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Mike Lang

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Covers:  new castle county, high school sports, north wilmington, catholic parishes, claymont, catholic education, local government, college sports
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Rodriguez leads Vikings to girls' state basketball title, 60-46, over Caravel

Rodriguez leads Vikings to girls' state basketball title, 60-46, over Caravel

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang NEWARK - A half-hour after St. Elizabeth had dispatched Caravel, 60-46, for the girls' state basketball championship Monday night, Jocelyn Rodriguez had yet to leave the floor of the Bob Carpenter Center. First, the star guard and lone senior on the Vikings' roster joined her teammates celebrating with their schoolmates. Then she accepted the champions' trophy and cut down the last section of the net, which then rested around her neck. It was off to meet the media after that. Finally, she made her way to the corner of the arena, where her family patiently waited.
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Padua student cherishes being a 'healthy kid' after cancer

Padua student cherishes being a 'healthy kid' after cancer

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - The cancer treatments have ended for Pearce Quesenberry, but the 14-year-old Padua Academy freshman has no plans to stop raising awareness and money to fight the disease in children. Nearly four years ago, Quesenberry was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a brain tumor, and the cancer spread to the spinal fluid. She spent most of 2008 in treatment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and eventually regained her health and energy. Now, as part of the work of the Pearce Q Foundation, Quesenberry hopes to spread holiday cheer to families going through what hers endured.
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Salesianum students attend ordination of faculty member in school's gym

Salesianum students attend ordination of faculty member in school's gym

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - From many appearances, the ordination of Michael Vogt to the priesthood for the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales was the same as any other ordination. There was the altar, the bishop, fellow priests laying their hands on his head, and proud family and friends looking on. But in other ways, Father Vogt's ordination on Jan. 27 was very different. For one, it was held in the gymnasium at Salesianum School, where the new priest is a campus minister and theology teacher.
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Dover couple, tested in military and on home front, become Catholic

Dover couple, tested in military and on home front, become Catholic

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter DOVER - Years of spiritual seeking ended at the Easter vigil April 7 at Holy Cross Church as Michel and Lisa Kasday entered the Catholic Church. For the Camden-Wyoming couple, it wasn't really that simple. In their lives, few things are. Like many couples in this part of Kent County, the Kasdays are a military family. Mike, 40, is a staff sergeant and an engine mechanic at Dover Air Force Base, and his wife is studying nursing at Delaware Technical Community College. They have dealt with deployments and work schedules that are anything but 9-to-5.
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Schweizer family sticks to lacrosse tradition at St. Mark's

Schweizer family sticks to lacrosse tradition at St. Mark's

www.examiner.com — WILMINGTON - When it comes to the Schweizer family, there are two constants: St. Mark's High School and lacrosse. Rhett, the fifth of six Schweizer siblings and one of two boys, is a junior at the school and a mainstay on the lacrosse team, following in the footsteps of sisters Courtney, Taryn and Haley, and ahead of younger sister Kendra, an eighth-grader at Wilmington Christian School who will be a Spartan next fall. The Schweizers had a player on the girls' team every year from 2006 until last year, when Haley graduated.
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O'Neill, former Sals reflect on basketball championship

O'Neill, former Sals reflect on basketball championship

www.examiner.com — It's been a bit crazy around Salesianum School the last few weeks thanks to the basketball team, which won its first state championship with a 50-45 win over St. Georges Tech on March 8 at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark. For forward Brian O'Neill, the championship game was his last that counted in the standings. The 6-7 senior will continue his athletic career as a football player at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall. He scored 15 points in the final and helped cut down the nets. Then the fun started at 18th and Broom.
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Delle Donne returns home for a special afternoon with Best Buddies

Delle Donne returns home for a special afternoon with Best Buddies

www.examiner.com — NEWARK -- Elena Delle Donne stood at center court of the Bob Carpenter Center on Saturday afternoon in the middle of a basketball-filled day and did not put up a single shot, but it was still pretty special for the former Ursuline Academy and University of Delaware star. Delle Donne, the reigning WNBA rookie of the year, returned to Newark for the Blue-Gold All-Star Basketball Games, which benefit Best Buddies Delaware and the state's developmentally disabled. She was inducted into the Blue-Gold Hall of Fame, only the third person so honored. The gesture touched Delle Donne, whose sister Lizzie is blind and deaf and has cerebral palsy.
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Despite loss, Vikings happy to help 5-year-old fan with mitochondrial disease

Despite loss, Vikings happy to help 5-year-old fan with mitochondrial disease

www.examiner.com — NEWARK - As the reality of a 58-37 championship-game loss to Sanford School settled in, the members of the St. Elizabeth girls sat mostly silent on their bench, tears rolling down their cheeks. To their biggest fan, however, there was no disappointment, only excitement as he ran across the court at the Bob Carpenter Center to greet his heroes. When 5-year-old Ignacio Ferreiro Jr. reached the Vikings, he gave each one a high-five. The girls responded with hugs and gentle pats on his head. All except one.
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Padua students doing Stations of the Cross with their smartphones

