| |
| SPORTS |
|
Business Directory Now Online!!!
Please visit our kind sponsor |
|
||||||
|
HEADLINES: Forest City Girls, Montrose Boys Continue Second-Half Surges Forest City won the second game of the season with Montrose, making a third meeting between the last two Lackawanna League Division 3 girls’ basketball champions necessary before the next title can be decided. Katie Yale scored 18 points February 7 when the Lady Foresters went on the road to end Montrose’s run as the only unbeaten boys’ or girls’ basketball team in all of District 2. The Lady Foresters held off the Lady Meteors in the fourth quarter for a 42-39 victory and sole possession of the lead in the second-half Division 3 standings. Forest City followed up that win by shaking off a slow start to beat Mountain View, 51-30, and clinch at least a tie for the second-half division title. Kiersten Collins scored 13 points while Carly Erdmann and Cassie Erdmann added 12 each in the win. By the time the week ended, Montrose had suffered a second loss. The Lady Meteors bounced back from the first loss to handle Susquehanna, 50-20, despite playing without Dallas Ely, who rested injuries that had slowed her in the Forest City game. Scranton Prep, a Lackawanna Division 1 team, then beat Montrose, 47-33, in a non-league game Saturday. WEEK IN REVIEW Montrose continued its unbeaten run through the Lackawanna Division 3 second-half boys’ basketball schedule with two more wins last week to improve to 6-0 and clinch at least a tie for the title in the half. The Meteors have won their last five games by an average margin of 26.8 points after beating Forest City, 58-33, and Susquehanna, 84-44. After trailing at halftime, Montrose outscored Forest City, 37-10, in the second half. Bill Stranburg finished with a game-high 21 points. Joe Caruso led Forest City with 16 points. Montrose started faster against Susquehanna, taking a 25-10 lead after one quarter. Colby Major hit 12 of 14 foul shots while finishing with 25 points. Tom Lewis (14), Cole Wheaton (13) and Dan Simonds (10) also scored in double figures. Andrzej Tomczyk led Susquehanna with 13 points while Cole Mallery added 12. Blue Ridge remained in contention, improving to 5-1 in the second half by beating Mountain View, 53-40, and Lackawanna Trail, 47-44. The win over Lackawanna Trail knocked the first-half champion Lions out of the second-half race. Elsewhere in the Lackawanna League, the Scranton boys and West Scranton girls clinched all-season Division 1 titles. The Lady Invaders finished 14-0 for the only unbeaten league record among any of the 48 boys’ and girls’ teams. In professional hockey, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie Brad Thiessen returned from an injury that cost him an American Hockey League All-Star Classic starting assignment to keep the Penguins on top of the league with his best stretch of the season. Thiessen played five straight games, allowing just three goals while posting a pair of shutouts and helping the Penguins go 4-1. After their only loss of the week, 1-0 to the Adirondack Phantoms Saturday night, the Penguins went out and destroyed the defending champion Hershey Bears, 7-1, Sunday. Zach Sill had a short-handed goal just 1:15 into the game and finished as one of five Penguins with a goal and an assist. David Marshall, Ben Street and defensemen Andrew Hutchinson and Robert Bortuzzo were the others. COLLEGE CORNER Jared Conklin, a freshman indoor track and field performer from Blue Ridge, has been named Keystone College Male Athlete of the Month for January. During the month, Conklin moved to second in the NCAA Division III Mideast in the shot put with one of the top 10 performances in the nation by a freshman. Conklin opened the season by winning the shot put at the Susquehanna University Invitational with 46 feet while also taking fourth in the weight throw at 37-4 1/2. He then won the shot put title at the Muhlenberg College Invitational with a school record of 48-10. THE WEEK AHEAD Basketball playoffs begin this week, both to decide league titles and to determine district playoff participants. Forest City and Montrose will need to play for the Division 3 girls’ all-season championship title unless a Forest City loss and Montrose win in Monday’s league finales forced the teams to first meet for the Division 2 title. Montrose and Lackawanna Trail will square off for the Division 3 boys’ all-season championship, unless a Montrose loss in Tuesday’s league finale forced a second-half playoff with Blue Ridge. Elk Lake and Mountain View will be in an eight-way Lackawanna League boys’ playoff for two spots in the District 2 Class AA tournament. Blue Ridge will also be part of that playoff unless it pulled out second-half and all-season Division 3 champions. Montrose will also be part of the playoff if it does not win the division. Mountain View and Elk Lake will be part of a seven-way Lackawanna League girls’ playoff for two spots in the District 2 Class AA tournament. Montrose has already clinched a district tournament berth. The league Class AA girls’ playoffs are scheduled for Wednesday, Friday and Monday. The Class AA boys’ playoffs are scheduled for Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday. 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 Is Bud Shootout Winner By Gerald Hodges; The Racing Reporter DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kurt Busch was declared the winner of Saturday night’s Bud Shootout, the season-opening exhibition race, when Denny Hamlin was given the black flag for passing below the yellow out-of-bounds line as the cars approached the finish. “What an unbelievable experience, this two-car draft,” Busch said. “I had no idea what to expect going in. I was just going to take it one lap at a time and see how it played out. I wanted to learn as the race went on.”
