November, 2008, Cheer News & Views

DSO Sports News

By Marion Lisehora mlisehora@mchsi.com

The Delaware Senior Olympics Annual Games are almost over for this year. They started in late August and will continue through mid-November, wrapping up with the Annual Social Event at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover on November 16. Tickets for the dinner event are still available by calling the DSO Office at 1-888-881-6128.

For complete Senior Olympics results visit delawareseniorolympics.org

Women’s 5K Run: 60-64: Lynn DeLuca, Gold; 70-74: Nancy Wilson, Gold

Men’s 5K Run: 55-59: Billy Wright, Gold; Brad Lane, Silver. 60-64: Tom Keating, gold; Ralph McKinney, silver. 65-69: Bud Bettler, Gold. 70-74: Art Connolly, Gold.

Weightlifting: Bob O'Donnell, 54, from Ridley Park, PA won a gold in the dead lift with 424 pounds!

Men’s DSO 50-54 Baseball: Dave Schoettinger led the offense for the third year in a row with three hits in four at bats, two runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases, but the DSO team fell to Tri-State 55+ by a score of 13-5.

Men’s Softball: The OTS Senior Olympic team in the 60 to 64 age bracket won the Silver Medal on Saturday September 20th by defeating 2 of the 3 other teams in their division. The team, managed by Bo Wood ended up playing 4 games that day; 3 in their division and 1 game against the Delaware Legends who are in the Majors division. It was a long day with the first game starting at 9 a.m. and the 4th game ending at 5:30 p.m. The team really put it all together handily beating 2 teams from Wilmington and giving the Stars, the eventual Gold Medal winner, a run for their money. OTS Team players were: Pitchers - Eddie Sternberg and Ed Wilson; Catchers - Ron James and Terry Thomas; Infield - Harry Banks, Jesse Bare, Johnny Allen, Bo Wood; Outfield - Pete Harris, Ron Weber, Tom Faulkner, Tom Copp

Women’s Softball: The games were held on October 4 at Schutte Park in Dover. This tournament was a qualifier for the 2009 National Senior Games that will be held next August in Palo Alto, California. Five Delaware teams qualified by finishing either first or second in their divisional age groups. The three teams that play at Sports At The Beach in Georgetown all qualified. The Delaware Diamonds 50s and the Delaware Diamonds 60s both received gold while the Alley Cats 50s earned silver. The Blue Chicks 65s, who play some of their games during the summer at Sports At The Beach also took gold. The Blue Chicks 50s from Wilmington won gold in the Gold Division. Softball Sisters: The Blue Chicks 65 Senior Olympic softball team has four sisters on its roster. They range in age from 69 to 73 years. Doris, the "youngster" at age 69, plays leftfield; Minnie moves between 3B and outfield; Ellen usually plays 1B, but moved to shortstop over this summer and Georgia shares the pitching duties on the team.

Bowling: In the mixed doubles bowling competition, Christine Morrow at 89 and Earl Radding at 96 have had a lock on the Gold Medal for more years than anyone can remember. Earl was also the Gold Medal winner in the singles event.

Pickleball: This sport has really caught on in its first year being offered. There were 53 players at the tournament, and the level of competition was amazing! Greatest Distance: Ron Snipe from Port Angeles, Washington made the 2861 mile trip to Dover to compete in Swimming and Track and Field. Ron is a substitute teacher and has been trying to get to as many State games as possible. He has made about 14 so far. He won 4 medals in swimming and one in track. He was presented a special gold for coming the greatest distance. Swimming: 36 records were broken this year by 16 different swimmers! Most of the new records were set by swimmers moving up to a new 5 year age group. Susan Hajec, 60, competed in 6 events and broke the record in all of them! Andrea Hunt, 60, came over from D.C. and claimed 4 new records. Bill Beiser, 80, of Seaford set 5 new records as did Charles Erwin, 77, who came from VA. Dave Jacobs, who won 4 medals expressed the feelings of the swimmers from Nanticoke, “what a great time we had; it was fun and a real nice reunion for all.” Complete swimming results, times and records are on the website. Cycling: Receiving 5 golds each in cycling were Bob Carroll, Don Kjelleren, Jo Johnson, Marcia Cloud and Suzanne Cavanaugh. Pictured are the downstate softball teams that qualified for the National Senior Games next August in Palo Alto, California.

Delaware Diamonds 50s - Gold Back Row: Denise Pecora, Barb Ellis, Peggy Vann, Ellen VanDusen, Willa Jordan, Gwen Rash, Susan Brooker, Cheryl Swain, Sabrina Beckett, Martina Clark, Debbie Estes, Kit Ryan (coach). Front Row: Sandi Billings, Cathy Mason, Darlene Mitchell, Pam Grosz, Joanne Cassidy, Rose Littleton, Kathy Decker. Missing: Debbie Dorris, Patty Leonard.

Delaware Diamonds 60s - Gold Back Row: Mary Murdoch, Jean Rohmer, Wendy Simmons, Willa Jones Middle Row: Dusty Pruitt, Dorcy Wilkins, Andrea Van Horn Front Row: Jill Green, Marion Lisehora, Eileen Masino

Delaware Alley Cats 50s - Silver Back Row: Cindy Bennett, Helen Cropper, Cindy Rose, Pat Beckman (Scorekeeper), Peggy Miller, Maureen White, Rick Parker (coach), Kim Hannon, Pat Temple, Dottie Neske, Front Row: Lucy Strauss, Kathy DeSimone, Leslie Maschauer, Mary Lou Doney

OTS 60-64 - Silver Back Row: Ron Weber, Jesse Bare, Bo Wood, Pete Harris, Tom Copp, Terry Thomas, Tom Faulkner, Ed Wilson. Front Row: Harry Banks, Eddie Sternberg, Ron James, Johnny Allen