Padua students doing Stations of the Cross with their smartphones

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - Throughout history, Catholics have spent Lent with the Stations of the Cross. The Stations devotion has been passed along, often through writing and live performances. Today, however, the story of Jesus' death and resurrection is accessible in ways unimaginable just a generation ago - through QR codes and a smartphone application. As is often the case, young people are leading the way with the electronic Stations of the Cross. Students at Padua Academy now have another use for their ever-present technology, with information about and reflections on the Stations available with a scan by a smartphone.
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Ursuline students help Leader Dogs for the Blind program

Ursuline students help Leader Dogs for the Blind program

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - The first-graders at Ursuline Academy's Lower School demonstrated the meaning of the school's motto, "Serviam," on March 24, presenting an organization that trains service dogs for the blind with a check for $368. The students raised the money on their own both at their homes and by donations for a dress-down day at school. Layla Adeleke said she earned her money by helping with the laundry and other chores at home. "It was important to help the people who are blind," she said. The fundraising was part of the Serviam Project in the early childhood program and Lower School.
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St. Mary Magdalen Robo Dogs could save lives

St. Mary Magdalen Robo Dogs could save lives

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - A few years from now, if new cars sold in the United States can warn drivers and passengers that carbon monoxide levels are creeping dangerously high, consumers will have a group of fifth- and sixth-graders from St. Mary Magdalen School to thank. The students designed a carbon monoxide detection system for automobiles after learning that more than 140 people in the U.S. die each year when they are poisoned by the gas, which is odorless and colorless.
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DiVincenzo's big fourth quarter leads Sals to first state basketball crown

DiVincenzo's big fourth quarter leads Sals to first state basketball crown

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter and Jason Winchell For The Dialog NEWARK - When his team needed him most, Donte DiVincenzo rose to the occasion. In the end, Salesianum cut the nets down for the first time, winning the Delaware boys basketball championship with a 50-45 win over St. Georges Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center. The Sals jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the first five minutes, and the sellout crowd, which included hundreds of white-shirted Salesianum students and a sizable number of alumni, sensed something special. St.
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Sanford's Lewis shines in girls basketball title win over St. Elizabeth

Sanford's Lewis shines in girls basketball title win over St. Elizabeth

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter NEWARK - Sanford girls basketball coach Marcus Thompson will tell anyone who'll listen that his senior, Alison Lewis, is the best player in the state. On Friday night, Lewis did nothing to dissuade that notion, putting the Warriors on her back and carrying them to the state championship with a 58-37 win over St. Elizabeth at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark. Lewis, who will play next season at Boston University, was simply sensational in the season's biggest game.
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Journeys to Easter: St. Ann's parishioner has new vision of faith

Journeys to Easter: St. Ann's parishioner has new vision of faith

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - Nicole Hudson was born into "a big Irish Catholic family," and although she has been around the church her entire life, it is only this year that she is formally joining the faith. In a way, you could say she's seen the light. Literally. Hudson's sight returned over the past several months after numerous surgeries, and it was only in January that it really started to clear up in her left eye. Her nearly four-year vision loss was caused by diabetic retinopathy, which is damage to the blood vessels in the retina.
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Padua senior finds faith through hardships

Padua senior finds faith through hardships

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - Perhaps, when Erin Wendelburg walks to the altar at St. Anthony of Padua Church in May to receive her diploma from Padua Academy, she will hear a voice. That voice will cheer her for reaching a milestone on a journey filled with almost unimaginable hardship, and it will encourage her to continue on to even greater accomplishments. That voice is one she hadn't heard in years and desperately wanted back in her life. She discovered it as she found her faith. The voice belongs to her mother, who died in 2004, when Wendelburg was just 8 years old.
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Archmere students develop app they hope will save lives

Archmere students develop app they hope will save lives

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter CLAYMONT - When Typhoon Haiyan decimated the Philippines in November, residents and others caught up in its destruction found their cell phones rendered useless because tele- communications infrastructure was gone. A group of students from Archmere Academy saw an opportunity amid the tragedy to alleviate this kind of situation in the future. Five boys - juniors Andrew Hurst, Christian Kraft and Nick McIntyre, and sophomores Joseph Spall and Greg McCord - developed coNextGen for the Verizon Innovative App Challenge, a nationwide contest for middle and high school students to apply their knowledge and creativity to address a need or problem in their community.
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Phillie Phanatic visits Elsmere school to celebrate reading

