Cape May County Gazette Sports :: South Jersey Sports

Lower Cape May forfeits football game

2009-09-22T19:09:00Z

The Lower Cape May Regional High School football team has forfeited its football game at St. Augustine Prep scheduled for Friday night. LCMR athletic director Mark Schiffbauer confirmed the decision to us Tuesday afternoon, citing low numbers and injuries.

“We are not playing that game,” Schiffbauer said. "I went into a meeting in a classroom with the kids (on Monday) and there were only 18 kids in there and two of them are hurt. When you have a team of 16 10^th-, 11^th- and 12^th-graders, obviously there’s a numbers issue. We had eight (reserve) players on the sideline Friday night (against Holy Spirit) and three of them were freshmen, which basically gave us five players to put in the game. Had we gotten any more injured (this) Friday night we may not be able to finish the season.”

Lower Cape May lost its season opener to Holy Spirit last weekend, 56-6.

Schiffbauer said he has informed the Cape-Atlantic League, through league president Don Robbins of Vineland, and athletic officials at St. Augustine Prep of Lower's decision not to play the game.

Schiffbauer said Lower has full intentions of playing the rest of the games on its 2009 schedule, beginning with a home game against Bridgeton on Oct. 2. Schiffbauer said a handful of injured players are expectedeto receive medical clearance to play for next week's game.

You can read more about this story in this week's editions of the Wildwood Leader and the Gazettes.

Football: St. Joseph 45, Middle Township 7

2009-09-19T20:29:00Z

The Middle Township High School football team lost a 45-7 decision to St. Joseph Saturday afternoon in Hammonton.

The Panthers put together a solid drive deep into St. Joe territory on its first possession of the game but failed to score. St. Joe went on to score three touchdowns and three two-point conversions to take a 24-0 lead at the half. The Wildcats then essentially put the game away by returning the opening kickoff of the second half for another touchdown.

Middle got on the board late in the third quarter when Nolan Quinn ran in from two yards out. The TD was set up by a long Quinn to Charles Cooper pass play.

We'll have some video highlights of the second half posted soon, both here and on our new Facebook page (Cape May County Gazette-Leader Sports).

Cross Country: Wildwood Catholic's Tara Wuko makes history at Big Five meet

2009-09-19T20:21:00Z

Wildwood Catholic senior Tara Wuko made history at the Big Five Cross Country Championships Saturday morning.

Wuko won the meet, held at county park under glorious late-summer/early-fall conditions, for the fourth straight year to become the first athlete ever -- male or female -- to win four Big Five individual titles. Wuko posted a time of 19 minutes, 55 seconds.

Wuko led an impressive Crusader effort at the meet. Wildwood Catholic's Chrissy Casiello (second), Grace Lederer (fourth), Emily Whissell (fifth), Rachel Wuko (seventh) and Morgan Kelly (eighth) each finished among the top 10 to easily give Wildwood Catholic the title.

In the boys meet, Cape May Tech's Bobby Kole was a surprise champion as he out-kicked Wildwood Catholic's David Von Savage over the final 250 feet to win the meet in 17:06. Von Savage was second in 17:09.

Middle Township edged Wildwood Catholic for the team title.

We'll have video interviews with Wuko and Kole soon, both on this site and on our new Facebook page (Cape May county Gazette-Leader Sports).

Football: Pitman 34, Wildwood 8

2009-09-19T20:12:00Z

The Wildwood High School football team dropped a 34-8 result to Pitman in its season opener Friday evening at Maxwell Field.

In a game that took nearly three agonizing hours to complete, Pitman led 14-0 late in the first half, the Warriors hanging in the game by playing good defense. But the Panthers scored a third touchdown with 1:05 to go before halftime, before scoring again ;ate in the third quarter and again early in the fourth.

Wildwood avoided a shutout when Sean Reidy ran in from a yard out and also rushed for the ensuing two-point coversion. The TD was set up by the hard running of freshman Wesley Hills, who carried five times for 53 yards on the drive.

We'll have a video highlights package from Matt Ulmer coming shortly.

In another game involving an area team Friday night, Holy Spirit scored an incredible 48 first-half points en route to a 56-6 victory over Lower Cape May in Absecon. Lower got its score in the first quarter on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Mike Mulligan to Chris Alicea.

Boys Soccer: Wildwood Catholic 2, Lower Cape May 0

2009-09-17T14:02:00Z

For the Wildwood Catholic High School boys soccer team, it was a great way to bounce back from a subpar performance.

