| |
| SPORTS |
|
Business Directory Now Online!!!
Please visit our kind sponsor |
|
||||||
|
HEADLINES: County Girls Make Usual Impact At District 2 Class AA Track Meet SCRANTON - The biggest threat to the District 2 Class AA Track and Field Championships record book turned out to be the athletes that set the records in the first place. Only three records fell at the May 17 meet, each to those who had set them in the first place and each to girls from Susquehanna County who continued their tradition of making a significant impact on the event. Although the County accounts for less than a third of the meet’s entries, it produced more than half the girls’ champions. Julia Koloski and her Montrose teammates joined Blue Ridge’s Kaitchen Dearborn in producing the record performances. Koloski repeated her four gold medals from last year, breaking her meet record in the triple jump in the process along with joining her 400 relay teammates to break that record. “By far, that’s my favorite event of the day,” Koloski said of the relay where she joined Jacey Blom, Alexandra Lewis and Angela Short to blow away the field in 49.62 seconds. “We have a good little team and we always have fun.” The Lady Meteors even improved on the 49.73 finish they used last year to place third in the state. Koloski set the new triple jump record at 38-8 1/2 and also produced her third district gold medals in the 100 and long jump. She won those events as a freshman before missing the meet as a sophomore because of injury. A week earlier, Koloski had to settle for second place in two individual events and the relay (by one-hundredth of a second) at the Lackawanna Track Conference’s Spagna Championships, each behind standout performances. She won a rematch with Western Wayne’s Courtney Kromko in the long jump. “Being not completely satisfied may have made me more hungry,” Koloski said. Koloski ran the 100 in 12.38 seconds, one-hundredth better than her third-place state effort last year. Dearborn extended her javelin record another five feet to 147-8. Koloski, Dearborn, Blue Ridge’s Allison Hall and Elk Lake’s Caitie Good were the meet’s multiple-event stars. Dearborn added a sixth-place finish in the 100 hurdles and was part of both the third-place 1600 relay team and the eighth-place 400 relay team. The 1600 relay advanced to the state meet by meeting the qualifying standard. Hall repeated as champion of the 800 and made the state meet in two other events on the qualifying standard with third-place finishes in the 400 and as the anchor of the 1600 relay. She was also part of the eighth-place 400 relay. Hall is looking forward for a busy state meet at Shippensburg Friday and Saturday. “I want to enjoy the competition,” she said. “I feel comfortable doing it.” Good and Elk Lake teammate Maria Trowbridge are taking a different approach. After Good won the 200 and ran a leg of the winning 1600 relay team, Elk Lake coach Will Squier scratched her from the state 100 where she qualified while finishing second behind Koloski. Trowbridge was one of three girls to win at least two individual events. She won the 3200 in 11:49.15 and the 1600 in 5:24:22. She was scratched from the 1600 for the state meet. Some relay winners also scored points elsewhere. Cassie Vanetten, part of Elk Lake’s 1600 relay, qualified for the state 400 with a second-place finish in 58.42. Kelsie Hermick, another member of that team along with Kirsten Hollister, was seventh in the 400. Blom added an eighth place in the 100. Others to score in more than one event included Blue Ridge’s Kailey Ragard and Katie Drake, Mountain View’s Kelly Purdy and Montrose’s Carmen Vanness and Sarah Kimsey. Ragard was on the third-place 1600 relay and eighth-place 400 relay along with finishing sixth in the 200. Drake was fourth in the pole vault and also ran on the 400 relay. Purdy was sixth in both the 1600 and 3200. Vanness placed fourth in the shot put and fifth in the discus. Kimsey was third in the high jump and fifth in the triple jump. Kimsey and teammate Christy DiMichele each qualified for the state meet in events where they won district titles in the past. Kimsey was unable to repeat against three-time champion Ashlee Ward of Meyers but met the standard of 5-2 while finishing third. DiMichele, the 2008 district champion, cleared 10-9 in the pole vault while finishing second. Other individual place winners were: Blue Ridge’s Vikki Hartt, third in the 3200; Mountain View’s Olivia Zick, third in the discus; and Montrose’s Alyssa Allis, seventh in the pole vault. Megan Hinkley was the other member of Blue Ridge’s third-place 1600 relay team. Hannah Owens, Caitlain Morahan, Anna Zdancewicz and Lainey Bedell formed Elk Lake’s fourth-place 3200 relay team. All those individuals added up to a successful day for the teams. Montrose had the lead until Western Wayne took second in the closing 1600 relay to beat out the Lady Meteors for the team title, 78-72. Elk Lake was third for third out of 18 teams with 63 points. Blue Ridge was seventh with 50 points. Mountain View was 15th with 12. Susquehanna did not score. In the boys’ meet, Blue Ridge was third out of 20 teams with 64 points. Valley View beat out Holy Redeemer for the title, 120-92. Elk Lake was fifth with 50 points, Susquehanna was 15th with 10 points. Montrose and Mountain View