Kurt Busch celebrates his Bud Shootout victory. Jamie McMurray came home second, narrowly edging Ryan Newman, who led the race off the final corner, only to have Hamlin slingshot past him in the dogleg. “It’s completely different plate racing than we’ve ever had,” McMurray said. “I hope it was exciting for the fans to watch. But from the driver's seat, it was actually really exciting to push two-by-two and do the side draft. It is awesome the runs you were able to get, so I hope the fans enjoyed it.” Newman was third, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle. “Well, I knew I was a sitting duck,” said Newman. “I wish it would’ve been just a two-car battle instead of a four-car battle, but that’s selfish of me. “I didn’t know what to expect other than the fact that I knew it was going to happen off of (turn) four. I didn’t know if he (Hamlin) was going to go high or low, and I didn’t know if I was going the right way, pointed in the right direction that the No. 22 (Busch) and the No. 1 (McMurray) were going to go. It’s a unique race and I’m glad we got back to the finish line in the way we did.” Hamlin, who was inches ahead at the stripe, was demoted to 12th for the infraction and scored as the last car on the lead lap. Hamlin said he chose to dip below the yellow line, rather than knock Newman into the fence. “That yellow line is there to protect us and the fans in the stands, and I just chose to take the safer route,” Hamlin said. “A win in the Shootout is not worth sending the 39 (Newman) through the grandstands. For me, as fast as we’re running, if I got into his left rear, that car will go airborne.” Polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a multicar crash on the backstretch on Lap 28. Contact from Regan Smith’s No. 78 Chevrolet turned Carl Edwards’ No. 99 Ford into Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevy and spun it into the outside wall. The chain-reaction crash also collected Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Conway. NASCAR FANS ARE GETTING OLDER. Those of us who have followed NASCAR for years don’t have to be told that we are getting older. An article on www.scenedaily.com said the average fan age is rising, but the real reason behind the jump in the age increase isn’t that we are getting older, the younger generation is leaving the sport. Last year, Fox’s ratings for Cup races dropped 29 percent among males 18-34. The tracks have seen it, too, in terms of attendance. “The biggest problem facing NASCAR is that the young males have left the sport,” Fox Sports Chairman David Hill said. Advertisers want the 18-34 male demographic because they either have or will have money to spend and represent potential customers for a long time. The tracks want them for the same reason - a young fan today may turn into an adult fan tomorrow. “The younger you get people engaged, that's when they're flexible, and by the time they're older, they're more entrenched in their ways,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage says. “If we get them to become a fan now, they're going to be a fan 25 years down the road. “NASCAR also needs to market its younger drivers to young fans. Drivers such as 25-year-old Kyle Busch, who is sponsored by M&M’s, would be perfect to market to kids. Joey Logano, with his Nationwide sponsor GameStop, already does sponsor appearances at stores. As other young drivers like Trevor Bayne work their way up, encourage them to engage with younger fans.” Here’s the rub. The vast majority of older fans don’t identify with either of these drivers. First, Kyle Busch is a smart-aleck, and most older folks resent that. Joey Logano is strictly a Corporate America driver. He knows the right answer before he’s asked the question. And Trevor Bayne. What has he achieved in order to merit the attention of us older folks? Texas Motor Speedway has kicked off a campaign that features sexy young women and fast cars. The Texas campaign borders on the limits of sex and taste, in trying to expand and broaden the fan base. Will more young adults be attracted to NASCAR because of the marketing campaigns featuring hot women? Even Gossage wonders why the sport has not resonated with the young males. “Did we lose them to action sports?” Gossage said. “Well, this is the ultimate extreme sport. You can bust your tail on a half-pipe but you're still not hitting a wall at 200 miles an hour. … Somewhere along the line, we kind of lost touch with the younger crowd. I don't know why.” I personally resent NASCAR or any track that tries to turn their back on the generation that brought them to where they are. They should dance with the fans that brought them to the dance, not try to change the dancing-style, so we no longer enjoy the party. DALE JR ON POLE FOR DAYTONA 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start on the pole in Sunday’s Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon earned the outside pole position, during this past Sunday’s qualifying trials. The remainder of the 43-car starting field will be determined by two Gatorade Duel races on Thursday. NASCAR plans to switch from old style carburetors fuel injection