Just two days after losing by a ridiculous 7-1 score against Buena, the Crusaders turned in a solid performance in a 2-0 victory over county rival Lower Cape May Wednesday afternoon. M.J. Nestor scored both goals, one in each half, and Mckenzey Scott made a handful of big saves to lead the Crusaders.

"This was the team that we know," Wildwood Catholic coach Mike Saioni said, clearly more pleased with his side's effort against the Caper Tigers. "Buena is a solid team, but are they 7-1 better than us? Absolutely not. This game was more of the kind of effort we expect from the guys on our team."

Nestor's first goal came off a rebound on a play started by Kenny Haury and Chris Miller as the Crusaders took a one-goal lead at the interval. Midway through the second half, Scott came up huge when he extended his right leg to stop Lower Cape May standout Cristian Valencia's excellent scoring chance near the right post. Moments later, Wildwood Catholic got its insurance goal when Nestor buried a penalty kick after Miller was taken down in the area. In the final 10 minutes, Scott also stopped a penalty kick by Valencia, which was awarded after a Crusader player handled the ball in front of goal.

"He's definitely one of the best keepers in South Jersey," Saioni said of Scott. "Even when our opponents get a penalty kick, I feel confident that he's got a good chance to stop it."

Both Lower, which had beaten Bridgeton 3-1 in its opener, and Wildwood Catholic moved to 1-1 on the season following Wednesday's result.

In other key soccer games from Wednesday, the Middle Township girls team, in a key CAL National Conference fixture with Holy Spirit, battled the Spartans to a scoreless draw, and the Middle boys team got goals from George Salvesen and Brandon Eaves in a 2-0 win over Spirit.

Joe Maloy becomes amateur triathlon champion

2009-08-23T16:39:00Z

Joe Maloy experienced a lot of success, won quite a few races and earned some pretty prestigious awards as a high school and college athlete.

Now the former Wildwood Catholic High School star athlete can add national champion to his athletic resume.

The 24-year-old Maloy, currently an assistant swim coach at Boston College, his alma mater, won the age group national triathlon championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday. Maloy, who only began training for and participating in triathlons last year, finished the 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run course in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 23 seconds. Maloy finished 12 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, 27-year-old Sean Jefferson of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

"I always hope to win no matter what the race or what the competition," Maloy was quoted as saying in a report on the USA Triathlon web site. "But this is my first year competing in triathlon, so I'm getting used to all the rules. In Philly I was penalized six minutes because I didn;t know all the bike rules. So I keep learning every race as I go. There's just so much more that goes into this sport."

A full report on the event can be found online at http://usatriathlon.org/news/article/15310.

You can also read more about this story in this week's editions of the Leader and the Gazettes.

Raffa now at Coastal Carolina

2009-08-19T17:05:00Z

Former Wildwood Catholic High School basketball star Anthony Raffa has found a new college to call home.

Raffa, who left the University at Albany at the close of the spring semester after averaging a shade under 10 points per game for the school's men's basketball team as a freshman last winter, has enrolled at Division I Coastal Carolina University, his mother, Sallee, confirmed to us on Wednesday.

Per NCAA transfer rules, Raffa is permitted to practice with CCU but is ineligible to play in games and cannot travel with the team.

Raffa, a sports management major, has received a partial academic scholarship for the 2009-10 scholastic year and is expected to be offered an athletic scholarship beginning with the 2010-11 scholastic year, Sallee Raffa said. After sitting out the upcoming season, Raffa would have three years of eligibility remaining.

Coastal Carolina is a member of the Big South Conference. The Chanticleers went 11-20 overall, 5-13 in conference play last winter.

Raffa scored 1,893 points as a high school player at Wildwood Catholic, leading the program to back-to-back South Jersey championships in 2006 and 2007. He played one season at The Winchedon School, a prep school in Massachusetts after graduating from Wildwood Catholic, before going to Albany last year.

Attempts to reach Raffa, who has been at the CCU campus since last weekend, had been unsuccessful as of early Wednesday afternoon.

You can read more about this story in Thursday's editions of the Cape May County Gazette, Cape May Gazette and Upper Township Gazette.

Downbeach crews dominate Around the Island Row

2009-08-19T15:06:00Z

The Bud Tarbotton Memorial Around the Island Row Wednesday morning featured a repeat champion.

B.J. Fox and Carl Smallwood Jr. of Margate won the approximately 19-mile row that circumnavigates the Wildwoods for the second straight year, posting a winning time of 2 hours, 40 minutes, 34 seconds. The win was the third in Smallwood's career. He also won with Rich Kugel in 2001.

