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HEADLINES: Mountain View's run to the state Class A boys' soccer semifinals represented the best season in school history. The Eagles not only claimed their third straight District 2 title and made their deepest trip into the state tournament. They also set a school record for wins by going 19-4-1. Along the way, Mountain View won the Lackawanna League Division I title. Instead of just playing the league's best competition to better prepare for the postseason, the Eagles came out on top against that competition. "The primary goal was to win that third straight district title," Mountain View coach Darin Bain said. "That's what we wanted from the beginning. "Then, we saw we could do well against teams like Abington Heights and Delaware Valley and the division title became a possibility." The scoring of Joe Scanlon and Nick Stoud, the defense of Chad Lasher and the goalkeeping of Ken Jesse led the way for the Eagles, but they also had the balance and enough depth to compete with the area's top teams and the state's top small schools. Scanlon finished with 23 goals and 10 assists overall while Stoud had 16 goals and 10 assists. They finished 1-2 in their division in scoring. Freshman Adam Christina, who finished strong to end up third on the team in scoring, was the other forward. Matt Pfahl and Phil Cicco join Lasher on defense. Robbie Johnson, Adam Walker, Brendan Smith and Brendan Holleran started at midfield. John Corbin, Josh Madas and Jordan Davis rotated in at midfield routinely in the middle of each half. Jesse Sutton also came off the bench often. WEEK IN REVIEW Mountain View's season came to an end in the state semifinals with a 4-0 loss to New Hope-Solebury at Hazleton Area. The Eagles may have played their best game of the season, beating Pequea Valley, 1-0, in the quarterfinals with a strong second half after being outplayed in the first half. "I really believe that game before, Pequea Valley, to be blunt, may have been a bit better team than us," Bain said. "We expended so much emotion mentally and physically to win that game that we were a step slow in the next one. "We couldn't come back three days later and reproduce that emotion against a team that was good." New Hope-Solebury, the District 1 champion, then suffered its only loss of the season, 3-1, to Seton-LaSalle in the state championship game. In field hockey, Wyoming Seminary finished as unbeaten state champion with a 1-0 victory over Upper Perkiomen. Earlier in the week, Wyoming Seminary defeated Selinsgrove, 3-1, in a match-up between undefeated teams ranked 1-2 in the nation all season by the field hockey Web site TopOfTheCircle.com. Wyoming Seminary's unbeaten state title is the second in three years by a District 2 team, following Crestwood's effort in 2004. In football, both District 2 titles that were decided Friday night involved late comebacks. C.J. Passeri reached high while also getting his foot down in the back corner of the end zone to pull in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Matt McGloin with no time on the clock, lifting West Scranton to a 13-12 victory over Crestwood in the Class AAA championship game. McGloin, who rolled right to make time for the winning throw, had two other clutch completions in the winning drive with the help of receivers Shawn Bodtman and Chase Passeri. Bodtman took a short pass 38 yards on fourth-and-11 and Passeri went up in a crowd for a 28-yard catch on third-and-10 the play before the winning touchdown. Old Forge scored twice in the final three minutes to rally past Northwest, 20-13, in a sloppy Class A championship game. The Blue Devils overcame seven turnovers by forcing the Rangers to turn the ball over on three of their final four possessions for a total of five in the game. Mark Alexander made a goal-line interception to keep Old Forge within a touchdown, returned a punt 38 yards to the 1 to set up the tying score then ran 35 yards for the game-winner with 1:02 left. In winter high school sports, last week represented the beginning of official practice sessions to prepare for basketball, wrestling and swimming openers. COLLEGE CORNER Montrose graduate Nicole Chaszar is back for her second season as coach of Western New England College after setting a school record and earning Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year honors in her first season as a head coach. Chaszar's team set a school record for wins in a season while going 21-7 and ending six-time champion Emmanuel's 72-game, regular-season, conference winning streak. Chaszar, 28, went from Montrose to Temple where she served as captain for two years and was named team Most Valuable Player as a senior. She coached at Springfield College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the University of Rhode Island as an assistant before taking the job at Western New England. "Last year we had a great run toward the GNAC championship and hope to do the same this season in our final year in the conference," Chaszar said. THE WEEK AHEAD Lakeland remains active in the District 2 Class AA football playoffs while West Scranton and Old Forge have advanced into state play. Last week's football predictions were 4-1, bringing our playoff record to 11-5 (68.8 percent) and our season record to 97-26 (78.9 percent). This week's predictions: Pottsville 28, West Scranton 12; Lakeland 14, Wyoming Area 13; Southern Columbia 42, Old Forge 12. In the American Hockey League, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Binghamton Senators meet for the first time this season Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton. TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
NASCAR Racing The Racing Reporter JOHNSON Is 2006 Nextel Cup Champion, Homestead, FL – The sun has set on the 2006 racing season. While Greg Biffle won Sunday’s season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the third consecutive time, the day went to Jimmie Johnson, who dodged a couple close calls on the way to his first Nextel Cup championship.
