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HEADLINES:
Local Sports Scene
NASCAR Racing
Junior Sabers Results
Local Golfers Win Annual ACS Tourney

Local Sports Scene
By Tom J. Robinson

Montrose Extends Winning Streak

Both Susquehanna County high school football teams extended streaks Saturday.

That meant good news for the Montrose Meteors and bad news for the Susquehanna Sabers.

After losing two of its first three games, Montrose has won four straight, including Saturday's 41-0 romp over Western Wayne.

Susquehanna remains as the only winless team in the Lackawanna Football Conference following a 48-7 loss to Lackawanna Trail.

Montrose is improving defensively with two shutouts in the last three games. After allowing 102 points in their first four games, the Meteors have given up 13 in the last three.

Linebacker Dan Snee has been one of the defensive leaders.

"Dan Snee has really picked up his game, offensively and defensively," Montrose coach Tom Lucenti said.

Snee also scored a touchdown Saturday and was often the lead blocker for another big game from Joe Cosmello.

Cosmello led the offense with four touchdowns, three on runs and one on a punt return.

Matt Remington also ran for a score.

The Meteors improved their playoff hopes with the win.

Montrose entered the weekend fifth in the race for either three or four District 2 Class AA playoff berths. The more likely scenario is for the tournament to include three teams from District 2 and one from District 1.

Wilkes-Barre Meyers, Lakeland, Hanover Area and Dunmore were in the first four spots before the weekend started, but Dunmore lost to Scranton Prep. Meyers and Hanover Area play each other next.

"Being realistic, we believe to get in, we have to win out," Lucenti said, "but we still have to take them one at a time."

WEEK IN REVIEW

The Steamtown Marathon, from Forest City to Scranton, was run for the seventh time Sunday.

Two county runners placed in the top 250 runners.

David Smith, 33, of New Milford finished 213th in 3:20:44.

Mark Smith, 49, of Montrose finished 220th in 3:21:15.

Matthew Sandercock, 33, of Downingtown won the race in 2:21:20, beating Maurits Van Der Veen, 35, of Philadelphia by 20 seconds.

Matthew Rosetti, formerly from Scranton, placed fourth for the best finish by a runner with a northeastern Pennsylvania connection. Matthew Byrne, from Scranton, was the top regional finisher, placing sixth. Rosetti and Byrne, both 27, ran against each other as two of the area's top high school runners of the 1990s.

Wendy Nelson-Barrett, 33, of Lebanon was the women's winner in 2:25:07, more than five minutes ahead of Lisa Haas, 35, Orwigsburg.

Hockey season started on a promising note for the two regional American Hockey League teams.

Rookie Colby Armstrong and Michal Sivek each scored two goals and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins scored a team-record four power-play goals Thursday night to beat the St. John's Maple Leafs, 5-3, before their 61st straight home sellout crowd.

Binghamton returned to the AHL Friday night when the Senators rallied from an early two-goal deficit then defeated defending conference champion Bridgeport in the first minute of overtime, 5-4. Brian Pothier scored the winner 47 seconds into overtime.

The rest of the first weekend did not go as well. The Penguins lost their second game, 6-3, to the Hershey Bears and Binghamton lost two straight to fall to 1-2.

THE WEEK AHEAD

District 2 girls' tennis championships get underway this week.

After team play, which was scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, the singles tournament is set to open Thursday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre. The final rounds of the singles competition are set for Friday and a site to be determined.

The doubles tournament starts Monday at Kirby Park and is scheduled to conclude Oct. 23.

Those football streaks could continue Friday night.

Montrose (5-2) is home against Bishop O'Hara (1-6).

Susquehanna (0-7) is at Lackawanna County Stadium playing Scranton Prep (4-3) on the artificial turf.

Last week's high school football predictions were 9-1, leaving my season record at 57-21 (73.1 percent).

This week's predictions, with winners in CAPS: MONTROSE 44, Bishop O'Hara 3; SCRANTON PREP 46, Susquehanna 0; DUNMORE 52, Riverside 16; HONESDALE 32, North Pocono 9; LAKELAND 34, Lackawanna Trail 16; OLD FORGE 13, Western Wayne 8; MID VALLEY 25, Carbondale 23; DELAWARE VALLEY 29, Wallenpaupack 6; ABINGTON HEIGHTS 37, Scranton 33; VALLEY VIEW 14, West Scranton 3.

COLLEGE CORNER

Sophomore Rita DiRiancho from Montrose is a member of the cross country team at East Stroudsburg University.

East Stroudsburg finished sixth of seven teams at the Lehigh Valley Invitational, seventh of 19 at the Tidewater Classic and seventh of eight at the LaSalle Invitational.

TOM J. ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.