Ventnor alumni Dennis Funk and George Miller, who've won the event four times, placed second in 2:41:11. Another Margate crew, Chris Graves and Greg Smallwood, placed third in 2:41:40. Sea Isle's Colin Corcoran and Sean Riley were fourth in 2:42:38 and Wildwood's Ed Schneider and Brandon Joyce finished fifth in 2:42:49.

Wildwood Crest's Terry McGovern and Matt Benedetto placed sixth in 2:43:43, Wildwood's Steve Mcguinn and Tom McLaughlin finished seventh in 2:45:17 and Wildwood Crest's Max Bilkins and Bick Murphy, who've won six times as partners (with Bilkins also winning two additional times), were eighth in 2:45:44.

The Bud Tarbotton Memorial Around the Island Row is hosted by the North Wildwood Beach Patrol.

Dutch Hoffmans now scheduled for Monday night

2009-08-03T12:11:00Z

The Wildwood Beach Patrol hopes the third time is the charm.

After inclement weather postponed the 40th running of the Dutch Hoffman Memorial Lifeguard Races, the host Wildwood Beach Patrol has moved the event to Monday evening, Aug. 3, at the Lincoln Avenue Beach. The event is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The Dutch Hoffman race is considered one of the "Big 3" in South Jersey lifeguard competitions. The others are the Margate War Memorials, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7, and the South Jersey Championships, slated for Friday, Aug. 14.

Full coverage of the Dutch Hoffmans can be found in this week's editions of the Wildwood Leader and the Gazettes.

Avalon's McGrath, Whitehead win bay race (WITH VIDEO)

2009-07-21T13:21:00Z

Shane McGrath and Craig Whitehead of the Avalon Beach Patrol teamed to win the Upper Township Six-Mile Bay Race, a six-mile doubles row, Monday night. The race began and ended at the Deauville Inn in Strathmere.

The victory was McGrath's first in the event, but Whitehead's fourth. Whitehead also won with Mike Cras in 1994 and with John Wachter in 2001 and 2002.

Another Avalon crew, Kevin Moore and Erich Wolf, placed second. Fifty-one boats finished the race.

A full story on the race can be found in this week's editions of the Gazette and Leader.

Below is video from the final moments of the race, shot and edited by Matt Ulmer:

2009 Upper Twp Boat Race from Matt Ulmer on Vimeo.

Crest wins third straight Beschen-Callahan title

2009-07-18T15:53:00Z

John Maloy continued his amazing summer Friday night on North Wildwoods beach.

Maloy was part of three first-place finishes in consecutive events, helping the Wildwood Crest Beach Patrol win its third straight Beschen-Callahan Memorial Lifeguard Races championship.

Maloy won the box swim, was one of four Crest guards who teamed to win the surf dash relay and placed first in the run-swim biathlon to help account for the Crest's three first-place finishes out of seven events.

The Crest, which also earned two second-place finishes, posted 23 team points to top Avalon (17) and Stone Harbor (14). Sea Isle City, North Wildwood, Wildwood and Upper Township also competed.

Other winners included Avalon's Shane McGrath and Craig Whitehead in the doubles row, Wildwood's Mike Syrnick in the two-mile run, Stone Harbor's Darrick Kobierowski in the singles row and Avalon's Terrence Fenningham in the can run.

The Beschen-Callahan Memorial Lifeguard Races have been held for 41 years, in memory of Jim Beschen and Mike Callahan, two former NWBP lifeguards who were killed in separate incidents in the Vietnam War.

A full story, plus lots of action photos, on the Beschen-Callahan Memorial Lifeguard Races can be found in this week's editions of the Leader and the Gazettes.

John Maloy wins Cape May SuperAthalon (with video)

2009-07-14T11:28:00Z

John Maloy of the Wildwood Crest Beach Patrol won the SuperAthalon in his first try Monday night, topping a talented field in the run-row-swim event held in Cape May.

Maloy, a Wildwood Catholic HIgh School graduate and Boston College swimmer who is in his third summer as a lifeguard, finished ahead of defending champion Shane McGrath of Avalon and Mike Tripician of Ventnor.

Maloy, a renowned ocean swimmer and also regarded as a very good runner, managed to perform admirably in the rowing portion of the event to stay close, before chasing down the leaders in the swim.