Jimmie Johnson celebrates winning the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship “It was a great win,” said Biffle. “We had a strong car and this was a great way to end the season.” Rookie Martin Truex, Jr. finished second, followed by Denny Hamlin, polesitter, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Scott Riggs, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and Clint Bowyer, rounded out the top-10. Ryan Newman ran into the back of Juan Montoya’s No. 30 on a restart with 11 laps remaining in the 268-lap race. The move was an apparent retaliation by Newman, because he felt Montoya came down on him earlier in the race, forcing him to spin into the grass. “I think the 12 car got me in the rear, but I’m not sure which car it was,” said Montoya. “I don’t care. I’ve shown that I can run in this series. It’s not going to be easy, but there are a lot of great drivers, and there is some awesome racing.” Montoya’s car burst into flames after hitting the outside wall, forcing NASCAR to put out the red flag. Newman and his crew chief were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after the race. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had problems in the pits, plus he brushed the outside wall once, but still managed to finish 19th. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Johnson. “We’ve been down and out so many times, but this team has fought back, and I never doubted them. It’s been a long time since I’ve won any kind of championship, and tonight we can really celebrate and enjoy it.” Matt Kenseth, the 2003 Winston Cup champion finished the season second, 56 points behind Johnson. “It was a great season, probably one of the best we’ve ever had,” said Kenseth. “Overall it’s been a great year, but I just wish we could have had our strong runs in the Chase.” Rookie Denny Hamlin wound up third, 68 points back of Johnson. “Jimmie and those guys did exactly what they needed to do and didn’t let anyone fluster them, so they deserve to be champions,” said Hamlin. “As far as our race team, I can’t say enough for them. They’ve done a great job, and I believe we will get one in the future.” Final Top-25 Nextel Cup Drivers (unofficial); 1. Johnson-6475, 2. Kenseth-6419, 3. Hamlin-6407, 4. Harvick-6397, 5. Earnhardt-6328, 6. J. Gordon-6256, 7. J. Burton-6228, 8. Kahne-6183, 9. Martin-6168, 10. Kyle Busch-6027, 11. Stewart-4727, 12. Edwards-4428, 13. Biffle-4075, 14. Mears-3914, 15. Vickers-3906, 16. Kurt Busch-3900, 17. Bowyer-3833, 18. Newman-3748, 19. Truex-3673, 20. Riggs-3619, 21. B. Labonte-3567, 22. Sadler-3469, 23. Jarrett-3438, 24. Sorenson-3434, 25. McMurray-3405. HARVICK Runs Away With Busch Title – Kevin Harvick, who clinched the 2006 Busch Series championship last month at Charlotte, ended the year with nine wins and the title – his second in the series – by 824 points over Carl Edwards. “To win nine races and run like we have this year is something I will probably never get to be a part of again in the Busch series and, hopefully, someday we can do this in the Cup series,” he said. “It’s been an incredible year.” Final Top-10 Busch Series Drivers: 1. Harvick-5648, 2. Edwards-4824, 3. Bowyer-4683, 4. Hamlin-4667, 5. Yeley-4487, 6. Menard-4075, 7. Kyle Busch-3921, 8. Johnny Sauter-3794, 9. Biffle-3789, 10. Sorenson-3670. BODINE Captures Truck Championship – Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 30 Germain Motorsports Toyota handily won this year’s Craftsman Truck Series Title. Bodine took the points lead in the fifth race of the season and held it for the remaining 20 races. This was the first national championship for either Todd, or his two brothers, Geoffrey or Brett. “We’ve been racing for a lot of years,” said Bodine. “I’ve got brothers racing, cousins, nephews, and it’s the first time we’ve won something this special. I can’t imagine what it means to me, to my family.” Final Top-10 Craftsman Truck Series Drivers: 1. Todd Bodine-3666, 2. Johnny Benson-3539, 3. David Reutimann-3530, 4. David Starr-3355, 5. Jack Sprague-3328, 6. Ted Musgrave-3314, 7. Ron Hornaday Jr.-3313, 8. Terry Cook-3265, 9. Rick Crawford-3252, 10. Mike Skinner-3219. MARTIN Takes Last Ride In No. 6 Ford – Mark Martin’s long ride in Jack Roush’s No. 6 Ford came to an end Sunday at Miami-Homestead Speedway. “It’s actually hard to believe that it’s actually happened,” Martin said, “It’s one of those things where you know it has been coming for a while, but you still can’t believe that it’s almost here. I’ve been in that car for a long time – 19 years to be exact. It’s a part of me and I’m a part of it. Now the time has come for me to hand that over to someone else, but it’s going to be a different feeling for sure.” To put Martin’s 19-year run in the same car in perspective, seven other current drivers also started that Daytona 500 in 1988. Of those seven drivers, all have raced for at least four different owners since that time. In fact, the seven combined have driven for 55 different owners and driven cars with a total of 57 different numbers. All while Martin forged on in the No. 6. On the day Martin moved into the driving seat of the No. 6, Ronald Reagan was president; a gallon of gas cost 96 cents, the average price of a car was just over $14,000, a loaf of bread would run you a whopping 61 cents. The young driver from Batesville, Arkansas was determined to make the most of a second chance. Martin’s tenure in the No. 6 was of humbling if not almost comical beginnings. “We made the race on time,” said Martin recalling that first Speedweek with Roush Racing. “Then we got wrecked in the Twin-125’s and we didn’t have a backup speedway car, so we used the Atlanta car for the race. We didn’t last 20 laps before we lost the engine.” When Martin climbed into that backup No. 6 car on that day, it was highly unlikely he could have envisioned the success he would go on to have in the No. 6. Six-Hundred and sixteen consecutive starts, 35 wins, 230 top-five finishes, 361 top-10 finishes, 39 poles, 181,163 laps, 11,100 laps led and 228,456.2 miles. “We’ve been at this for a long time and there is a sense of accomplishment for what we’ve been able to do,” continued Martin. “It’s been a great ride, and I’m so thankful to Jack Roush for having given me the opportunity to really live out my dreams behind the wheel of the No. 6 car. It’s really been a great ride and I would not change it for anything. We’ve always went into it giving everything that we had and really going at it no less than 100 percent, and hopefully that showed over the years.” Racing Trivia Question: Which series will Travis Kvapil be racing in next season? Last Week’s Question: Which year did Matt Kenseth win the Winston Cup championship? Answer. He was the 2003 champion. If you have any NASCAR questions, e-mail them to: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.