did not score. Elk Lake’s Sean Carney and Mike Bedell each won two gold medals, one as individuals and one as part of the 3200 relay team that put up a time of 7:58.72 to miss a 28-year-old record by 28-hundredths of a second. Carney also won the 400 in 50.23 seconds and was part of the third-place 1600 relay team. Bedell won the 1600 in 4:28.95 and ran on the same two relay teams as Carney. Tyler Williams, who also ran on the 1600 relay team, and Bryan Grosvenor complete the winning 3200 relay team. Blue Ridge’s Zach Kruger and Jared Conklin and Susquehanna’s Nick Vales also won gold medals. Kruger won the 300 hurdles in 40.55 seconds, took second in the 110 high hurdles and was part of relay teams that finished fourth in the 400 and sixth in the 1600. Conklin won the discus with a throw of 155-0 and also qualified for the state meet in the shot put with a second-place finish at 51-3. Vales made history as Susquehanna’s first boys’ champion since moving to District 2. He cleared 13 feet, winning by a foot, in the pole vault. Elk Lake’s Josh Ralston also qualified for the state meet with a throw of 150-6 to finish second in the discus. Dan Kempa, Alex Stanton and Eric Onyon joined Kruger and Conklin in scoring in multiple events to help Blue Ridge’s strong team performance. Kempa was fourth in the javelin, seventh in the high jump and was part of the 400 and 1600 relays. Stanton was third in the pole vault and part of the sixth-place 1600 relay. Onyon was fourth in the discus and seventh in the shot put. Elk Lake had three other individual place winners. Brad Moore was fifth in the 400 while Luke Jones was eighth in the 3200 and Mark Bush was eighth in the shot put. Derek Stang also ran on Elk Lake’s third-place 1600 relay team. Sean Stanley and Dan Welch were the other members of Blue Ridge’s fourth-place 400 relay. Mike Schell was part of Blue Ridge’s sixth-place 1600 relay. WEEK IN REVIEW Dylan Thomas singled, doubled and drove in three runs Wednesday as Mountain View opened a five-run lead then held on for a 7-6 victory over Western Wayne to clinch the Lackawanna League Division 3 baseball title. Peter Hartman’s two-run homer helped the Eagles open a 6-1 lead after two innings. The lead was 7-2 after five innings before the Wildcats rallied. Mountain View finished the division schedule with a 12-2 record. In softball, Elk Lake completed a perfect season in Division 3 by improving to 14-0. In boys’ volleyball, the final Lackawanna League standings were: Western Wayne 12-0, Mountain View 10-2, Forest City 6-6, Lackawanna Trail 5-7, Blue Ridge 4-8, Susquehanna 4-8 and Elk Lake 1-11. COLLEGE CORNER The county’s four National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I softball players all had a part in the first weekend of the national tournament. Jocelyn Dearborn, a junior third baseman from Blue Ridge, led Fordham to the first two tournament wins in school history before it lost, 2-0, in the final of the College Park Regional in Maryland. Mountain View graduate Whitney Williams, a shortstop, closed out her career on her home field at the University of Massachusetts with a pair of losses. Erin Keene, a sophomore second baseman from Blue Ridge, started for Cornell when it lost twice in the Tucson Regional. Dayna Keene, Erin’s younger sister and a freshman infielder, was also on the Cornell roster, but did not make an appearance in the tournament. Dearborn played third base and led off for Fordham in all four games. She was 1-for-3 with a home run in a 2-1 win over host Maryland, sending a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left field in the fourth inning to force a 1-1 tie. In the first of two losses to Oklahoma, Dearborn was 1-for-3 in 1-0 defeat in the winners’ bracket final. Dearborn then was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, a run and an RBI in a 5-2 win during the rematch with Maryland. Oklahoma held Fordham to two hits in the final. Dearborn was 0-for-3 with a walk. Williams had one of her team’s three hits in a 3-1 loss to Long Island University then went 2-for-4 with an RBI in a 10-4 loss to Boston University. Williams singled in the last run of a three-run third inning that allowed UMass to close within, 4-3, against BU. Erin Keene was held hitless for Cornell, which lost, 9-0, in five innings to Arizona before being eliminated with a 7-0 loss to Oklahoma State. THE WEEK AHEAD Elk Lake is the top seed in the District 2 Class AA softball tournament that was scheduled to open Monday. The Lady Warriors had a first-round bye before facing the Lakeland-Riverside winner Friday. Montrose was seeded sixth. If the Lady Meteors beat Dunmore Monday, they will face the Northwest-GAR winner Wednesday. The Class A tournament opens Wednesday with a quarterfinal game featuring fifth-seeded Mountain View at fourth-seeded Freeland MMI. The rest of the quarterfinal round is set for Thursday. Seventh-seeded Forest City is at second-seeded Blue Ridge and sixth-seeded Susquehanna is at third-seeded Lackawanna Trail Thursday. In baseball, the Class AA tournament opens Wednesday and continues with quarterfinal round play Friday. Blue Ridge is the fourth seed and is home with Carbondale. Sixth-seeded Elk Lake is home with Holy Redeemer. Montrose is the 12th seed and is at Meyers. The Class A tournament, which is scheduled