Delcastle girls track back on top

When the talented Delcastle girls indoor track team found itself pushed by Tatnall – a formidable track machine – at the girls indoor track state championship the Cougars could have responded in one of two ways – take home second or go for it all.

On Saturday, Feb. 20, the Cougars did the latter and made history, edging Tatnall 103-98 to win the state championship with just nine young women on the team.

What was the secret to winning?

For starters, senior Ja’Vonna Dickerson said no matter what doubt might have crept into her mind or that of her teammates, it was eliminated once they stepped onto the track.

What’s more, it didn’t matter who the opposition was, senior Celina Emerson said.

“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about Tatnall or Padua [another track power],” Emerson said. “I wanted to go out there and win. That’s what you’ve got to do. Don’t think about other teams. You’re supposed to do what you’ve got to do on the track and just leave it all there.”

Third, the Cougars were hungry for the state title that day, Delcastle freshman Krystal Casseus said.

“It was in our minds that we were going to win,” Casseus said. “We were there physically and mentally.”

Finally, athletes are going to get nervous – especially the younger ones, Delcastle coach Carmella Anderson said. That is fine, so long as they don’t let the nerves consume them.

“It’s just another track meet,” Anderson said. “Yeah, it’s on a bigger stage, but it’s another track meet.”

Champions begin to take shape
The march to the state championship began to pick up steam in early January when the Cougars’ Alexis Reeves, Emerson, Casseus and Dickerson broke the 4x200 relay record set by the Delcastle team that their coach was a part of in 1990. Later that month Dickerson, Casseus, Kristina Viamantie and Emerson broke the 4x400 relay record that was set by Howard in 1989.

But Delcastle could not win just with those events at states, Anderson said. She told her team that individual runners had to score in other sprints as well as the field events, mapping out the points they would have to score.

It is the same kind of meticulous planning that Tatnall coach Patrick Castagno has used to win, often with undermanned teams himself.

An athletic renaissance
The success of the girls indoor track team follows the state championship the Delcastle girls basketball team won a year ago, contributing to the Cougars’ athletic renaissance that has put Delcastle on the map.

“I’ve had teachers and kids that I’ve never even talked to come up to me and say, ‘Congrats. You guys rock. You beat them with only nine girls,” Dickerson said. “A lot of people are looking forward to us winning in the spring as well.”

Coach comes full circle
Anderson, the head coach, was a senior member of the Delcastle team that won the 1990 state championship, the first of two straight. That was the last time the Cougars had won. With the win this year, Anderson, who became the head girls track coach in 2001, has come full circle.

Winning as a player then and now as a coach were different, Anderson said.

“As an athlete, you work hard to get better and win individually and as a team,” she said. “But as a coach, it’s more emotional because I get to see the kids that I’ve developed become state champions, not just individually but as a team.”