The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 17

www.delawareonline.com TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2007 THE NEWS JOURNAL C3 epTuesday 1 Sklodowski, Delia Pelle thrive on rivalry Boys tennis (final) RANK TEAM St. Andrew's After Tatnall School senior Brian Sklodowski finished his state record run in the 3,200 meters at the Meet of Champions last week, he said the competition among long-distance runners in his graduating class "is probably the best the state has ever seen." It's hard to argue against that, starting with Sklodowski, who Friends Salesianum Caesar Rodney Charter Tower Hill Brandywine toplOs THROUGH SUNDAY Boys lacrosse (final) RANK TEAM RECORD Salesianum (16-1) 2. Cape Henlopen (D-4) 3. Friends (14-4) 4. Tatnall (D-5) 5.

Charter (15-4) 6. St Andrew's (10-6) 7. Tower Hill (9-8) 8. Brandywine (13-4) 9. Middletown (13-4) 10.

Archmere (9-8) Girls lacrosse (final) RANK TEAM RECORD Tower Hill (16-1) 2. St. Andrew's (13-5) 3. Cape Henlopen (13-5) 4. St Mark's (14-2) 5.

Sanford (11-7) 6. Concord (14-3) 7 AlduPont (14-3) 8. Caesar Rodney (9-7) 9. Charter (10-5) 10. Brandywine (9-6) finished his high school career as the first male cross country runner to win three straight state titles.

Sklodowski also leaves as the state record-holder in two events where the previous record had stood for a couple of decades or just a few weeks, thanks to Salesianum's Dominic RECORD (13-2) (12-1) (13-2) (12-2) (13-1) (9-3) (12-2) (8-6) (11-3) (5-10) RECORD (14-0) (14-1) (13-1) (11-5) (10-5) (12-1) (12-2) (14-2) (6-8) (5-10) BUDDY HURLOCK PREP NOTES Dominic," Castagno said, "came back and ran a 16:49 the next week." "That's when it started," Castagno said. "It's always been a second here or a second there between the two for four straight years." Since the indoor track state championships aren't broken into divisions based on enrollment, as in outdoor track and cross country, we've been treated to three 1-2 finishes by Delia Pelle and Sklodowski in each of the last three years. Sklodowski won the 3,200, with Delia Pelle second, in the 2005 indoor state meet. But in the 1,600 in the indoor state meet in 2006 and this year, it was Delia Pelle first, Sklodowski second. "Without the other, they wouldn't have been as good as they are, and they are friends," Castagno said.

"It's been a nice rivalry and they are both gentlemen, which is nice to see." During the 2006 outdoor track season, when Delia Pelle won the boys mile in the Penn Relays, his time was recognized as the state record, a mark that had stood since 1972. But in last season's Meet of Champions, Sklodowski beat Delia Pelle in the 1,600 and set a state record of 4:11.93. This year, the 3,200 state record came into play It had been around since 1983, a 9:21.3 by Dickinson's Eric Hamilton. A year after Hamilton's mark, Mount Pleasant's Dan Foran came close to breaking it, as did Dickinson's Dave Byers in 1986, but since then no one had come close. Castagno, who graduated from Salesianum in 1983 and ran track for the Sals, recalled the efforts by Hamilton and Foran.

"Those guys were pushing that 9:20 en velope back then," Castagno said, "and then the 3,200 times slowed down and 9:45 would win the 3,200 every year, maybe 9:30. People revered that 9:20 mark as the gold standard." On April 28, Sklodowski won the 3,200 in 9:20.6 in the Unionville Invitational at Ken-nett Square, Pa. But Sklodowski held the record for only one week. Delia Pelle came back with a 9:19.9 in the May 5 Twilight Relays at Caravel Academy. That set up the final race between Sklodowski and Delia Pelle, in the 3,200 in last week's Meet of Champions.

