With spring sports beginning this Saturday, I sit here on Wednesday night awaiting the predicted six inches of snow coming from the south. A storm from the south usually hits us worse than from the north, and in most cases we get a bit more than expected. The Beacon, Mariner and Cape High track facilities were just showing their surfaces this week as the snow was melting in time for practice. The expected storm with temperatures around the freezing mark through the weekend will put most spring sports at a standstill. With a short middle school season that lasts only 59 days with only an average of 25 practices, teams cannot afford to lose any training.



“We basically have three weeks to get the kids in some type of shape and ready for the month of April, which is all racing,” said Beacon assistant coach Gilbert Maull.



The April middle school schedule is packed with racing, and with 10 days off for spring break, it leaves only 10 to 11 days of practice. The Beacon Middle girls' team, led by Alia Marshall who was nationally ranked in the long jump at 16-feet-2-inches, has won 44 meets in a row dating back to 2010, and last year she set 10 new school records. The boys, led by 100 and 200 school record holder Curtis Purnell, set eight new school records. Mariner will be led by former Cape standout Julie Jackson, assisted by statistician Kenny Reidel. Come out and support your Beacon, Mariner and Cape Henlopen High School track & field teams this spring.

College track & field

The Rider University women’s indoor track and field team, with senior distance runner Emily Ritter, placed second out of eight teams at the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships Feb. 21 at the Armory in New York.



“I’m very proud of the women’s team and the effort they put forth tonight,” said head coach Bob Hamer, who saw his squad hold off Quinnipiac University by 1.50 points for the second spot. “We knew we wouldn’t get a lot of wins or even second places, but we knew that we would need the thirds and fourths, and overall it was just a solid effort. We needed all those points to hold on to the second spot.”



Ritter (Sussex Tech) finished second in the mile run for 8 points as she backed off to run 4:59. “I pretty much knew going into the race that I was racing for second since the Iona girl [Kate Avery] had already run low 4:30.” Ritter came back to place seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:14.4. Ritter closed out the night by leading off the distance medley on the 1,200 meter leg where she opened up a lead in the final two laps, racing to a respectable 3:30 split.



Both the Monmouth University men’s and women’s teams took home the conference title. Rider will compete at the IC4A/ECAC championships March 6-7.



Freshman Austin MacElrevey will race in the Landmark Indoor Championships this Saturday, Feb. 28, in Selinsgrove, Pa., where he will likely show up in the mile run.



Hannah Pepper, a Cape graduate, raced Feb. 22 at the Princeton Invitational for the University of Delaware where she finished 12th in the long jump in 15-feet-1-inch and 24th in the 200 meter dash in 27.5 seconds.



With the southern weather warm enough to race outdoors, another local got started Feb. 20 with her sophomore track season as Sussex Tech graduate Amanda Sava was 20th for her Florida Tech team in the 3,000 meters in 11:56.



Another Sussex Tech runner, Isabel Wharton, finished ninth at the NCCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Feb. 20 at Cedarville University. Wharton, a junior, ran 5:21.3 in the mile for her Indiana Wesleyan team.



Indiana Wesleyan's most recent addition in facilities is the Troyer Fieldhouse, a new indoor sports complex designed to aid and enhance the overall performance of Wildcats student-athletes. The full 200-meter track has an eight-lane sprint area, and the competition area is made of Mondo Super X.

Upcoming races

Saturday, March 7 - 4th Run with the Hawks 5K, St. Georges High School, Middletown, 10 a.m.; seashorestriders.com.



Sunday, March 8 - 5th Get Pumped for Pets 5K, 10K, 15K, Stevensville, Md., 9 a.m., seashorestriders.com.



Sunday, March 8 - 3rd Lucky Leprechaun 5K, Milton, 11 a.m., races2run.com.



Saturday, March 14 - 8th St. Patrick’s Day 5K, 10K, Denton, Md., 9 a.m., seashorestriders.com.



Sunday, March 15 - 9th Shamrock Shuffle 5K, 15K, Junction & Breakwater Trail, Rehoboth Beach, 9 a.m., seashorestriders.com.