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HEADLINES: After first halves full of lead changes, Montrose and Wilkes-Barre GAR used dominant third-quarter efforts to post weekend high school football victories. Montrose scored three times in less than seven minutes Friday night to defeat visiting Western Wayne, 41-28, in a Lackawanna League Division II opener. GAR held Susquehanna to eight yards in the third quarter while forcing three turnovers that led to touchdowns in a wild 60-26 non-league victory over the host Sabers Saturday. Montrose and Western Wayne traded the lead twice before the Meteors rattled off 21 straight third-quarter points to stretch their lead to 34-7. GAR and Susquehanna traded the lead twice and were tied three times in the first half. The Grenadiers scored twice in the third quarter and once early in the fourth as part of a streak of 34 straight points in 21:17 for a 54-20 lead. Montrose's Dalton Smith scored on a 1-yard run early in the third quarter. Kyle Bonnice’s 63-yard interception return and Andy Burgh’s 54-yard touchdown pass from Rob Volk broke the game open. The Meteors caught the Wildcats in a blitz, Volk hit Burgh with a quick slant and he went the distance for the 27-point lead. When Dan Staats added a one-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter Montrose (3-1) had a 41-7 lead. Western Wayne cut into the final margin with three late touchdowns with the help of two on-side kicks. Smith finished with 61 yards on eight carries. He had two touchdowns, including a 26-yarder in the second quarter to put Montrose ahead to stay. Dan Rihl had a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and finished with 56 yards on 11 carries. Ethan Jones carried twice for 49 yards. Volk was 5-for-9 for 148 yards. GAR's Ryan Womack ran for five touchdowns and had interceptions to set up scores 41 seconds before and 18 seconds after halftime. Womack carried 20 times for 194 yards and scored touchdowns on his only two carries of the second half. GAR ran for 236 yards in the first half and finished with 371 yards and nine touchdown on 53 carries. “They were more physical than us,” Susquehanna coach Dick Bagnall said. “They’re bigger and stronger.” The Sabers matched the Grenadiers for the first 16 minutes with an explosive offense. Sophomore Dan Kempa equaled Womack’s three early touchdowns by running 29 and 53 yards for scores on his first two carries and hitting Jordan Aldrich with a 33-yard touchdown pass. On the first play after the touchdown pass tied the game at 20-20, Godson Tandoh bounced an off tackle play to the outside and ran 51 yards for the score that put GAR (3-1) ahead to stay with 7:55 left in the half. “We overcame adversity when we made some defensive adjustments,” GAR coach Tony Khalife said. “Until then, they kept the pressure on us.” Stephen Andujar carried seven times for 89 yards to lead a ground game that produced 231 yards for the Sabers. Kempa added 73 yards on 12 carries and Nick Felter had 42 yards on nine carries. WEEK IN REVIEW Forest City’s Wade Malicky shot a 6-over-par, 78 at Elmhurst Country Club to finish tied for eighth in the Lackawanna League qualifier for the District 2 Golf Championships, which will be held October 6 at Fox Hill Country Club. Malicky was one of four Susquehanna County golfers among the 50 who qualified for the district tournament. Montrose’s Cole Wheaton shot 81, Blue Ridge’s Mike Hacker shot 86 and Montrose’s Bill Stranburg shot 92 to advance. In girls’ volleyball, Dunmore defeated Susquehanna, 25-14, 26-24, 19-25, 25-12, in a match for the Lackawanna League lead. Both teams were undefeated coming into the match. In girls’ soccer, Megan Walker scored the first goal and assisted on the other two as Mountain View defeated Montrose, 3-1, when the county’s top two teams met with second place in the Lackawanna League North Division at stake. Erika Lewis and Alix Taylor had the other Mountain View goals. Mimi DiPhillips, who had a hat trick earlier in the week in a 6-0 win over Forest City, scored the only Montrose goal. In professional baseball, the Sacramento River Cats scored three times in the bottom of the first inning and went on to beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 4-1, in the Bricktown Classic. The game matched the Pacific Coast League champion River Cats with the International League champion Yankees. The two Class AAA leagues share the status as the highest ranking in minor-league baseball. COLLEGE CORNER Anthony Dorunda, a Blue Ridge graduate who played quarterback at Susquehanna, picked up four yards on the first carry of his college career