Sklodowski led the first two laps before Delia Pelle took the lead for the next two, though Delia Pelle would fall back and finish seventh. Conlon led the next three laps of the race, but Sklodowski kept pace and won in a state-record time of 9:16.80. It made for a memorable night for Tatnall, as sophomore Juliet Bottorff earlier won the girls 3,200 with a state record of 10:50.08. "Brian had been eyeing that up ever since Dominic took that record from him," Castagno said, "and you have to hand it to Pierce Conlon. He really pushed the pace." Sklodowski will run in college at William Mary Delia Pelle plans to attend the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I., with hopes of moving on to the U.S.

Naval Academy "My career has been great, and like any career it's had its ups and downs," Sklodowski said of his days at Tatnall, "but to end it on a race like this is awesome." Contact Buddy Hurlock at 324-2807 or bhurlockdekvMreonline.com 8. St Mark's 9. Concord 10. Tatnall Girls tennis (final) RANK TEAM Archmere 2. Tower Hill 3.

Caesar Rodney 4. Tatnall 5. St. Andrew's 6. Brandywine 7.

Charter 8. Dover 9. Sanford 10. Friends Delia Pelle. From cross county to outdoor track, Delaware says goodbye this school year to a horde of talented distance runners.

Among them are the esteemed Concord duo of Pierce Conlon and Chris Slate, keystones in building the Raiders program as it won indoor track and Division II outdoor track state titles this season. But last Wednesday's Meet of Champions at Caravel Academy was the last chapter in high school, at least of Sklodowski and Delia Pelle, and not Sklodowski vs. Delia Pelle (or vice versa). The fateful confluence of their high school careers hasn't been like that. Tatnall coach Pat Castagno recalled the freshman year of Sklodowski and Delia Pelle, when, during cross country season, Sklodowski ran a 16:50 on one course "and Note: Final tennis rankings consider performance during the regular season and during the state tournament.

Final rankings for baseball softbatt, girls soccer and golf will be determined after the conclusion of their respective state tournaments. game of the week Sussex Tech 4, Cape Henlopen 3, Softball Ravens win tense tourney game In last Saturday's quarterfinals of the state tournament Cape took a 2-0 lead after Becca Bernheimer homered in the second and Erin Fox scored on Kristina Lingo's infield single in the third. Sussex Tech made it 2-1 in the bottom of the third when Kim Owens singled home Rhonda Warrington. The Ravens went ahead 4-2 in the fifth, as Hope Cornell singled home Brittany Joseph and pitcher Brooke Tull doubled home Owens and Cornell. In the top of the seventh, Cape Henlopen loaded the bases and made it 4-3 when pinch-runner Corey Galbreath scored on a fielder's choice.

Fox then lined out to Joseph, ending the game. Baseball: Bucs shut out Spartans in April TODAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME NO. 1 ST. MARK'S (21-2) VS. NO.

2 CARAVEL (21-2) Where: Frawley Stadium, Wilmington When: 7 P.M. Admission: $7 PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS St Mark's: LHP Mike Grano (4-0) Caravel: LHP Josh Culler (7-2) athlete of the week St. Mark's was a 3-0 winner over Seaford in its first-round game before winning its quarterfinal and semifinal games in its last at-bat, first against Hodgson and then 6-5 in eight innings against Salesianum last Saturday. As the top seed, St. Mark's will be tonight's home team.

Matt Harden has won the Spartans' last two games in relief but also is eligible to pitch tonight. "It's going down to one game," St. Mark's coach Matt Smith said. "It could have come down to any of the 16 teams that made the state tournament. We've had some games in the tournament that could have gone either way, and fortunately we came out on top." Contact Buddy Hurlock at 324-2807 or bhurlockdelavMreonline.com.

FROM PAGE C1 "From day one, we've approached this season with the end in mind," Caravel coach Paul Niggebrugge said. Niggebrugge also said his team is paying no attention to its 10-0 home win in five innings over St. Mark's on April 23, when Culler struck out 10. "We approach every game the same way," Niggebrugge said, "and that's to be aggressive. That's what we've been talking about all along." Caravel opened the state tournament with a 6-2 win over Milford, and after defeating Tower Hill in the quarterfinals, the Bucs beat Dickinson 6-0 in the semifinals last Saturday, when Eric Buckland struck out eight in six innings.