to open Tuesday, moves into the semifinals Thursday. Forest City and second-seeded Susquehanna were playing each other Tuesday with the winner scheduled to face the Lackawanna Trail-MMI winner Thursday. In boys’ volleyball, the District 2 tournament concludes Thursday. The tournament was scheduled to have quarterfinals Monday and semifinals Tuesday. Mountain View entered the tournament as the fourth seed and Forest City qualified as the seventh seed. In track and field, the state meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University. Montrose’s Koloski and DiMichele will be the first to compete for medals in the long jump and pole vault that start Friday morning at 9 a.m. Montrose’s Kimsey will compete in the high jump while Susquehanna’s Vales is in the pole vault and Blue Ridge’s Conklin is in the shot put that are held Friday afternoon, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Koloski is in the triple jump, Blue Ridge’s Dearborn is in javelin and Blue Ridge’s Conklin and Elk Lake’s Ralston are in the discus Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. Koloski appears to be one of the state favorites in the triple jump. Good in the 200 and Koloski in the 100 are scheduled for Friday preliminaries, Saturday morning semifinals and Saturday afternoon finals. All other track events have Friday qualifying and Saturday finals. TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
NASCAR Racing KURT BUSCH TAKES ALL-STAR RACE CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kurt Busch survived two late cautions and held off Martin Truex Jr. to win the Sprint All-Star Race for the first time. “Way to go boys!” Busch shouted on the radio after taking the checkered flag. “A million cool one’s - whoo! “Man, this car was a rocket ship at the end. This is huge. This is one of the big marquee events. We were able to dodge the wrecks and, ultimately, we had the fastest car when it counted.”
Kurt Busch takes a reverse victory lap. Most of the action in the Saturday night extravaganza was packed into the final 10-lap segment, in which only green flag laps counted toward the total. Joey Logano ran third, followed by Hamlin and Tony Stewart. Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Bobby Labonte completed the top 10 in the non-points race that paid $1,028,309 to the winner. Kurt Busch was well on his way to victory after completing Lap 98 of 100, but Kyle Busch bounced off the wall at the end of the tri-oval and clipped Kasey Kahne's Ford to cause the fifth caution of the night. On the restart with two laps to go, Kurt Busch picked the outside lane and took the green flag with Jimmie Johnson beside him, followed by Logano and Hamlin. Busch pulled away again, but before the cars got back to the finish line, Johnson spun across the infield grass to put the race under yellow for the sixth time. Busch then put the race away in the final two-lap dash. Hamlin and Kyle Busch were battling on Lap 93, with Busch getting a strong run to the outside of the No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin moved up the track in front of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, and Busch hit the outside wall after running out of room. After a blown tire sent Kyle Busch into the wall and then into Kahne, he drove to the garage, telling his crew on the radio that they needed to keep him away from Hamlin. After the race, Hamlin, Busch and team owner Joe Gibbs were closeted in the No. 11 transporter, according to a Twitter post from SceneDaily.com's Bob Pockrass. After a 10-minute break between the third and final segments - during which crews could work on the cars but were not allowed to change tires - Johnson led the field back on the track and then to the pits for mandatory four-tire pit stops. Hamlin was first off pit road, followed by Kyle Busch and Johnson. Mark Martin, Logano and Jamie McMurray followed in the next three positions when the field took the green flag for the final 10-lap shootout. A wreck in the first corner, however, damaged eight cars and eliminated Martin, McMurray, David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards. KYLE BUSCH HOLDS OFF BODINE IN CHARLOTTE TRUCK RACE Polesitter Kyle Busch survived a scrape with the wall and held off Todd Bodine in a two-lap dash to the finish to win Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch, who owns the No. 18 Toyota he drove to victory, crossed the finish line .228 seconds ahead of Bodine to give Toyota its first truck series victory at the 1.5-mile racetrack. Ron Hornaday Jr. was third, followed by James Buescher and Elliott Sadler. The victory was Busch's second in five starts this season, his third at Charlotte and the 18th of his career. Busch has won three straight races in NASCAR's top three touring series, having triumphed in last weekend's Nationwide and Sprint Cup events at Dover. Top-10 points leaders after 7 of 25: 1. Bodine-1068, 2. Almirola-1066, 3. Peters-982, 4. Hornaday-965, 5. Crafton-902, 6. Sauter-888, 7. Carmichael-886, 8. Skinner-884, 9. White-875, 10. Starr-875 BLOOD CLOTS SIDELINE VICKERS Brian Vickers will miss the remainder of the NASCAR season because of blood clots in his lungs and left leg. Vickers was hospitalized two nights last week after feeling chest pains during a visit to Washington, D.C. Testing