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NASCAR Racing
By Gerald Hodges; The Racing Reporter

Sensational Win For Rookie At Charlotte, Concord, NC – Rookie, Jamie McMurray subbing for the injured Sterling Marlin won the rain-delayed Winston Cup UAW-GM 500 Sunday at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

A fill-in for Sterling Marlin in the No. 40 Coors Dodge, McMurray became the first driver to win a Winston Cup race in his second try since 1960.

"He did an incredible job," said team manager, Tony Glover. "This was big. A couple weeks ago, our world had crumbled when we lost Sterling, but this is just great."

Bobby Labonte, the second-place finisher tried for nearly 30-laps to pass the 26-year-old driver from Joplin, Missouri, but came up short each time.

"He just had a fast dog," said Labonte. "We tried everything, but we couldn't get around him."

McMurray's only other Winston Cup start was at Talladega, two weeks ago.

"I don't believe it," said McMurray. "It was a bad situation coming in here for Sterling. When we were leading with about 100 laps to go, I thought we would finish about fifth, but the team just kept getting the car better and better."

There were only three cautions during the 334-lap race. The longest one occurred during lap 231 after Todd Bodine got down into the infield grass and then came back up the track. A total of ten cars were involved.

"I know they are going to blame me," said Bodine. "We came out of turn four, and Ward (Burton) slowed down. I had no place to go."

Top ten finishing order: 1. Jamie McMurray, 2. Bobby Labonte, 3. Tony Stewart, 4. Jeff Gordon, 5. Rusty Wallace, 6. Jimmie Johnson, 7. Jeff Burton, 8. Ryan Newman, 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 10. Dave Blaney.

Top-10 points leaders after 31 of 36 races: 1. Stewart-4128, 2. Johnson-4031, 3. Martin-4006, 4. Newman-3963, 5. R. Wallace-3946, 6. J. Gordon-3917, 7. Kenseth-3823, 8. Elliott-3787, 9. Busch-3766, 10. Rudd-3758.

Racing Days Over For Two Drivers – Stephanie Hamilton, wife of Bobby Hamilton, Jr., was to make her racing debut last Saturday in the Jr. late model division event at Riverview Speedway in Carthage, TN. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Stephanie tested the car for the first time last Thursday.

She ran ten laps before hitting the wall head on. As a result she broke her knee cap and is on crutches. She said two things of interest. 1. Bobby immediately told her that her short-lived racing career was now over. And 2. Stephanie wanted me to let anyone who inquired know that when she crashed she was not poking along and that she had the pedal to the metal. She said, "I don't want anyone to think that I wasn't going fast."

Ricky Hendrick, son of championship car owner Rick Hendrick also called it quits last week. The driver of the No. 5 GMAC Chevrolet had two top-10s, but missed six races due to surgery on a shoulder separation following a crash at Las Vegas.

David Green, a former Busch Series champion will replace him for the remainder of the season.

Penske Teams Switching To Dodge – Dodge Motorsports announced Sunday that Penske Racing South will join the Dodge family of NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams for the 2003 season.

Team owner Roger Penske will field the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid R/T and No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid R/T with Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman driving the respective cars, beginning at the 45th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 2003.

No stranger to the Chrysler Group's racing heritage, Penske visited victory lane five times in the early 1970s with AMC Matadors, courtesy of drivers Mark Donohue and Bobby Allison. Since returning to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series in 1991, Penske Racing South has compiled 37 wins and 32 pole positions in more than 400 team starts.

Other Racing

Easy Busch Series Win For JEFF BURTON, Concord, NC – Jeff Burton won Saturday's Busch Series Lowe's 300 by 19.493 seconds. Top ten finishing order: 1. Jeff Burton, 2. Michael Waltrip, 3. Joe Nemechek, 4. Jeff Green, 5. David Green, 6. Greg Biffle, 7. Wally Dallenbach, 8. Mike McLaughlin, 9. Bobby Hamilton Jr., 10. Shane Hmiel.

Top-10 points leaders: 1. Biffle-4173, 2. Keller-4005, 3. Wimmer-3707, 4. Sprague-3699, 5. McLaughlin-3640, 6. K. Wallace-3561, 7. Riggs-3539, 8. Hamilton-3537, 9. McMurray-3452, 10. LaJoie-3415.

CHAD BLOUNT Takes Charge At Lowe's, Concord, NC – ARCA RE/MAX Series Rookie of the Year Chad Blount turned in a masterful performance Friday afternoon at Lowe's Motor Speedway winning the rain-delayed EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 100.

Blount, in Todd Braun's APP Gas Dodge, kept veterans' Ron Hornaday and Frank Kimmel at bay to earn the hard-fought victory and his fourth superspeedway triumph of the season. And while Kimmel had already clinched his fourth series national championship, Blount clinched ARCA's Superspeedway Challenge title by earning the most points on superspeedways throughout the season.