By pitching just six innings Saturday, Buckland (10-0) is eligible to pitch tonight if needed, given the required two days of rest. S3 Kevin Papen, boys tennis Class Junior School: Caesar Rodney Accomplishment Won the first singles state championship in an epic match last Wednesday, rallying to defeat Friends School freshman Troy Beneck 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. Papen, the defending champion, had trailed 1-5 in the third set The last four games in the match went to deuce and each player fended off three match points at various times to extend the match. Both players had been undefeated prior to the match, with Papen the top seed and Beneck seeded third. This feature acknowledges accomplishments by a high school varsity athlete during the preceding week.

Submit nominations at www.deiawareonline.com. PROJECTED LINEUPS CARAVEL BUCCANEERS NO. NAME P0S. 12 Pat Smith CF 16 Mark Lawrence SS 27 Pat Sapp 2B 22 Keegan Ashbee IB 35 Eric Buckland RF 9 Alex Black 21 Josh Culler 20 Adam Roark 3B 5 Tyler Niggebrugge LF ST. MARK'S SPARTANS NO.

NAME P0S. 10 Andrew Baker CF 9 Jordan Oncay LF 11 Matt Harden SS Evan Zechman 2B 8 Ryan McCallin 3B 7 Doug O'Neill IB 12 Chanzce LePore DH 3 Branch Murray 5 Jeff Kaczmarczyk RF "'w Montoya: Star has global appeal J'l 1 mm AM V- KkJ JThJ-tM. wonders what the Formula One drivers are thinking about him now. "I think in Europe, NASCAR is not regarded as high as it should be," Montoya said. "You know, I think people don't know what it is exactly, how competitive it is.

They're used to Formula One, where the technology is extreme. "But the crazy thing here is how limited the rules are for technology, how far they go with the cars, if you would bring an engineer from Formula One and show them how detailed the cars are, they would be shocked." Montoya has impressed his fellow drivers with his skill on the racetrack, but has frustrated many of them as he tries to adapt to a different form of racing. There were several occasions early this year when Montoya was a lap down but failed to move out of the way of the leaders as they approached him. He said he is not being paid to just drive around. Other drivers say he needs to learn the rules of the road in NASCAR.

"It's unique on how much talent he has, how much experience and wisdom he has with open-wheel cars," said Kurt Busch, the 2004 Nextel Cup champion. "Yet, the inexperience he has with a stock car, how do you match that? How do you create success around it? That's a challenge for the Ganassi organization, for himself, for everybody involved." There have been a couple of Colombian flags displayed at NASCAR tracks this season, but so far, Montoya has by no means taken over the sport. Jeff Gordon, a four-time Cup champion, believes it will take time for NASCAR to realize the potential impact Montoya can have, especially since it boasts a fan base of more than 70 million. "I think he can reach a whole other level with the worldwide fan base," Gordon said. "I think you are always going to give something up to gain something else." Ganassi isn't concerned about Montoya making any big statement about diversity.

He just wants his driver to contend for victories and championships. Still, in a way, he realizes that signing a driver of Montoya's global stature increases the visibility of the Nextel Cup Series. "From my point of view, it's obviously a tight driver market right now in Cup. It forces people to look outside the box," Ganassi said. "We've never been afraid to do that.

These opportunities don't come along often, and I think when they do, you have to seize the moment." Contact Mike Finney at 734-7945 or mfinneydelawareonlmexom. FROM PAGE CI Montoya first thought of coming to Nextel Cup when he swapped his Fl racer for Jeff Gordon's stock car for a publicity event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. "I'll be honest with you, when I drove Jeff's car in 2002 I was really comfortable in it," Montoya said. "That's one of the reasons, when I was talking to Chip Ganassi about it, it really motivated me to do the deal. "I got in it Gordon's car.