during Wilkes University’s 13-6 loss to Montclair State Sept. 13. Dorunda, a 6-foot-2, 229-pound sophomore, originally was moved to tight end when he arrived at Wilkes University. When the quarterback position opened this season, however, Dorunda was moved back and was a contender for the starting position. THE WEEK AHEAD Susquehanna (1-3) is at Lake-Lehman (4-0) Friday night in a non-league football game. Montrose (1-0 in the division, 3-1 overall) is at Scranton Prep (0-0, 3-1) in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division II game at Scranton Memorial Stadium. Our high school football predictions were perfect last week. The 14-0 record for the week improves the season record to 42-10 (80.8 percent). This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: LAKE-LEHMAN 48, Susquehanna 10; SCRANTON PREP 26, Montrose 12; DELAWARE VALLEY 27, North Pocono 13; Scranton 14, WEST SCRANTON 10; Abington Heights 21, WALLENPAUPACK 17; Riverside 27, HONESDALE 6; Dunmore 46, WESTERN WAYNE 7; Valley View 27, LAKELAND 24; MID VALLEY 30, Holy Redeemer 21; Meyers 21, HOLY CROSS 12; GAR 49, Lackawanna Trail 6; OLD FORGE 23, Nanticoke 13; CARBONDALE 27, Hanover Area 26. 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 Biffle And Roush Teams 1-2-3 At Dover, Dover, DE – For the second week in a row, Greg Biffle was in victory lane after winning Sunday’s Sprint Cup Camping World 400 at Dover Downs. He was followed across the finish line by teammates Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards.
Greg Biffle, winner of Sunday's Dover Cup race. “I knew I had to race Matt clean, because he’s a great teammate and competitor,” said Biffle. “I got a run on the outside and got up beside him and he tried to pinch me off going down the backstretch, like he should have because he was leading, but I had my nose out there and I couldn’t give up.” Biffle is now tied with Jimmie Johnson for second in points. Biffle had taken the lead for the first time during lap 300 of the 400-lap race, but lost it to teammate Edwards. The last caution came out on lap 352. All the leaders pitted. Edwards took only two tires while Kenseth and Biffle each got four. Edwards was the leader when green flag racing resumed with 42 laps left. Kenseth and Biffle passed Edwards for the lead on lap 378. All three of the Roush Fenway drivers raced each other hard, until Biffle pulled away with nine laps remaining. Kenseth’s runner-up finish was his best of the season. “I was just too loose there at the end,” he said. “We did everything right, but I think we got a little behind with our pit strategy and that hurt us.” Kenseth’s second-place finish moved him up from 12th to 10th in points. “I don’t know if four tires would have gotten us to victory lane,” said Edwards. “I think if we had taken four it would be different, but my hat’s off to Greg and all those guys. Third is no good, but racing like that was a blast. That’s the most fun you can have.” Edwards remains the Chase leader. Jack Roush was clearly happy with his teams’ performances. “I knew we would be good at Dover, I just hope we can survive Martinsville and Talladega,” he said. Mark Martin finished fourth. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Michael Waltrip rounded out the top-10 finishers. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a rear tire go flat on lap 143. He finished 24th and is now ninth in Chase points. Kyle Busch’s championship hopes vanished on lap 177 after an engine expired in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota. The winningest driver has seen his title hopes almost disappear after just two races. He is now last among all Chase drivers, 210 points out of first. Chase leaders after 28 of 36: 1. Edwards-5390, 2. Johnson-5380, 3. Biffle-5380, 4. Burton-5308, 5. Harvick-5289, 6. Bowyer-5284, 7. Stewart-5277, 8. J. Gordon-5272, 9. Earnhardt-5261, 10. Kenseth-5223, 11. Hamlin-5197, 12. Kyle Busch-5180. Top 10 Nationwide Series leaders after 29 of 35: 1. Bowyer-4222, 2. Edwards-4036, 3. Keselowski-3974, 4. Bliss-3779, 5. Ragan-3721, 6. Reutimann-3676, 7. Kyle Busch-3673, 8. M. Wallace-3381, 9. Leffler-3348, 10. Ambrose-3321. Top 10 Craftsman Truck Series leaders after 19 of 25: 1. Benson-2858, 2. Hornaday-2857, 3. Crafton-2694, 4. Darnell-2634, 5. Skinner-2631, 6. Crawford-2612, 7. Bodine-2601, 8. Sprague-2456, 9. Setzer-2395, 10. Cook-2366. Listen, But Don’t Complain, Said Earnhardt – Dale Earnhardt and his crew chief Tony Eury have gotten into some heated radio conversations. The latest came at New Hampshire and got so raunchy that car owner Rick Hendricks had to intervene. Earnhardt