MOUNT COBB - Jordan Smith shot 4-over-par, 76 to finish tied for 12th in the 123-player field at the 48th annual Jackman Memorial Tournament, the traditional start of golf season for most Lackawanna League schools.
Smith, a senior, led Montrose to seventh-place finish with a four-player team score of 326.
Only Elk Lake and Blue Ridge sat out the 21-team tournament.
Dalton Coldwater shot an even-par, 72 and beat Old Forge’s Corey Palma in a one-hole playoff to both win the individual title and lead Abington Heights to the team title.
“This is the way you want to start the season off,” Abington Heights coach Mike Williams said. “There’s nothing better; a team championship and an individual championship.”
Eric Montella added a 74 while Alex Altier and Anthony Sebastianelli added 75s to give Abington Heights a 296, well ahead of Scranton Prep (306) and North Pocono (307).
Dunmore was fourth with 317. Riverside and Lakeland, the only Northern Division team to finish ahead of two-time defending champion Montrose, tied for fifth with 321s.
Lance Nealy shot an 81, Casey O’Reilly an 84, Mason Legg and Matt Sobiech 85s and Cameron Dean an 88.
Although the Meteors finished behind the Chiefs, the tournament performance appeared to establish Montrose as division favorites.
League play features match play at six spots.
While Lakeland had slight advantages, combining for nine strokes, at the top three positions, Montrose was a combined 63 shots better at the other three spots.
Mountain View tied for 17th with Lackawanna Trail, a playoff team a year ago, with scores of 390.
Sophomore Tyler Salak led the Eagles with an 85. Chad Wescott’s 92, Nick Sabuacak’s 103 and Leam Maloney’s 110 completed the team score.
Forest City shot 400, beating only Delaware Valley.
Seth Thomas (93), Vince Deluci (96), Sean McCormick (103) and Brian Nezbydoski (108) formed the Forest City team score.
With Coldwater, also a senior, taking the overall title, Palma received the award for low senior.
North Pocono's Ken Sames took second among seniors on a match of cards over Honesdale's Mike Kussoff after each shot 73. Sames, who finished third in the state last year, started with a triple bogey and went 2-under the rest of the way.
Scranton Prep's Joe Chaudhari shot 73 to take the low junior award. Altier was second on a match of cards over Lakeland's Mike Thomas.
Riverside's Nico Munley was low sophomore with a 74. Sebastianelli was second.
Low freshman went to Carbondale's Chris Cerminaro with an 80, eight strokes better than second-place Owen Walsh of Honesdale.
WEEK IN REVIEW
MOOSIC - Alex Rodriguez spent two games with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees while working his way back from knee surgery to join the New York Yankees for the pennant race.
Crowds of 9,328 and 10,408, about triple the typical Tuesday and Wednesday night size, showed up to cheer on - and occasionally boo - A-Rod.
“They were awesome,” Rodriguez said about the local crowds. “They were excited.
“I got a kick out of all the reactions for every little move.”
What those fans saw is Rodriguez look just fine at the plate and shaky in the field, enhancing speculation that he may be more of a designated hitter than third baseman as the New York Yankees go through their latest pennant race.
Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with two walks in two games against the Durham Bulls. After an RBI single in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game, he left for a pinch hitter, a move that got an immediate reaction of a few boos, which quickly turned into a standing ovation from most of the crowd as he jogged off the field.
COLLEGE DECISION
Forest City’s Cassie Erdmann has committed to King’s College where she is one of five incoming recruits for the women’s basketball team.
Erdmann scored more than 1,000 points for the Lady Foresters. The 5-foot-9 forward was a third-team, Class A all-state selection at the end of her sophomore season.
THE WEEK AHEAD
League play, which was scheduled to open Monday, continues in golf and girls’ tennis.
Montrose is at Lakeland Thursday in the second match of the year in a meeting of what may be the top two teams in Lackawanna League Northern Division game.
Forest City is at Blue Ridge in another match.
Thursday’s girls’ tennis schedule includes Western Wayne at Montrose and Dunmore at Elk Lake.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached at RobbyTR@aol.com.
Kyle Busch Wins At Michigan
BROOKLYN, Mich. - Kyle Busch caught and passed Jimmie Johnson on lap 187 of the 200-lap Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, then survived a green-white-checkered finish after his brother Kurt hit the outside wall with four laps remaining to bring out the race’s last caution.
“I wasn’t sure we would make it,” said Busch. “With about 10-to-go, the water climbed to 250-degrees. We had a good car. I just had to move around the track and figure things out so we could win.”
Kyle Busch and car owner Joe Gibbs
It was Busch’s fourth win of the season. The win allowed him to clinch a spot in the Chase with three races to go before the Chase begins.
Johnson was not able to regain the lead, once he lost it to Busch.
“We made a very valid effort,” said Johnson. “We had good pit stops, and I thought we had a shot at it on the last restart, but Kyle had a little stronger car today.”
Brad Keselowski, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, and Matt Kenseth were the remaining top-10 finishers.
Polesitter Greg Biffle was dominant early in the race. He led five times for 86 of the first 100 laps, but wound up 20th.
