Polytech High’s Matt Gatune broke the conference’s all-time record in the boys’ 3,200 meters as the Henlopen Conference track & field championships got underway on Thursday evening.

The junior was clocked in 9:29.31 to better the Henlopen record of 9:32.9 set by Dover’s Bryan Denbrock in 1990. The top three in the event — Gatune, Cape Henlopen’s Ryan Baker (9:35.37) and Polytech’s Kenny Guy (9:36.18) — all broke the meet record of 9:43.6 set by Dan Rincon in 1971.

“It was just one of those special race moments — to see the three of those guys turn the 3,200 meters into a big sprint,” said Polytech coach Czar Bloom. “It was a lot of fun, and to think that they all three broke a 50-year record all in one race was extra crazy.”

Among the girls’ finals held on Thursday at Lake Forest, Indian River’s Brynn Crandell won the 3,200 (11:25.25), Cape Henlopen (Hannah Maney, Mia Nuebling, Alexia Dougherty, Emma Duffield) won the 3,200 relay (10:05.87), Smyrna’s Elise Carter won the high jump (5-1), Polytech’s Casey Talamini-Kelemen won the long jump (18-4) and Caesar Rodney’s Cheyane Brown captured the discus (109-2).

In the boys’ meet, Smyrna (Nathaniel Hornberger, Zach Cosme, Brett Mathis, Liam Meginniss) won the 3,200 relay (8:11.75), Milford’s Emanuelle Carranza won the long jump (21-6) and Cape Henlopen’s Josiah Miller won the shot put (49-2).

The meet concludes today at Lake Forest beginning at 4 p.m.

Baseball

Caesar Rodney 9, Delmar 5: The Riders (10-8) led 9-0 going into the seventh before finishing the regular season with their fourth straight victory.

Alex Bauer went 2-for-4 with a double and five RBI while Mason Wrede, David Dill and Andrew Rigby all had two hits. Rigby also allowed just one hit while striking out seven in six shutout innings.

The Wildcats’ Chase Collis hit a three-run homerun in the seventh.

Dover 10, Hodgson 5: Winning pitcher Hunter Chambers allowed only two runs and struck out six in six innings while adding a triple and double with three RBI for the Senators.

Alec Rodriguez (3 RBI) and Brandon Yoder both had two hits.

Polytech 9, A.I. duPont 1: Chase Masten went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and four RBI for the Panthers.

Dale Austin and Kyle McVey each had two hits while winning pitcher Ocean Johnson struck out eight in six innings.

Lake Forest 10, Red Lion Christian 2: Chase Killen went 3-for-4 with a triple and a pair of stolen bases for the Spartans.

Adam Schiff hit a homerun, Gabe Martin had two hits, including a triple, while Quinton Maris and Tristan McCray combined to strike out 14.

St. Georges 2, Milford 0: Thomas Leighty and Ryan Mejia had the Buccaneers’ only hits in the loss.

Indian River 10, Newark Charter 2: Roman Keith, River Vickers and Tyler Bowen all had multiple hits for the Indians in their win on Wednesday.

Winning pitcher Kyle Coffey allowed only six hits in six innings.

Softball

Cape Henlopen 15, Early College 0: Marissa Frederick pitched her second perfect game of the season while also collecting her 200th strikeout.

Heaven Wright and Karma Smith made big defensive plays for the Hornets.

Sussex Central 19, St. Georges 0: Winning pitcher Madge Layfield struck out 12 in five innings as the Golden Knights (17-1) finished the regular season with a 17-game winning streak.

Kate Evick had a homerun and double while Mya Jones had three hits for Central.

Delmar 20, Dover 4: Josie Hollamon hit two of the Wildcats’ four homers in the victory.

Jordyn Hollamon and Autumn Boothe also homered while Camryn Wingate had four of Delmar’s 22 hits.

Emma Crowe had two hits for the Senators who got a homer from Chelsea Johnson.

Boys’ lacrosse

Smyrna 12, Appoquinimink 6: The Eagles (10-5) finished the regular season with their sixth win in a row.

Lake Forest 19, Sussex Central 7: The Spartans finished their schedule at 7-8 with the win.

Sanford 21, Milford 5: Landan Hajek had three goals for the Buccaneers in the loss.

Sussex Academy 15, Sussex Tech 1: Jackson Dinger tallied six goals and an assist in the Seahawks’ win on Wednesday.

Seven players scored for Sussex Academy (14-1), which hosts Cape Henlopen today at 7 p.m. in the Henlopen Conference championship game.

Girls’ lacrosse

Lake Forest 18, Hodgson 11: Freshman Emma Massey netted 13 goals and an assist while Giulia Sweet made eight saves as the Spartans earned the program’s first varsity victory.

Caesar Rodney 8, Indian River 4: Rylie Faircloth and Elise Hensley netted two goals apiece as the Riders finished the regular season at 8-7.

Melissa Dolt made 14 saves as CR out-shot the Indians, 17-5.

Drew Szlasa scored twice for the Indians.

St. Mark’s 15, Smyrna 12: Madison Graham netted four goals while Brynn Rifino made 13 saves for the Eagles in the loss.

Caravel 22, Milford 6: Hannah Zimmerman had three goals and an assist while Madeline Sekscinski made five saves for Milford (4-10).

Polytech 17, Sussex Tech 13: The Panthers picked up a conference win on Wednesday.

Girls’ soccer

Woodbridge 2, Seaford 2: The two South squads played to a tie on Wednesday.

Boys’ volleyball

Indian River 3, Cape Henlopen 0: The Indians topped the Vikings, 25-17, 25-12, 25-21, in the second round of the DBVCA state
tournament.

Cape Henlopen 3, St. Mark’s 0: The Vikings won their DBVCA tournament opener on Wednesday by scores of 25-13, 25-18, 25-21.

Nolan Kerstetter had 14 kills and a pair of aces, Alexander Patterson had six kills and an ace while Ethan Shuttleworth added 20 assists.

Football

Sanchez wins Gatorade award: Smyrna High quarterback Aidan Sanchez has been named Gatorade Delaware Football Player of the Year.

Sanchez is the third Smyrna player to win the award.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior quarterback passed for 2,243 yards and 25 touchdowns this past season, leading the Eagles (6-1) to the DIAA Division I state semifinals. Sanchez completed 154 of 220 passes, throwing just four interceptions.

College softball

Hens reach CAA finals: Kailey Christian’s grand slam in the top of the eighth gave Delaware a 5-1 win over Drexel and put it in the CAA finals for only the second time in program history.

The Blue Hens (25-8), who are in the final for the first time since 2004, will take on top-seeded and No. 22-ranked James Madison today at noon. If Delaware wins, a second game will immediately follow for the conference title.

Delaware, which is 3-1 in the tournament, beat Elon, 7-5, earlier in the day on Thursday.