says he doesn't mind fans and media listening in on their scanners, but he wasn’t going to try and clean up his act. “I don't mind if y'all listen, but keep your opinions to yourselves, all right? Because I am doing business out there, and I am doing my job and that is how I do it. Y'all can listen all you want, but if you hear something that upsets you, don't come crying to me or whoever said it on my radio,” he told media at Dover. “I don't want to restrict the fans' access. I like the access. If I was a fan, that's what I would want... It keeps me motivated and enthused during the race. It keeps me from getting relaxed and monotone during the race. I don't want that to happen.” A Rundown On Chip Ganassi Racing – Chip Ganassi is a guy that’s always looking for another deal. While he has been successful in other racing series, he has failed to make himself felt as an owner in NASCAR. Unless he comes up with something substantial, and soon, his Cup teams will be history. Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 25 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative racing owners anywhere in the world. His racing empire includes 11 drivers that represent six different countries and seven series championships, three Indianapolis 500 championships, five Rolex 24 At Daytona overall championships and over 130 wins. Today his teams include two cars in the Indy Racing League, three in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, one Daytona Prototype in the world of Grand American Sports Car racing, two entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and regular entries in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). Overall, that is at least 10 cars covering no less than five different touring divisions. He first branched out into the world of stock car racing in 2000, when he partnered with Felix Sabates and Team SABCO. Ganassi renamed the organization Chip Ganassi Racing. Veteran driver Sterling Marlin gave Ganassi's team its first victory in the first race of the 2001 season, the Gatorade 125 qualifier at Daytona. Since then his NASCAR teams have gone downhill. The one bright spot was Juan Montoya’s 2007 road course win at Infineon Raceway. While Montoya has shown consistency this season with seven consecutive top-20s and a points ranking of 21st, Reed Sorenson and Dario Franchitti haven't been as fortunate. Franchitti lost his sponsor and has gone back to Indy-racing, while Sorenson is leaving at the end of the season for Gillett Evernham. To make matters worse, Texaco has announced they will pull out of NASCAR at the end of the season, leaving Montoya’s No. 42 without a full-time sponsor. Montoya will likely still carry a backing from Wrigley again in 2009 after racing multiple times in 2008 with Big Red or Juicy Fruit on the hood of his Dodge. Regardless, the elements seem to be lining up for Ganassi to do one of two things – merge with another team, or leave NASCAR racing completely. The second option might be a little more realistic than you'd think because Ganassi didn't hesitate to shut down Dario Franchitti's team earlier this year. One of the rumors is that Ganassi will merge whatever is left of his organization with Michael Waltrip Racing. Such a move might work, because both are facing significant sponsorship dilemmas in 2009. Next Week: The 2009 Team Lineups. WEEKEND RACING The Cup and Nationwide teams are at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, while the Craftsman Trucks have the weekend off. Saturday, Sept. 27: Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300, 3 p.m. TV: ESPN2. Sunday, Sept. 28: Sprint Cup Camping World RV 400, 1 p.m. TV: ABC. Racing Trivia Question: Who are the three Richard Childress Cup drivers? Last Week’s Question: Who is the oldest driver in Cup racing? Answer: The three oldest drivers are: Ken Schrader (May 29, 1955), Bill Elliott (Oct. 5, 1955), and Mark Martin (Jan. 6, 1959). Terry Labonte (Nov. 16, 1956) has only driven a handful of races in 2008. You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.
Salt Springs Triathlon Results There they were, all 59 of them, fifteen more than last year, hailing from Maine to Georgia, gathered on the misty shoreline of Lake Montrose, awaiting the start of the third annual Salt Springs Triathlon on Saturday, August 30. But, there was something else besides the number of registrants that was different this year in comparison to last. It was the feeling in the air generated by the number of first-time triathletes this year, a distinct feeling of nervous energy combined with a sense of relief that race day was finally here!