Within three laps in a road course, I was up to speed. I thought, 'This feels Montoya 's best finishes this season have been a ninth-place effort at California in just his third Cup race and a fourth-place run in Atlanta the following week. He finished 28th in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. "For me, it's just hard to say, 'Yeah, I'm going to go out there, I'm going to kick everybody's Montoya said. "Do I want to do that? Yeah, of course I want to do that.

You got to be a bit realistic. "I never put myself to set some goals and say, 'I need to do this and that' You just got to go out there and do the best you can. It's that simple. One day, the car works good. You're looking like a hero.

Next day, the car handles bad and the transition is hard." It makes him laugh when he APWCKWASS Duke's Matt Danowski loses the ball against Johns Hopkins' George Castle (left), goalie Jesse Schwartzman (2) and Michael Evans In Johns Hopkins' 12-11 win In Monday's NCAA title game. Emotional season ends in loss for Duke lacrosse JUAN PABLO MONTOYA Drives: No. 42 TexacoHavoline Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Age 31. From: Bogota, Colombia.

Notable: Recorded seven victories, 30 podium finishes and 13 pole positions while driving for BMW Williams and McLaren Mercedes on the Formula One circuit from 2001 to 2006. Won 10 races in two seasons on CART circuit and took series title in 1999, his rookie year. Won Indianapolis 500 in 2000 in his first trip to the Brickyard. Quotable: "The chance Chip Ganassi gave me to come to America and race NASCAR, you don't get it every day. Moments come in your life, and you can either take them or leave them.

I decided to take it" RACE WEEKEND Thursday 2 p.m. Grandstand gates open Craftsman Truck Series practice Craftsman Truck Series rookie practice Craftsman Truck Series final practice Friday 9 a.m. Grandstand gates open 9- 10:20 Busch Series practice 10:30 Craftsman Truck Series qualifying Nextel Cup practice Busch Series rookie practice 2-3 Busch Series final practice 3:15 Nextel Cup qualifyinq 4:45 AAA Insurance 200 Craftsman Truck Series race Saturday 9 am. Grandstand gates open 10- 10:50 Nextel Cup practice 11:05 Busch Series qualifying Nextel Cup final practice 3 Busch Series race Sunday 8 am Grandstand gates open 12:50 Nextel Cup driver introductions 1:30 Autism Speaks 400 Tickets: Good seats are available for this weekend's races. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (800) 441-RACE or visit www.doverspeedway.com.

For complete race weekend coverage, see The News Journal and www.delawareooine.com. (IT Associated Press BALTIMORE There were hugs, handshakes and plenty of tears. The Duke lacrosse team had run through a myriad of emotions over the past 14 months, and now it was over. The Blue Devils had an almost unfathomable comeback fall short in a 12-11 loss to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament championship game Monday and afterward the locker room was eerily silent "Right now, I think everyone in here is thinking, 'Wow, we just lost the national In a couple of weeks, maybe we'll say 'Look what we goaltender Dan Loftus said. "But we wanted a national championship.

That's what we came here for." It would have been a Hollywood story: Duke completes its emotional comeback season by winning its first national title before a record crowd of 48,443. But Johns Hopkins (13-4) wrote its own ending. "We used it as motivation," Blue Jays midfielder Stephen Peyser said. "Wnen we first got here, we were the forgotten sons. We said we were going to sneak up on everyone, and when it's our time, we would show the world what we're made of." Despite the defeat, Duke's (17-3) performance effectively eliminated the residue of an agonizing 2006 season that was canceled after eight games.

The Blue Devils fell 9-R to Hopkins in the 2005 title game, but missed a chance to return to the Final Four in 2006 after a woman hired as a stripper for an off-campus team party claimed she was attacked by three Duke players. The allegations, which included rape and kidnapping charges, proved to be false. The Blue Jays never trailed in winning their ninth national title. But they blew a six-goal halftime lead and found themselves tied 11-11 after Duke's Max Quinzani scored with 4:37 remaining. Hopkins attackman Kevin Huntley followed with his third goal of the game, with 3:25 to go, but the Blue Jays couldn't celebrate until Quinzani's shot went wide a5 time expired.

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