Maloy was in third place following the 2.2-mile run and climbed to as high as second during the early portions of the 1 1/2-mile row. At the end of the row, Maloy was behind defending champion Shane McGrath of Avalon and Colin Corcoran of Sea Isle City, but the two-time South Jersey champion swimmer easily passed the leaders early in the swim and wound up winning by a comfortable margin.

More on Maloy's victory at the SuperAthalo can be found in this week's editions of the Wildwood Leader and the Gazettes.

Below is a video highlights package, including an interview with Maloy, shot by Matt Ulmer from the event:

Cape May Super'Athalon from Matt Ulmer on Vimeo.

2009 Cape May Life Guard Super'Athalon

Sea Isle wins county lifeguard title (with video highlights)

2009-07-11T14:27:00Z

The Sea Isle City Beach Patrol earned first-place finishes in four of six events to roll to its first-ever Cape May County Lifeguard Championship Friday night on Wildwood Crest's Beach.

Sea Isle got wins from Colin Corcoran and Sean Riley (doubles row), Jeff Buyse (rescue board), Blake Trabuchi-Downey (swim) and the quartet of Richie Fredericks, Chris Cox, Jim Fennningham and Corcoran (surf dash relay) to roll to the team title.

Other individual winners were Wildwood Crest's John Maloy (run-swim) and Ocean City's Andrew Mockaitis (singles row).

A full story and lots of photos can be found in this week's editions of the Wildwood Leader and the Gazettes.

Below is some raw footage of the late stages of the competition and an interview with Sea Isle City Beach Patrol Capt. Renny Steele, shot by Matt Ulmer.

Damiana, Wuko are Gazette Leader Athletes of the Year

2009-07-01T15:02:00Z

Two-sport standout Bill Damiana of Lower Cape May and three-sport star Tara Wuko of Wildwood Catholic are the Gazette Leader's respective area male and female Athletes of the Year for the 2008-09 scholastic year.

Damiana, a senior, starred in football and wrestling for the Caper Tigers. He was a four-year starter in football, plaing offensive line and linebacker early in his career before switching to fullback and linebacker later in his career. In wrestling, he was a two-time district champion and two-time state qualifier, and also holds the school record for all-time wins (136). He is headed to Cleveland State on a wrestling scholarship.

Wuko, a junior, was the area's top distance runner in cross country and spring track and was also one of South Jersey's best in swimming. A county champion in both cross country and track, Wuko also finished eighth in the state in the 100 breaststroke in swimming. She is expected to be recruited by Division I schools for both distance running and swimming.

Stories on both athletes can be found in this week's editions of the Gazette and Leader.

Middle knocks off Buena

2009-05-19T22:58:00Z

The Middle Township High School baseball team got a big-time effort from junior pitcher Dave Hand, who allowed just one run over 4 2/3 innings as the Panthers pulled off a mild upset in beating Buena, 4-2, Tuesday afternoon.

Hand, who has seen most of his action on the JV level this spring, was pressed into action with Middle facing a string of four games in four days, including a state playoff game on Friday.

Hand, who entered the game in the third inning, held Buena scoreless until tiring in the seventh when he walked ina run with the bases loaded and two outs. Ace Scott DeCecco then relieved Hand and got the final Buena batter to fly out to right field.

Brandon Naperstek and Brian Palumbo each had RBI hits for Middle (11-6) in the win. Buena dropped to 17-9.

More coverage of the game can be found in this week's editions of the Gazette.

Middle earns first-ever playoff win in girls lacrosse

2009-05-16T11:38:00Z

Kelsey McCusker's goal in the final 25 seconds and Katie Kelly's huge save with four seconds to go lifted the Middle Township High School girls lacrosse team to a 13-12 victory over Barnegat in an NJSIAA playoff game Friday afternoon.

With the score tied at 12-12, McCusker raced down the field with possession before being fouled about 15 yards outside the scoring circle. After the restart, McCusker raced toward goal, cut across the crease and flicked a shot back to the far post that beat the Bengal keeper and gave Middle the lead for good but not before some anxious moments at the death.

Barnegat won the ensuing faceoff and immediately moved toward the Panther goal. A Barnegat player was fouled with four seconds to go, setting up a penalty chance. But Kelly smothered the low shot as the game ended to secure the thrilling victory for Middle.

Middle now takes on Hopewell Valley in the next round on Monday.

Also of note, Middle senior attacker Leigh DeLollis scored the 130th goal of her career in the win. She is by far the program's all-time leading scorer.