Robinson Authors Two Sports Books Susquehanna native Tom Robinson is the author of two sports books that were released this month by Enslow Publishers, Inc. Robinson wrote two of the first six books in Enslow's new Sports Stars With Heart series of books which are geared to readers grades 5-8, highlighting stars who also make significant charitable contributions outside of sports. "Shaquille O'Neal: Giant On and Off the Court" and "Derek Jeter: Captain On and Off the Field" are the first two books by Robinson, who has completed two more manuscripts and is working on a fifth book for Enslow. Enslow Publishers, Inc. has provided quality nonfiction series for young readers in grades K-12 since 1976. Titles are available directly from the publisher, major book distributors, retail book stores, and online retailers. A complete list of titles is available online at www.enslow.com. Robinson, who writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript, had his first three books as an author all become available in the past two weeks. He is also the co-author of "PSSA Assessment Anchors, Coach Mathematics, Grade 11," a Triumph Learning book created to help Pennsylvania students prepare for Grade 11 standardized testing. After spending 17 years as a sports writer and sports editor at daily newspapers, Robinson moved into educational publishing in 1999. He spent two years with the TSI Graphics Editorial Services Division in Ramsey, NJ where he rose to the level of Director of Project Management. Robinson, who lives in Clarks Summit, has been a freelance writer and editor since 2001. He serves as a developmental editor of medical books and educational books where he specializes in math. As a sports writer, Robinson has written for ESPN.com, the Boston Globe, Washington Post, Ottawa Citizen, Cleveland Plain Dealer and more than a dozen other newspapers while also providing website content for the National Football League, U.S. Olympic committee and USA Hockey.
Changes For Annual Frystak Tournament The fifth annual Julia A. Frystak 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament was held this Memorial Day with over 300 players of all ages competing, dozens of volunteer timers and referees, plus hundreds of family members and fans. The day honors the high-achieving Montrose scholar athlete described as “always uplifting, and bringing smiles to everyone when she entered a room.” She died in a tragic accident in August, 2002.
Pictured (l-r) are friends of Julia who assisted at the annual Frystak Tournament: back row – Devon Wheaton, Dean Moore, Jared Olak, Jessica Franklin, Caitlin Hackett, Caitlyn Burnett; middle row – Emily Merrill, Samantha Lamont, Maggie McNamara, Cat Caterson, Johanna Reed; front row – Damian Deliteris, Christine Brown. Organizers took the opportunity to announce plans to continue the event with a new, broader purpose. Beginning on Memorial Day, 2007, the tournament will be called “Meteor Memorial Weekend,” and it will honor the memory of all MASD students who have died. Activities are expanding to add a fundraising Sunday run/walk, and all event proceeds will be applied to a new MASD Foundation scholarship fund. The tournament was originally organized by Julia’s parents, Kim Bean and Jim Frystak, step-parents Angie Frystak and Kevin Bean, plus friends such as Sean Brown and many others. It has raised thousands of dollars each year to fund a Montrose Area School District Foundation scholarship administered by the Community Foundation of Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties. Jim Frystak reports that with good management and fundraising, Julia’s scholarship has become self-sustaining and able to produce $1,000 to $1,500 each year in grants without diminishing its principal. He believes the time is right to give the Frystak and Bean family members a break, and to pass on both the event leadership and its revenue. What has the tournament meant to some of Julia’s best friends? Devon Wheaton recalls all the good memories he had playing basketball with Julia, and he enjoys seeing all their friends again having a good time. Christine Brown says, “It’s been a way to celebrate her life and remember her. It also helps me cope with her death. Now we have so much fun getting together for Julia.” Jessica Franklin adds, “On this one day a year we all pull together as a team and appreciate all that Julia did for us. Now we’re all going on our separate journeys, just as she did.” This year would have been Julia Frystak’s graduation year and Julia’s classmates will be moving on to college.
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