It seems fitting that a downstate swimmer should win the University of Delaware’s Kelly Fritchman Swimming Scholarship,

The school announced this week that Milford High grad Alyssa Sanders will receive the scholarship for her senior season with the Blue Hens.

Fritchman was a Dover High grad who went on to swim for Delaware’s 1995-96 North Atlantic Conference championship team. She passed away in 2009 after battling Cystic Fibrosis all her life.

The scholarship was created in 2010. It goes to a UD male or female swimmer who displays the characteristics of courage, spirit, determination, strength, competitiveness, and inspiration.

Blue Hens coach John Hayman said Sanders is a very deserving winner of the award.

“She is an amazing individual that truly has taken her swimming abilities to the next level,” Hayman was quoted in a press release.

“She has made huge drops in her times from high school to achieve outstanding results,” he continued. “She is our school record holder in both the 100 and 200 backstroke and is in the ‘All-Time Top Five’ in several other events. She is a great competitor and has hopes of qualifying for Olympic Trials. Alyssa is also a major volunteer for Delaware Special Olympics and has had a passion for working with special needs athletes for many years.”

Sanders was a four-time, first-team all-Henlopen Conference selection at Milford. She won the Henlopen meet Outstanding Swimmer award as a senior in 2012.

“It is an honor to be recognized for something that I love to do,” said Sanders, a Dover native. “The characteristics embodied by this scholarship are ones I have always aimed to stand for and receiving this came with the encouragement to keep striving to be the best I can be.”

The 6th annual Kelly J. Fritchman Memorial 5K & Kiddie K, which funds the scholarship, will be held on July 11 in Lewes. More information on the event can be found at www.races2run.com.

Growing up

A year ago, Delaware football coach Dave Brock had put a lot of young, inexperienced players on the field.

With the Blue Hens in the middle of spring practice, Brock said he can see a difference in some of those youngsters as they grow into sophomores.

“You look at (defensive ends) John Nassib and Bilal Nichols, I mean they look like different animals right now than they looked like when they got here,” Brock said after Delaware’s practice at Smyrna last Saturday. “They’re hard to block, they’re long, they run.”

But Brock also points out that a third of the Hens’ roster in the fall will be incoming freshmen, who won’t hit the practice field until August. That includes 10 linemen.

Notes

• Polytech High softball player Brandi Dalious has received a partial athletic scholarship to play for St. Francis (Pa.) next year. The third baseman/outfielder is a Harrington native. Several other Polytech athletes have made college commitments. Smyrna resident Mark Mullnack, a linebacker/long snapper in football and a state-champion 220-pound wrestler, is headed for Delaware Valley (Pa.) where he plans to continue playing both sports. Two-way football lineman Derek Reigle, a Wyoming resident, is going to walk on at Delaware while Gabe Brown, Alex Winchester Jr. and Kody Stevens have all committed to the Kings College (Pa.) football program.

• The Delaware State baseball team (8-10 MEAC, 9-25 overall) will try to reach double digits in victories when it plays Coppin State in a three-game series this weekend in Hanover, Md. The series starts with a doubleheader today at 1 p.m. The Hornets are 5-1 against the Eagles this season. DelState is trying to clinch third place in the MEAC North which would guarantee it a spot in the conference tournament.

• The Hornets’ Chris Gonzalez is fourth in the MEAC with a .351 batting average and second in the league with a ,461 on-base percentage. Freshman pitcher Lane DeLeon (Sussex Tech) is No. 25 nationally in Division I with an average of 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
• The Delaware baseball team will honor its 1970 College World Series squad before the Hens host William & Mary today at 1 p.m. Among the former players expected to be on hand is former Lake Forest High coach Bill Falasco.
• Dover High grad Nick Spadafino, a freshman reliever for Delaware, has allowed just one hit and one run while striking out six in his last four appearances, totalling five innings.
• Former Wesley College football standouts Shane McSweeny (quarterback) and Chris Mayes (defensive end) are still teaming up as members of the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, an indoor league team. McSweeny has thrown for 10 touchdowns and run for eight in four games.
• Seniors Robert Dina and Oluwatobi Sowande have been named the team captains for the Wesley College men’s soccer squad for the 2015 season. Coach Steve Clark also named senior Chris Harvell and junior Will Mileski as the Wolverines’ ‘vice captains.’ Wesley opens the 2015 season on Sept. 1 when they host McDaniel.

• The Delaware men’s basketball team lost former verbal commit Eli Cain, who recently signed with DePaul. The 6-foot-6 forward from New Jersey is believed to have changed his mind when it looked like Monte’ Ross wouldn’t return as the Blue Hens’ coach. Delaware has reportedly added George Washington transfer Darian Bryant, a 6-foot-4 guard will have to sit out this season.

• The Appalachian State softball team is 13-29 in its first season under former Delaware State coach Janice Savage. The Mountaineers are six wins shy of their total from last season.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 741-8227 or walter@newszap.com.