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Brooke Darling Is April’s Athlete Of The Month

Elk Lake Track And Field Teams Sweep Division 3, Jordan Titles
By Tom Robinson

SCRANTON - Elk Lake was competing with other Class AA schools for scoring purposes, but the Warriors also had their eyes on the rest of the teams running in the 56th annual Jordan Relays Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.

The Warriors won eight of the 12 events while sweeping the championships in Class AA and also beat all of the Class AAA schools in four of those wins.

“We wanted to come down here and make a statement,” Squier said. “We haven’t had a chance to run against the Division 1 and 2 teams.”

Elk Lake won the Lackawanna Track Conference Division 3 titles earlier in the week, finishing unbeaten in both the boys’ and girls’ standings.

Three days later, the Warriors won the Jordan Relays as their last preparation for the District 2 meets, which also qualify athletes for the state meet. The District 2 meet is also at Scranton Memorial Stadium, which was the host site of Tuesday’s Robert Spagna Lackawanna Conference Championship Meet.

“We came down here looking to get re-acclimated to this venue, the stadium and the crowds,” Squier said. “It was a good workout night.

“I like the timing of it at this point in the season. Now, we can just go and work out to prepare for districts.”

Squier planned to have his distance runners, who helped Elk Lake sweep the state cross country championships in the fall, concentrate on training this week rather than entering the league meet.

“This is the jumping off point to districts,” Squier said. “It’s the point in the season that everyone looks forward to.”

Will Bennett, Brad Moore, Sean Carney and Mike Bedell formed the distance medley that beat all opponents and the 1600 relay that won in Class AA.

Bennett and Carney were also part of the 3200 relay team with Bryan Grosvenor and Luke Jones.

Bedell and Grosvenor were part of the 1600 medley with Joe Woolcock and Thurn Thanormthin.

The 3200 relay and 1600 medley teams both beat all opponents.

Kirsten Hollister, Maria Trowbridge and Kelsey Hermick were each part of the 1600 medley relay team that beat all opponents and one of the other Elk Lake girls’ teams that finished first in Class AA.

Cindy Good was also on the 1600 medley team.

Cassie Van Etten ran on the three teams - distance medley, 3200 relay and 1600 relay - that won in Class AA only.

Elizabeth Trowbridge and Emily Williams ran on two of those teams while Abby Zdancewicz and Cassie Salsman were on one each.

Blue Ridge won the two Class AA boys’ events that Elk Lake did not win and Montrose won one of the other two Class AA girls’ events.

The combination of Jacob James, Sean Stanley, Zach Kruger and Dan Kempa formed the winning Blue Ridge teams in the 400 relay and 1200 medley.

Lanci Salsman, Alex Lewis, Allison Lewis and Myra Lattimore won the 1200 relay for Montrose.

Elk Lake was second to Montrose in the 1200 medley with the team of Cassie Salsman, Hollister, Good and Hermick.

Montrose was second to Elk Lake in the distance medley and 1600 relay.

Rina Nikolaidis, Allison Lewis, Rebecca Timm and Samantha Bennicci were on the distance medley team while Allison Lewis, Sam Abbott, Lattimore and Alex Lewis formed the 1600 relay.

Blue Ridge was second in the closing 1600 boys’ relay with a team of Chris Carlsen, Kempa, Kruger and James.

Elk Lake was fourth overall in the 1600 relay midway through the third leg when Bedell surged from fourth to first, producing the race win that also pulled out a successful defense of the team championship.

The Blue Ridge boys and Montrose girls each finished second in the final standings.

Elk Lake edged Blue Ridge, 45-43, in the boys’ standings. They were followed by: Mid Valley 31, Holy Cross 29, Dunmore 26, Riverside 20, Western Wayne 16, Lackawanna Trail 9, Montrose 7, Carbondale 4, Lakeland 4.

Elk Lake beat out Montrose, 48-40, in the girls’ standings. They were followed by: Lakeland 34, Holy Cross 33, Dunmore 24, Blue Ridge 19, Lackawanna Trail 12, Mid Valley 10, Carbondale 6, Riverside 5.