Carl Edwards had mechanical problems with his No. 99 Ford and lost 28 laps before his team could make repairs. He finished 36th and dropped to fourth in Chase standings.
Top-12 Chase contenders after 23 of 36: 1. Kyle Busch-799, 2. Johnson-789, 3. Harvick-760, 4. Edwards-760, 5. Kenseth-759, 6. J. Gordon-739, 7. Newman-725, 8. Kurt Busch-722, 9. Earnhardt 700, 10. Stewart-694, 11. Bowyer-670, 12. Keselowski-642
AMBROSE HANGS TOUGH AT MONTREAL
Marcos Ambrose came all the way from Michigan where he was practicing for Sunday’s Cup race, to win Saturday’s Nationwide race at Montreal, Canada.
“It has been a heck of a day that started with the Cup practice in Michigan at 10 this morning, a helicopter ride, a plane ride here, another helicopter ride, then a boat ride to finally jump in another racecar to come in and finally win this race,” said Ambrose, who had led the most laps in the first four races at Montreal but did not have a win to show for it.
The victory was Ambrose’s fourth in the Nationwide Series and second NASCAR road-course victory in six days - he won his first Sprint Cup Series race Monday at Watkins Glen.
Alex Tagliani, came in second, followed by Michael McDowell, Steve Wallace and Canadian J.R. Fitzpatrick. Rounding out the top-10 were Scott Speed, Carl Edwards, on whose plane Ambrose flew to Montreal, Justin Allgaier, Jason Leffler and Elliott Sadler.
Top-10 leaders after 20 of 34: 1. Stenhouse-834, 2. Sadler-826, 3. Sorenson-825, 4. Allgaier-772, 5. Almirola-770, 6. Leffler-739, 7. K. Wallace-714, 8. S. Wallace-676, 9. Scott-658, 10. Annett-649
HARVICK GETS SECOND CONSECUTIVE TRUCK WIN
Kevin Harvick claimed his second consecutive truck race in a green-white-checkered-flag finish at Michigan International Speedway on Friday.
The victory was owner/driver Harvick’s second in four starts this season and the 11th of his career.
Timothy Peters ran second, followed by Miguel Paludo, James Buescher and David Starr. Jason White, Ron Hornaday Jr., Brendan Gaughan, Colin Braun and Cole Whitt.
Top-10 leaders after 14 of 24: 1. Sauter-519, 2. Buescher-514, 3. Dillon-511, 4. Peters-507, 5. Whitt-487, 6. Crafton-475, 7. Hornaday-473, 8. Coulter-468, 9. Kligerman-460, 10. Bodine-448
GET READY FOR DANICA
The moment many reporters have been waiting for is about to arrive.
Danica Patrick will move to NASCAR full-time in 2012.
Her presence is regarded by the news media and NASCAR officials as big and welcome news.
But as far as a major racing storyline goes, even though she is a female, she is just another driver behind the wheel of a NASCAR racecar.
Larry McReynolds, former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Sr. and current television analyst for Fox Sports said, “I have to tell you, folks, I like what I’m hearing. I think Danica truly wants to be in NASCAR. And you know what? NASCAR needs Danica Patrick. The sport needs a female or minority driver that will be in good equipment - no matter whether it is in Nationwide, Trucks or in Sprint Cup.”
But what about her racing skills? Isn’t NASCAR about racing?
Even though she won a 2008 IndyCar race, she has not been an outstanding driver in that series.
For a time, Danica delivered new fans to IndyCar racing, but there was backlash from male drivers, and also from a large group of fans who were turned off by the level of adulation lavished upon someone who ran in the middle of the pack.
During two part-time years in the Nationwide Series, her performance has been lackluster. In 19 starts, there has been only one top-5.
Best driver or good driver?
No!
Danica Patrick is the only woman in NASCAR racing and that makes her an attention getter. She is an oddity. I remember going to the fair with my dad when I was a boy, and they had this tent with a bunch of odd animals and such. Everybody had flocked to it to see what was so different.
Sex sells.
She has already drawn criticism from some NASCAR fans for perceived preferential treatment, but the truth is she will become NASCAR’s most marketable driver.
Patrick will earn big bucks for riding along with NASCAR, because they are constantly seeking new promotional material. She will do just fine until another shining star comes along. Then it will be off to the races with another marketing blitz.
Weekend Racing: It’s on to Bristol for three nights of racing.
Wed., Aug. 24, Camping World O’Reilly 200, race 16 of 25, Starting time: 8 p.m.; TV: SPEED.
Fri., Aug. 26, Nationwide Food City 250, race 25 of 35, Starting time: 7:30 p.m.; TV: ESPN.
Sat., Aug. 27, Sprint Cup Irwin Tools, race 24 of 36, Starting time: 7:30 p.m.; TV: ABC.
All times are Eastern.
Racing Trivia Question: Do you think Kyle Busch is showing more maturity this season? Send us an e-mail with your comments. If we use them in next week’s column, we’ll send you a photo of your favorite driver.
Last Week’s Question: Who are the two Cup teammates of Joey Logano? Answer. They are Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.