in 2012. They announced a partnership last week with two companies to develop and integrate fuel injection systems into the Sprint Cup Series, beginning with the 2012 season. Freescale Semiconductor will provide the processors for McLaren Engine System control units that will be used to manage the fuel and ignition systems in the engines for all Cup Series cars, replacing carburetors which have been used in the series since its inception in 1949. NASCAR and its top series teams will test the technology during the 2011 season with the anticipation of the systems being rolled out for the 2012 season. Weekend Racing: Everyone is focused on the Daytona International Speedway this week for NASCAR’s first and biggest race of the season on Sunday. But there is plenty of other racing during the traditonal period known as Speedweek. Thurs., Feb. 17: Gatorade Duels at Daytona. These are two 125-lap qualifying races. The first begins at 2 p.m., and the second starts at approximately 4 p.m. Both will be televised on Speed Channel. Fri. Feb. 18, Camping World Truck race, 1 of 25, Starting time: 7:30 p.m.; TV: Speed. Sat., Feb. 19, Nationwide series race, 1 of 34, Starting time: 1:15 p.m.; TV: ESPN2. Sun., Feb. 20, Sprint Cup Daytona 500, race 1 of 36, Starting time: 2 p.m. TV: Fox. All times are Eastern. Racing Trivia Question: Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500. How many times did he win the series driving championship? Last Week’s Question: Who was the oldest driver to win the Daytona 500? Answer. Bobby Allison in 1988. He was 50 years, 2 months, 11 days. The youngest was Jeff Gordon in 1995. He was 23 years, 10 months, 27 days. You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodges@race500.com.
EL Cross Country Teams Honored By State House HARRISBURG - To celebrate and honor a unique accomplishment in Susquehanna County and statewide athletics, Reps. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna) and Sandra Major (R-Susquehanna/Wayne/Wyoming) welcomed members of the Elk Lake High School boys and girls cross country teams to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Elk Lake cross country state champions Mike Bedell and Maria Trowbridge represented their teams during recognition by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. They are pictured with Rep. Sandra Major (R-Susquehanna/Wayne/Wyoming), Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna) and Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R-Jefferson/Armstrong/Indiana). Both teams captured their respective PIAA Class AA Cross Country State Championships last fall. This is the second time in the history of the state meet that a school has swept the boys and girls titles. “We are very proud of the accomplishments of these fine student-athletes and their coaches,” Pickett said. “Winning a state championship takes a tremendous level of hard work and talent, and both teams proved they were worthy of taking home two trophies. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the team, coaches, and their families.” “To win any title in high school sports is quite an accomplishment, but to win more than one in the same sport on the same day is downright amazing,” Major said. “The hard work and dedication demonstrated by these athletes and coaches are certainly impressive.” The Lady Warriors kicked off Elk Lake’s championship day by placing five runners in the top 54 to total 77 points, finishing first ahead of district rival Holy Redeemer, which had 106 points. Maria Trowbridge finished sixth, covering the 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes, 35 seconds. Elizabeth Trowbridge finished 11th, just 13 seconds later. In addition to sisters Maria and Elizabeth, the team consists of Lainey Bedell, Kellie Grosvenor , Kirsten Hollister, Cassandra Salsman, Emily Williams, and Abigail Zdancewicz. Their coaches are Laura Squier and Marc Weisgold. The Lady Warriors scored impressive times in the morning, and that proved to be the momentum the boys needed to capture their state title. The team’s first four runners placed in the top 37, scoring 102 points to best rival Holy Redeemer, which had 116 points. Three of the Warriors earned state medals as well: Mike Bedell was seventh, finishing in 16 minutes and 49 seconds. Luke Jones was 17th, finishing in 16 minutes and 59 seconds. Sean Carney was 24th, finishing in 17 minutes and 8 seconds. Rounding out the Warriors championship team are William Bennett, Bryant Dietrick, Bryan Grosvenor, William Guenter, Jeffrey Horvath, Matthew Horvath and Jason Vermeulen. Their coach is Wiliam Squier. The Squier-Weisgold coaching team was selected by their peers as the best cross country coaches in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania this year. This selection is made across all sizes and divisions of schools. During recognition on the floor of the House, the teams were presented with House citations and had their photo taken with Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R-Jefferson/Armstrong/Indiana).
News
|
Living
|
Sports
|
Schools
|
Churches
|
Ads
|
Events
Military | Columns | Ed/Op | Obits | Archive | Subscribe © |