Middle's Hicks wins South-Central Group II golf tournament

2009-05-11T19:08:00Z

Middle Township High School sophomore Alex Hicks won the South-Central Group II individual championship Monday afternoon at Centerton Golf Club.

Hicks shot 1-under par 70 to win the event by one stroke. He made nine pars on the front nine before posting three birdies, four pars and two bogeys on the back nine. Hicks helped Middle Township to a fourth-place finish as a team. The Panthers scored 317, finishing behind Rumson-Fair Haven (309), Hopewell Valley (313) and Gloucester County Institute of Technology (316).

Hicks, along with the rest of the top five individuals and top two teams from the tournament, advances to the Tournament of Champions on May 18 at Burlington Country Club in Mt. Holly.

Hicks' teammate, freshman James Kelly, came within a stroke of advancing to the Tournament of Champions. Kelly shot 5-over 76. Other scorers for Middle included Ryan Burke (83) and Ernie Dion (88). Kyle McMullen, who injured his back during the round according to Middle coach Will Mendo, finished with a 91.

More coverage on Hicks' victory can found in this week's editions of the Gazette and Wildwood Leader.

County track championships postponed

2009-05-07T18:43:00Z

The rainy weather we've been experiencing this spring has struck again.

The Cape May County Track and Field Championships, scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Lower Cape May Regional HIgh School, have been postponed until Friday due to inclement weather. A round of heavy rain that rolled through the area about an hour before the event's scheduled start, coupled with the threat of more rain later in the afternoon, forced the postponement, LCMR athletic director Mark Schiffbauer stated.

Friday's competition is scheduled to begin with field events at 3:30 p.m., with track events beginning at approximately 4:15 p.m.

LCM tops Wildwood in quickly scheduled contest

2009-05-06T00:56:00Z

At 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Lower Cape May Regional High School baseball team was preparing to host rival Middle Township. By 4:15 p.m., the Tigers were boarding a school bus to play at Wildwood.

That pretty much sums up the craziness involving the scheduling of games in a spring that seems to have produced as much precipitation this season as the rainy Pacific Northwest does in an entire year.

Middle Township’s coaches and the umpires assigned to the game did not feel Lower Cape May’s field was playable and strongly suggested postponing the game. Shortly thereafter, Lower coach Mike Kuemmerle contacted Wildwood coach Rich Hans and offered to bring the Caper Tigers to Maxwell Field to play the Warriors. Wildwood was seeking to possibly schedule the Caper Tigers this week anyway, in a last-ditch effort to qualify for the state playoffs, and the Warriors had already had their game that day at Woodstown cancelled. So Lower hustled over to Wildwood and the two teams got a game in despite playing much of it during a steady drizzle.

Anxious to put a poor showing at the Warrior Classic the previous weekend behind them, the Caper Tigers jumped to a 4-0 lead after one inning and eventually settled for an official victory of 7-3 after the umpires called the game after 5 ½ innings due to rain. Lower had scored six more runs in the top of the sixth to go up 13-3, but baseball rules stipulate that a shortened game ends after the last final full inning is played, thus wiping away all the Caper Tiger offense produce in its half of the sixth.

Jimmy Hanson hit an RBI single and George Moore belted a two-run triple to highlight Lower’s big first inning. Hanson added a two-run single in the fourth. He missed out on a six-RBI day when his two-run double in the sixth was wiped out by the rainout. Marvin Evans also lost a three-run triple in the sixth when the game was called.

Lower Cape May, which regularly starts six sophomores and a freshman, improved to 4-10 with the win. Wildwood dropped to 6-11.

Mussachio tentatively slated to fight next week

2009-05-05T10:59:00Z

Local unbeaten pro boxer Chuck Mussachio, a Wildwood High School graduate, is tentatively scheduled to fight for the first time in eighth months next Friday, May 15, on a boxing card at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City. Parts of the card will be broadcast live by ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."

Mussachio (12-0-2, 6 KOs) is slated to fight William Bailey (20-15) in a cruiserweight bout. It is a step up in weight class for Mussachio, who to this point has fought strictly as a light heavyweight as a pro.

As of early this week, Mussachio said the bout with Bailey was not set in stone. "I'm definitely going to fight, I just don't know who yet," he said. "Hoprefully, it's (Bailey)."

Mussachio last fought in September in Hockessin, Del., when he battled to a majority draw against Willis Lockett. He said he has had four potential fights since then canceled for various reasons.

For those of you on Facebook, here's a link to more info on the fight: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=82959277492&ref=nf