Blue Ridge was also unbeaten in the LTC Division 3 boys’ standings until falling to Elk Lake in the regular-season finale.

The final boys’ standings: Elk Lake 6-0, Blue Ridge 5-1, Mid Valley 4-2, Carbondale 3-3, Lackawanna Trail 2-4, Mountain View 1-5, Susquehanna 0-6.

The final girls’ standings: Elk Lake 6-0, Lackawanna Trail 5-1, Mid Valley 4-2, Carbondale 3-3, Mountain View 2-4, Blue Ridge 1-5, Susquehanna 0-6.

WEEK IN REVIEW

BINGHAMTON - The Binghamton Senators advanced to the Calder Cup semifinals while the American Hockey League regular-season champion Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had their playoff run cut short.

Binghamton defeated the Portland Pirates and the Charlotte Checkers defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 4-2, in best-of-seven series.

The Senators dominated the Pirates, 6-1, in Game Four May 3 and closed them out with a 3-0 shutout in Game Six Friday.

“We’re good defensively,” Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst said. “It’s a strength of ours that is much better than a lot of people give us credit for.”

The Senators showed their offensive firepower in Game Four.

Kaspars Daugavins had two goals and an assist, Ryan Potulny had two goals, league scoring champion Corey Locke had three assists and team captain Ryan Keller had a goal and an assist.

Potulny leads all Calder Cup playoff scorers with 10 goals and nine assists in 13 games.

Robin Lehner made 36 saves in the series-clinching shutout.

Binghamton improved to 6-1 on the road in the playoffs.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Charlotte combined for just 20 goals (3.33 per game) in six games.

Charlotte took the series lead with a 2-1 overtime win in Game Three May 3.

Mike Murphy then made 44 saves in a 1-0 shutout for the Checkers before Brad Thiessen answered with a 23-save shutout to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which was facing elimination, to its own 1-0 victory.

The Penguins returned home and had a 3-0 lead Saturday night before the Checkers scored four straight, including two by Chris Terry, in the final 13:26 for a 4-3 victory.

In high school sports, Elk Lake also had a big week on the diamond.

Brooke Darling threw an 11-strikeout, six-inning perfect game to lead the unbeaten softball team to a 10-0 victory over Forest City May 2.

Holden Lunger threw a no-hitter Thursday when the baseball team beat Montrose, 9-1.

Lunger struck out 17 and walked two.

Nick Dudock led the offense by going 4-for-4 with a triple and a home run.

COLLEGE CORNER

Elk Lake graduate Karin Mowry was named Colonial States Athletic Conference second-team, all-star for her play as a catcher at Baptist Bible College.

Mowry helped lead the Defenders into the conference playoffs. The sophomore from Elk Lake led the team in batting average (.434), hits (49) and RBI (39) in the regular season while throwing out 12 base runners.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Binghamton Senators open their best-of-seven Calder Cup semifinals series Thursday in Charlotte against the Checkers.

Game Two is also Friday in Charlotte.

The series moves to the Broome County Arena May 17, 18 and 21.

If necessary, the series will finish in Charlotte May 23 and 24.

Charlotte, in its first year in the league, knocked off two-time defending champion Hershey and regular-season champion Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Binghamton is in the playoffs for the first time in six years.

In high school tennis, the District 2 singles tournament is scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Thursday’s action at Kirby Park and Wilkes University begins at 9 a.m.

The tournament continues with semifinals and finals beginning Friday at 1 p.m. at a site to be determined.

In high school track, the District 2 Class AA meet is scheduled for Monday at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

TOM 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

Smith Gets Upset Win At Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. - After staying out on old tires, Regan Smith held off Carl Edwards to win Saturday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in a dramatic green-white-checkered-flag finish.

“I don't really know how to put it in words right now - it is so surreal,” said Smith,

“This is the Southern 500 - we’re not supposed to win this thing.”

After he took the checkered flag to win his first NASCAR race, an emotional Regan Smith, with his voice cracking, radioed his crew to tell them how proud and happy he was for the entire Furniture Row Racing organization.

Regan Smith celebrates his Southern 500 win at Darlington.

The victory in Sunday night's race was not only the first for Smith, but also the maiden win for the Denver-Colo.-based team.