Phillie Phanatic visits Elsmere school to celebrate reading

www.examiner.com — ELSMERE - To celebrate their dedication to reading, students at All Saints Catholic School welcomed a special visitor to campus on Thursday afternoon. The Phillie Phanatic traveled to Elsmere to celebrate the second grade's accomplishments in the "Be a Phanatic About Reading" program. As part of the program, the second-graders read for a minimum of 15 minutes each night. They began in the fall and have finished thousands of books, and they are still reading. The Phanatic brought with him his new book, "The Phillie Phanatic's Phantastic Journey," which principal Diana Thompson read as the Phanatic acted it out, complete with props.
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New Castle sister ministers to Baltimore parish through her artwork

New Castle sister ministers to Baltimore parish through her artwork

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter NEW CASTLE - Catholics may not recognize the ministry of Dominican Sister Mary Grace Thul at first glance, but it is very visible. The artist, who lives at the Caterina Benincasa Dominican Monastery on the grounds of Holy Spirit Parish in New Castle, spreads the message of faith through her work. Parishioners at St. Ambrose Church in Baltimore already have her art in their church, and soon they will be seeing much more. Sister Mary Grace created several canvases for the parish, which is in the Park Heights section of Baltimore, a few blocks from Pimlico Raceway.
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Fiorelli steps down as St. Mark's girls basketball coach

Fiorelli steps down as St. Mark's girls basketball coach

www.examiner.com — WILMINGTON - John Fiorelli, who has coached girls basketball at St. Mark's High School on two occasions for a total of 20 years, has retired from that position, a school official told The Dialog, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington. Fiorelli will remain at the school, where he has been since 1980, as an English teacher. According to the school, as of Feb. 9 Fiorelli had a record of 349-125. His team went 1-4 the rest of the season, which would give him a final record of 350-129 for a winning percentage of .731.
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St. Elizabeth students enter prayer labyrinth during Holy Week

St. Elizabeth students enter prayer labyrinth during Holy Week

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter WILMINGTON - Students at St. Elizabeth High School have spent some time during Holy Week combining their 21 st-century technology with an ancient method of prayer. Theology teacher and parish youth minister Melissa Pollio introduced the prayer labyrinth to the Wilmington school. It is a path that leads to the center of an intricate design and back out again. Along the way, the labyrinth at St. Elizabeth had 11 stations where the students would stop and listen to an accompanying audio track that had been uploaded to their iPads.
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Journey to the faith: St. Polycarp parishioner had been baptized but never became a practicing Ca...

Journey to the faith: St. Polycarp parishioner had been baptized but never became a practicing Ca...

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter Alecia Bedwell remembers as a child asking if she could attend CCD classes like the other kids she knew, but, although she was baptized Catholic, religion was never a focal point in her home. Now, decades later, she has returned to the faith and will be received fully into the Catholic Church this Saturday at St. Polycarp in Smyrna. Bedwell is one of six people who completed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults at St. Polycarp this year. Another is her daughter, Alexandra Orfetel. Both have been baptized and will receive first Communion and be confirmed at the Easter Vigil.
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RCIA story: Helping with religious ed confirms her call to the faith

RCIA story: Helping with religious ed confirms her call to the faith

thedialog.org — By Mike Lang Staff reporter OCEAN CITY, Md. - When Mia Schreier formally joins the Catholic Church next month at St. Mary Star of the Sea-Holy Savior Parish in Ocean City, Md., she will be able to join her husband and sons in fully practicing the faith. She had a glimpse of how Catholicism could do that while occasionally attending Mass with a great-aunt while living in Naples, Fla. "I was attracted to what my friends had. Looking back, I was drawn to their families and how close a connection they had drawn.
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DeMatteis' soccer success lands longtime St. Mark's coach in Del. Hall of Fame

DeMatteis' soccer success lands longtime St. Mark's coach in Del. Hall of Fame

www.examiner.com — WILMINGTON - In the fall of 1979, Tom DeMatteis scored the first goal in the history of varsity soccer at St. Mark's High School. Seven years later, in his initial season as the Spartans' boys head coach, he guided St. Mark's to its first state championship in the sport, but certainly not its last. The Spartans won 10 more titles during his 25 seasons at the helm. When the state added girls' soccer, DeMatteis became the first coach of the girls' team at St. Mark's in 1994.
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St. Mark's baseball holds off archrival Salesianum, 3-2, to remain undefeated

St. Mark's baseball holds off archrival Salesianum, 3-2, to remain undefeated

www.examiner.com — WILMINGTON - Calvin Scott's two-run single in the second inning gave St. Mark's a lead it would not relinquish in the Spartans' 3-2 win over rival Salesianum Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington. The true stars on the night, however, were St. Mark's pitchers Tom Spagnolo and Billy Phillips, who combined to hold the Sals to four hits on the evening while striking out 12. Spagnolo went five innings, while Phillips picked up a two-inning save. With the win, St. Mark's - the state's top-ranked team - improves to 9-0, while Salesianum falls to 4-4. St.
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