WILDWOOD – Two Wildwood Middle School mibsters earned the prestigious Sportsmanship Awards after participating in the 95th annual National Marbles Tournament during the week of June 18-21.
My’Air Henry (eighth grade) and Jorge Cruz (seventh grade) were recognized as the recipients of the awards during the annual Hall of Fame Program and Induction event held at the Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce June 21. Both recipients received plaques and each won $500 scholarships to be applied to college.
“Winners of the Sportsmanship Awards are voted upon by the referees during preliminary play,” stated Matt Corley, assistant tournament director and member of the National Marble Tournament Committee.
This is the third year in a row that the Sportsmanship Awards went to Wildwood players. In 2016, Henry and Kevin Cruz were the recipients, while Lisbeth Garcia took the girls’ award in 2017.
The local tournament is sponsored by the WAVE 21 21st Century Community Learning Center Program. This is the sixth year of involvement with the national tournament, sending four competitors to represent the district. There were also two Cape May County champions participating in the tournament. John Lynch of Lunch with Lynch is the sponsor of the marbles champions.
Three of the four Wildwood marbles champions finished in the top eight of the boys’ and girls’ divisions. Garcia and Henry qualified by grabbing the fifth and sixth spots, while Samuel Santiago ended the preliminaries in the eighth position for the boys put of a field of 27 girls and 28 boys. For the second year in a row, Garcia ended two games shy of winning her semi-finals bracket to advance to the finals. Cruz finished in a three-way tie for ninth place.
The Cape May County marbles champions ended up with Alexander Osorio also tied for ninth in the boys’ division, while Jessica Johnson ended up in 14th place. Johnson also had the first “stick” from a local team during the preliminary rounds. (A “stick” is when a mibster knocks out seven marbles on his/her first turn shooting).
The Wildwood and Cape May County Marbles Team are coached by Betty Harshaw and Jerry Sieber.
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