which won its sixth overall title. The Riders also won the Division I cross country state title last fall.

"There weren't a lot of first-place finishes, but a lot of people got those seconds or thirds to pull in points, and that's how we finished first," CR senior Andrea Guinn said.

CR junior Jessica Schultz won the 400, followed by sophomores Shawna McCoy (third) and RaShonda Dennis (sixth). Schultz was then fourth in the 200, and McCoy finished fifth.

Senior Jill Hajec won the 3,200 and was second in the 1,600. In the 100, freshman Laura Hettinger was third and Guinn took fifth.

The Riders also displayed their depth by winning three of the four relays, including Friday's 4x800.

Placing first in the 4x200 for the Riders were McCoy, Latashia Stafford, Sheena Harris and Schultz. In the 4x400 relay, CR's first-place team was Dennis, McCoy, Rosa White and Schultz.

In the 1,600, Brandywine freshman Jessica Leitsch beat Hajec by .07 seconds. Leitsch (5:16.50) pressed ahead of Hajec on the last lap and held off Hajec's charge down the final straightaway.

But the 1,600 was another example where the Riders grabbed points. Freshman Jenay Friend was fourth in the race. Freshman Liz Paul was fifth in the 3,200.

In the triple jump junior CR's Terri Scott was second and sophomore April Jackson fourth. Freshman Micki Younger was third in the shot put.

"Unity is a big thing for us," said White, a senior, also third in the 800. "Not one person wins, but we help the others to win. Instead of trying to match up with other teams, we just use our depth and have other teams [worry about] matching up with us."

Brandywine won the 4x100 relay, anchored by sophomore Aysha Gregory, who also won the shot put. Sussex Tech's Tara Boemmel won the high jump and McKean's Mandy Stille the triple jump.