revealed the clots, and Vickers missed last weekend's race at Dover. Vickers returned to North Carolina following his release from the hospital Friday night, but said a recurrence of chest pains sent him back to the hospital the next day. He spent another two nights hospitalized, and the decision to sit out the remainder of the season to receive treatment was made shortly after. The 26-year-old Vickers is being treated with blood thinners, and his physician could not clear him to race because of the dangers of the driver being injured in a crash. Dr. Victor Tapson of Duke University, along with two other doctors said Vickers' symptoms are a sign of deep vein thrombosis with a pulmonary embolism. Tapson, who is not treating Vickers, described the driver's condition as life-threatening and said the length of treatment ranges from three to six months to possibly a lifetime. He added that Vickers was lucky somebody sent him to the hospital so quickly. “Most people die before they're diagnosed,” Tapson said. Tapson said he was surprised more drivers don't develop clots because immobility is one of the contributing factors in clotting and drivers are confined to a tight space and have little motion for long periods of time. He said the concern for Vickers is that if taken off blood thinners a clot could develop, move to the brain and be fatal. He said if left on blood thinners, any sort of accident on the track that causes trauma could result in the driver bleeding to death. “Usually when we treat this we treat it with blood thinners,” Tapson continued. “Usually people on blood thinners, if it's what we call a reversible risk factor, you treat them for three months, sometimes six months. If you decide the patient has a continual list of blood clots then sometimes they take medicine for a lifetime. A lot may depend on what is his apparent risk. If they can't come up with any reason why he has a blood clot other than being a race car driver, then the option may be don't race cars anymore. There has also been a study by Australian doctors that suggested drinking the energy drink Red Bull, which sponsors the No. 83 Toyota, could also contribute to blood clots.” He was replaced by Casey Mears. Weekend Racing: The Nationwide and Cup teams are at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Cup teams will run 600 miles, their longest race of the season. This week’s Cup race will be the last of the season for Fox Sports. Beginning with the June 6 weekend, races will be broadcast either on TNT, ESPN, or ABC. Sat., May 29, Nationwide Series race, 12 of 35; Starting time: 2 p.m. ET; TV: ABC. Sun, May 30, Coca-Cola 600, race 13 of 36; Starting time: 6 p.m. ET; TV: Fox. Racing Trivia Question: What year did Mark Martin win his first Cup race? Last Week’s Question: What is Bobby Labonte’s car number in Cup series? He drives the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet. The team is having sponsorship problems, and may have to run some “start and park” races. You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.
Students Complete Pistol Training Course Nearly twenty-five first time students filled the classroom April 21 and 22 in a two day, eight hour NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Skills course at the New Milford Rifle and Pistol. NRA certified instructor Al Robbins said the interest in pistol training and responsible, safe use of handguns is stronger than ever before. He offers instructions at his home range, and is also a .22 rifle firearm instructor at Camp Brule’, a 4-H and Boy Scout camp. The Basic Pistol Training course meets the standards of the National Rifle Association of America. Its goals are to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially concerning the Second Amendment, the individual citizen’s right to keep and bear arms. The classroom instruction emphasized safety and included identifying pistol components, various calibers of single and double action revolvers, semi-automatic firearms, proper ammunition, and rules for cleaning and storing a firearm. The skills a shooter learned were bench rest positions, proper stance, grip, aim, breathing, and trigger control of a pistol. Upon completing fundamentals, students had a chance to practice shooting a few rounds under direct supervision of the instructor. One student remarked that the instruction received was the best they ever attended and it was extremely comprehensive and helpful information. Individuals must be 18 years of age or older to obtain a concealed carry or a sportsman’s firearm pistol permit, which is issued at the Susquehanna County Sheriff’s office. There are limits in states in which you may transport a firearm. The Rifle Club shooting facility is open to the public. With the club’s newly heated refurbished indoor shooting range, volunteer members of the sportsmen’s club are dedicated to helping citizens learn how to defend themselves, develop their shooting skills, and educate groups or individuals in the safe and proper methods of shooting and handling a firearm. In addition to pistol, the club has a .22-rimfire rifle and sporting clays league. For more information on club activities, visit RifleAndPistol.Weebly.com.
News
|
Living
|
Sports
|
Schools
|
Churches
|
Ads
|
Events
Military | Columns | Ed/Op | Obits | Archive | Subscribe © |