Top ten finishing order: 1. Chad Blount, 2. Ron Hornaday, 3. Frank Kimmel, 4. Chris Moore, 5. Bob Strait, 6. Jason Jarrett, 7. Kevin Conway, 8. Jeff Fultz, 9. Brent Sherman, 10. Richard Mitchell.

Final Top-10 ARCA RE/MAX Series Points: 1) Frank Kimmel 6150; 2) Chad Blount 5655; 3) Jason Jarrett 5145; 4) Chase Montgomery 4755; 5) Shelby Howard 4735; 6) Billy Venturini 4680; 7) Andy Belmont 4520; 8) Mark Gibson 4455; 9) Ron Cox 4405; 10) Norm Benning 4230.

Weekend Racing

The Winston Cup race is at Martinsville, Virginia, while the Busch series goes to Memphis, Tennessee. The Craftsman Trucks do not race again until November 2.

Saturday, October 19, Busch Series, Sam's Town 250, 250 laps/187.5 miles, 2 p.m. TV: NBC.

Sunday, October 20, Winston Cup Martinsville 500, 500 laps/263 miles, Noon, TV: NBC.

Racing Trivia Question: Which current Winston Cup driver has the most wins?

Answer To Last Week's Question: Scott Wimmer drove the No. 23 Hills Bros. Dodge at Talladega.

Gerald Hodges/the Racing Reporter is a syndicated NASCAR columnist. If you have a racing question that you would like answered send it to The Racing Reporter, P.O. Box 160711, Mobile, AL, 36616, or e-mail it to: 110335.405@compuserve.com.

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Junior Sabers Results
Submitted

Following are Susquehanna Junior Sabers Football results from Sunday, October 13.

D - Game – Final Score: Sabers 6, Comets 6.

Stats: Rushing – #8 Caleb Scepaniak 7 car. 30 yds. 1 td; # 11 Cole Mallery 6 car. 23 yds.; #13 Jacob McKinney 1 car. 1 yd.; #71 Austin Cowperthwait 3 car. 10 yds. 1 rec. 7 yds. Tackles: #8 Caleb Scepaniak 7, #71 Austin Cowperthwait 3, #13 Jacob McKinney, #62 Timothy Flanagan, #64 Dan Biegert, #83 Adam Stout each had one. Assist – #11 Cole Mallery 2, #83 Adam Stout 2, #8 Caleb Scepaniak, #32 Alex Peksa, # 61 William Terpstra each with one. Fumble Recovery by #83 Adam Stout.

C - Team – Final Score: Sabers 6, Comets 19.

Stats: Rushing – #12 Kevin Cavanaugh 9 car. 22 yds. 1 td.; #23 Greg Price 4 car. 19 yds.; # 85 James Horton 8 car. 20 yds. Tackles – #12 Kevin Cavanaugh 5; #23 Greg Price 4; #85 James Norton 4; #74 Justin Johnson 3; #55 Steven Lee 2; #11 Cole Mallery, #52 William Dolph, #75 Jarret Coleman each had one. Assist – #55 Steven Lee 2; #74 Justin Johnson 2; #11 Cole Mallery, #12 Kevin Cavanaugh, #23 Greg Price, #38 Taylor Cundey each with one. Fumble Recovery by #55 Steven Lee.

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Local Golfers Win Annual ACS Tourney

The annual American Cancer Society State Golf Championships were held in State College at the Penn State Blue and White courses with the women competing on August 12 and 13 and the men competing on August 19 and 20. Approximately 200 golfers from throughout Pennsylvania that qualified in their local tournaments participated in these championships. Approximately 50 volunteers from the State College area served as scorers for the teams and helped in other aspects of the tournaments.

Two teams representing Susquehanna County placed first at the State Tournament: Deborah Major, Rebecca Warner, Nancy Blaisure and Judy Kurpinski won the III Flight for Women; with John Smith, Jeffrey Dean, Barry Wheaton and Brian Harmon finishing first in the Flight I Men.

Both of these first place teams are advancing to the American Cancer Society National Golf Championships on October 25 and 26 at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This three-level tournament is the only one of its kind in the United States. Players pay entry fees and their own expenses at all levels. The money raised by these tournaments is used to continue the American Cancer Society’s mission of research, education, advocacy and patient services. This past year, over $607,000 was raised through this golf program in Pennsylvania.

The 2003 Pennsylvania Division State Golf Championships will be held in August at The Resort at Split Rock, Lake Harmony, PA in the Pocono Mountains. For more information on how to qualify for the State Championships, contact your local American Cancer Society office at 1-888-227-5445.

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