The only other time Smith had a brush with victory was at the 2008 fall race in Talladega, Ala. when his apparent win as a driver for Dale Earnhardt Inc. was nullified by NASCAR for passing Tony Stewart below the out-of-bounds yellow line on the final lap.

But Saturday night at the 62-year-old historic Darlington Raceway, Smith was officially referred to as a NASCAR winner.

Brad Keselowski, also on old tires, finished third, with polesitter Kasey Kahne running fourth and Ryan Newman fifth. The remaining top-10 finishers were: Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, and Martin Truex.

Kevin Harvick, who was angry over an accident with fewer than four laps remaining in the race, attempted to punch Kyle Busch. But he wasn’t successful.

With both cars stopped nose-to-tail at the entrance of pit road, Harvick got out of his car and approached Busch’s car. Before he could throw a punch at Busch, Busch whisked off, hitting Harvick’s car, which veered by crewmen and into a wall on the entrance to pit road.

“He just ran into me twice,” Harvick said. “I was getting ready to knock him.”

Busch, who called Harvick’s racing “uncalled for,” didn’t seem to mind being called to the NASCAR hauler.

“Good to hash it out now; might as well,” Busch said.

Top-12 Chase contenders after 10 of 36: 1. Edwards-378, 2. Johnson-355, 3. Kyle Busch-339, 4. Earnhardt-331, 5. Harvick-328, 6. Newman-317, 7. Stewart-313, 8. Kurt Busch-306, 9. Bowyer-297, 10. Kenseth-295, 11. Allmendinger-287, 12. Biffle-286.

“ROWDY” KYLE GETS 48TH NATIONWIDE WIN

With a convincing victory in Friday night's race at Darlington Raceway, Kyle Busch scored his fifth Nationwide Series win of the season and the 48th of his career, leaving him one behind Mark Martin for the career victory lead in the series.

Busch’s No. 18 did not emerge unscathed as it made its way through the melee, having made contact with teammate Brian Scott from behind with nowhere else to go. And he made contact several times with the legendary red-striped Darlington wall with the right side of his Camry. Nonetheless, Busch found the race was coming to him as the closing laps approached.

“It seems to be my best style here at Darlington - beat it up as much as you can and see if you can win with it,” said Busch. “We didn’t mean to. There was that one run there that we all started getting tight and it kind of came out, unexpectedly, and I drove it out into (turn) three one time and it didn’t stick and went right into the fence.

“I love coming to Darlington and it’s a really tough, treacherous place for me. We kind of proved that because the right side doesn’t look so great, but we still were able to win today. It’s cool to be here in victory lane - my first time in the Nationwide Series here in Darlington - so this feels pretty good.”

Busch beat teammate Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 3.677 seconds. Elliott Sadler was third, followed by Nationwide points leader Justin Allgaier and Steve Wallace.

Pit strategy moved Sadler to the front of the field, as crew chief Jimmy Elledge elected to keep the No. 2 Chevrolet out on the track under caution for Michael Annett's backstretch crash on Lap 89.

Sadler passed Allgaier for the lead on Lap 108, but that didn't last. Busch, who had restarted ninth on Lap 104 - after an eight-car wreck caused the fifth caution of the race - worked his way through the field and passed Sadler for the top spot on Lap 124.

An eight-car wreck on Lap 95 collected the cars of Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne, both of whom had battled for the lead early in the race.

Clint Bowyer, Kenny Wallace, Reed Sorenson, Jason Leffler, and Ricky Stenhouse were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Top-10 leaders after 10 of 34: 1. Allgaier-346, 2. Sadler-341, 3. Leffler-331, 4. Sorenson-328, 5. Stenhouse-322, 6. Almirola-304, 7. K. Wallace-280, 8. Scott-272, 9. Bayne-260, 10. S. Wallace-254.

Commentary: Each week I get several e-mails or letters from fans expressing their views on the present state of NASCAR racing.

About the only thing I can share with them are my personal feelings, because they know as much about what NASCAR is up to as I do. NASCAR has never asked for my input before announcing a decision.

I asked two old timers, men that have been in the sport for many years, to share their thoughts.