Father (Ken) and son (Kameron) Cooper of Ellicott City, MD competed in the Salt Springs Triathlon, their first together. “We promoted the Sprint race as an ideal choice for anyone who had not competed in a triathlon before,” said Walt Kostyk, the triathlon race director. “The sprint course design consists of shorter swim and bike courses than a typical sprint triathlon, while the bike and run courses do not contain unduly steep climbs. We had tri-experienced fathers racing alongside their sons who were doing their first triathlon, entire families doing their first race, husbands and wives racing together – all of this was great to see!” The sport of triathlon is a superior path to general fitness, but many feel that completing a triathlon is way beyond their capability. Well, 21 participants, almost half of the sprint field, many of them local friends and neighbors, not only finished their first triathlon, but clocked great times as well. This was particularly true in the case of Ashley Tierney of Kingsley, competing in her first triathlon, who took the Ladies Sprint Championship with a time of 1:08:44, while breaking the ladies sprint run record by 2 ½ minutes with a time of 21:39. Experienced triathletes from the local area also did very well. Irene Cobb from Nicholson, the defending Olympic course champion and course record holder in the Ladies Olympic race, finished with a time of 2:52:07, which earned her a runner-up award to Jennifer Welch of Newton, NJ, the Ladies Olympic Champion with a time of 2:45:00. Ms. Cobb’s Olympic course record of 2:41:37 and her bike and run records set in 2007 remain unbroken. The Ladies Sprint Runner-Up was Ashley Johnsen of Montrose, with a time of 1:10:37. Robert Davis of Montrose set a men’s sprint run record of 19:42. Roger Learn of Troy, PA set the men’s sprint swim record with a time of 9:30. Hilary Caws-Elwitt of Friendsville, the only veteran of all three Salt Springs Triathlons, completed the sprint course and set a personal best in the run segment. Additionally, each member of the three team entries (nine in all), were from Montrose or Springville. The remaining champions and runners up are as follows. Men’s Olympic Course Champion: Robert Gould, Drums, PA, 2:18:28. Men’s Olympic Course Runner-Up: Rob McLendon, New York, NY, 2:19:28. Men’s Sprint Course Champion: Tim Felegie, Nuremberg, PA, 1:02:01. Men’s Sprint Course Runner-Up: David Martin, Ulster, PA, 1:08:24. The high percentage of first-time triathletes in the 2008 race meant that already-rigorous safety measures needed to be tightened even further, because certain facets of triathlon racing considered routine by experienced triathletes could easily rattle first-timers. This is particularly true in the swim, so this year the sprint event was split into two heats to minimize the chaos factor in the water. This lengthened the duration of the swim segment, and unfortunately resulted in timing errors for six sprint racers when the swim timers did not make it to the finish line at Salt Springs in time to record the finishes of six sprint racers. “This was lack of planning on my part,” said Kostyk. “It meant that we couldn’t assign finish times or places to the fastest men in the first sprint wave. Next to safety, ensuring accurate race times is the greatest responsibility that a race director has. Unfortunately there are no do-overs (unless one counts 2009, when this will be corrected), so all we can do is refund the six racers’ registration fees.” On the positive side, 2008 saw many improvements that added up to enhance the overall experience for racers and spectators alike. This year, the race buoys on Lake Montrose were positioned with exacting Global Positioning System equipment and software. This enabled the swim course distances, and by extension each athlete’s swim pace, to be precisely determined. “Each year we intend to add improvements and new dimensions to the Salt Springs Triathlon experience,” said Kostyk. “This race will never get stale or old, nor do we want it to get so big that it loses its homespun feel. As it stands, this race is getting known for the athletes-only buffet, the unique medals and cherry-wood medal stands, and the opportunity to enjoy the Salt Springs Celebration after the race festivities are over. Next year we’re thinking of adding a School Wave to the sprint race, which would consist of racers from four local school districts racing in their own sprint wave, wearing school-colored swim caps and bike/run-wear. I would also like to see more team entries, and to improve the “goodies” in the race packet by securing more sponsors. Finally, we want to enhance the race’s website, starting with a photo gallery.” Many people contributed their time and energy to make this race happen. All are volunteers, enabling all race proceeds to accrue to the Friends of Salt Springs Park. Sandy Babuka served as Executive Director, and Dennis Wilson, the Transition Area Coordinator. Montrose, Silver Lake, and Snake Creek safety professionals managed traffic and supported the swim.
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