The first one is Johnny Benson Sr. of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He started racing in 1956. His son raced in the Cup Series, won the 1995 Nationwide and 2008 Truck championships. There isn’t a nicer family in racing.

“Racing means many things to many people,” said Benson. “First of all, I was a family man that thought more of my family than all the glory I could win on the track by going full time.

“I used to race quite a bit with Gordon Johncock. At one of our meetings we were talking. I told him we had been through a lot in our time, and he nodded. We talked about how racing was in the past, and all the great moments we’d had. We both accepted the fact that we’d never see those days again. It was a unique experience, where people raced for the love of the sport, and not what they could get out of it.”

Fats Harvison of Laurel, Mississippi is considered the “Dean of Southern Sportscasters.” His career began in 1948, and at the age of 85, he can still be found in a broadcast booth, even after working 40-hours at a regular job.

“I think the racing fratenity is the best in the world,’ said Fats. “Money is killing the sport. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the amount of money a driver won wasn’t enough for gas money to and from the track.

“The fans used to love to come and watch the drivers. There wasn’t any souvenir trailers parked outside. The only way a track could get any extra money was at the concession stand.

“Peope came and enjoyed the races, without spending a fortune. There was nothing besides hot dogs, hamburgers, cokes and beer to spend your money on. Now, bless god, it costs more for a family to go to the races than it did an entire team 15-20 years ago.

“I had a nephew that took his wife and two boys to Talladega, and they had to pinch pennies for a long time afterward, because it cost him two weeks pay.

“The average working race fan can’t afford that. My crystal ball doesn’t always work, but I don’t see it improving any time soon. It’s just a sign of the times.”

Weekend Racing: It’s on to Dover’s Monster Mile for the Sprint and Nationwide teams. The Trucks are off until May 20.

Sat., May 14, Nationwide race, 11 of 34, Starting time: 2 p.m.; TV: ESPN.

Sun., May 15, Sprint Cup Fedex 400, 11 0f 36, Starting time: 1 p.m.; TV: Fox.

All times are Eastern.

Racing Trivia Question: How many Cup teams does Hendrick Motorsports have?

Last Week’s Question: Who is the driver of Kevin Harvick’s No. 2 Nationwide car? Answer. Elliott Sadler.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.

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Brooke Darling Is April’s Athlete Of The Month
By Tom Robinson

The rubber is two feet farther from the plate, but when Elk Lake's Brooke Darling releases a pitch, she’s more dominant than ever this season.

Turn things around and put a bat in Darling’s hands and the hitter appears to have the advantage that was expected from this year's rule change.

The four-year starter and Columbia University recruit kept defending champion Elk Lake unbeaten in Lackawanna League Division 3 softball play, continuing a brilliant four-year high school career and earning selection as the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for April.

Darling helped Elk Lake go 8-0 in the league and 9-0 overall during the month by posting an 0.14 ERA, which has since dropped to 0.11 on the season, and a .577 batting average.

Pitching from farther away was something Darling was accustomed to from high-level travel competition during the summer.

“I didn’t really have to adjust because we play it in the summer,” she said. “I think it helps.

“It gives my pitches more time to break.”

Darling gave up just one earned run in 50 innings during the month, pitching four shutouts and allowing one run in each of the other five games. She had four one-hitters, three two-hitters and a three-hitter while striking out 87 and walking just three.

Although Darling has approached those numbers while earning two second-team, all-state berths in a pitching career that includes a 29-strikeout, state tournament effort as a sophomore, the lofty batting numbers are a new addition to the Elk Lake attack.

“Because I wasn’t really developing any new pitches, I had time to work more on my hitting this year,” Darling said.

The results have been impressive. She was 15-for-26 at the plate with six doubles and a triple in April.

Elk Lake has won titles the last two seasons, taking the District 2 championship when Darling was a sophomore and the division championship last year when the Lady Warriors were unbeaten until falling to state champion Nanticoke in the district final. Two more wins to start May ran Elk Lake’s division winning streak to 27 games.

Darling was previously selected as the Athlete of the Month in June of 2009 and April of last season.

Brooke is the daughter of Terry and Lori Darling of Springville.

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