The Elk Lake girls swept Dunmore and Riverside Oct. 18 to complete an unbeaten, championship season in Lackawanna League cross country.
Blue Ridge finished as the top Class AA boys’ team in the league.
The Blue Ridge and Elk Lake boys swept Dunmore and Riverside in the final meet. The Montrose girls joined Elk Lake in producing a sweep.
Elk Lake wrapped up its third straight perfect Lackawanna season, running its league winning streak to 83, dating back to early in the 2008 season.
The final Lackawanna League boys’ standings: North Pocono 22-0, Scranton Prep 20-2, Blue Ridge 19-3, Abington Heights 19-3, Wallenpaupack 18-4, Holy Cross 17-5, Elk Lake 16-6, Dunmore 15-7, Mid Valley 14-8, Lakeland 13-9, Honesdale 13-9, Lackawanna Trail 11-11, Scranton 10-12, Valley View 9-13, West Scranton 8-14, Montrose 8-14, Delaware Valley 8-14, Riverside 5-17, Susquehanna 4-18, Western Wayne 3-19, Mountain View 0-22, Carbondale 0-22, Forest City 0-22.
The final girls’ standings: Elk Lake 22-0, Abington Heights 20-2, North Pocono 19-3, Wallenpaupack 19-3, Scranton Prep 18-4, Honesdale 17-5, Western Wayne 16-6, Holy Cross 16-6, Montrose 15-7, Delaware Valley 13-9, Mid Valley 12-10, Riverside 10-12, Dunmore 9-13, Valley View 8-14, Susquehanna 8-14, Scranton 7-15, West Scranton 3-19, Mountain View 2-20, Lakeland 2-20, Lackawanna Trail 1-21, Blue Ridge 0-22, Carbondale 0-22, Forest City 0-22.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Susquehanna and Montrose each suffered losses in Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 games.
Old Forge entered the weekend in a three-way tie for the division lead with Mid Valley and Susquehanna, but emerged alone in first place by scoring the final 31 points in a come-from-behind, 42-26 win at Mid Valley while the Sabers were falling, 18-0, at Lackawanna Trail.
Lackawanna Trail used its ground game to control the ball and scored in each of the first three quarters.
Eric Laytos led the way for the Lions and scored two touchdowns.
Liam Dougherty added a touchdown reception from Caleb Darling and added an interception in the first half to help Lackawanna Trail take a 12-0 lead.
The loss was the first since 2009 in Division 3 play for the defending champion Sabers, who had won all five games last season and the first two this season.
Susquehanna is 2-1 in the division and 5-3 overall.
Montrose remained winless with a 49-6 loss to Holy Cross.
The Crusaders opened leads of 20-0 after one quarter, 35-0 at halftime and 49-0 after three quarters.
Will Ely scored on a 4-yard run for the Meteors.
In boys’ soccer, Mountain View spoiled Abington Heights’ unbeaten record on the final day of the regular season with a 2-0 victory Oct. 19.
The Eagles still fell a half-game short of the Comets in the Division 1 standings.
Final standings were:
Division 1, Abington Heights 12-1-1, Mountain View 12-2, Scranton Prep 10-3-1, Delaware Valley 9-5, Wallenpaupack 5-8-1, Honesdale 4-10, Scranton 1-12-1, North Pocono 0-12-2.
Division 2, Holy Cross 12-0, Valley View 8-3-1, Montrose 6-5-1, Elk Lake 6-6, West Scranton 4-8, St. Gregory's 4-8, Western Wayne 1-11.
Division 3, Forest City 13-1, Lakeland 11-2-1, Carbondale 11-3, Mid Valley 7-6-1, Dunmore 5-9, Blue Ridge 3-10-1, Old Forge 3-11, Riverside 1-12-1.
In girls’ volleyball, Susquehanna and Mountain View finished tied for the Lackawanna Division 2 lead with 7-6 records.
Final standings were:
Division 1, Dunmore 13-0, Lackawanna Trail 11-2, Abington Heights 7-6, Forest City 5-8, Western Wayne 4-9.
Division 2, Susquehanna 7-6, Mountain View 7-6, Blue Ridge 6-7, Elk Lake 3-10, Montrose 2-11.
In girls’ soccer, Mountain View completed an undefeated regular season in which it outscored Division 2 opponents, 75-4.
Final standings: Mountain View 12-0, Forest City 10-2, Montrose 8-4, Holy Cross 6-6, Carbondale 3-9, Dunmore 2-10, Mid Valley 1-11.
COLLEGE CORNER
Cindy Good, a freshman from Elk Lake, is a member of the women’s tennis team at Kutztown University.
Good is 1-3 playing at number-five singles for a team that is also 1-3. She is part of the number-three doubles team that is 2-2 and the only spot in the lineup that has one more than once this season.
Good won at both spots Sept. 26 when Kutztown posted its only victory, 5-4, over Georgian Court University.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Montrose is at Lackawanna Trail Friday night and Mid Valley is at Susquehanna Saturday in LFC Division 3 games.
The Mid Valley-Susquehanna game is also very likely to have implications on the District 2 Class AA playoff race.
Our predictions in last week’s games were 8-2 (80.0 percent) for a season record of 74-22 (77.1 percent).
This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: LACKAWANNA TRAIL 51, Montrose 0; Mid Valley 20, SUSQUEHANNA 15; Old Forge 36, HOLY CROSS 15; HONESDALE 36, Western Wayne 33; LAKELAND 26, Riverside 14; DUNMORE 39, Carbondale 6; Scranton 24, WALLENPAUPACK 20; Abington Heights 29, NORTH POCONO 17; Valley View 26, WEST SCRANTON 8; SCRANTON PREP 20, Delaware Valley 18.
In cross country, Elk Lake, the defending state champion in both Class AA boys and girls, will host the District 2 Championships Wednesday.
The Class AAA boys’ race is scheduled for noon, followed by Class AA boys at 12:45, Class AAA girls at 1:30, Class AA girls at 2:15 and the B Division (JV) race at 3.
In field hockey, Elk Lake has qualified for the District 2 tournament. The final seeding still needed to be determined at presstime.
Elk Lake was either going to open at Nanticoke in a Tuesday preliminary round game or against Wyoming Seminary in a Thursday quarterfinal.
In boys’ soccer, Mountain View, Forest City and Elk Lake earned spots in the District 2 Class A tournament, which will begin with quarterfinal play Wednesday or Thursday and continue to the semifinals October 31 or November 1.
Elk Lake is at Mountain View in one of the quarterfinals.
In girls’ soccer, Mountain View, Forest City and Montrose are part of the field for the six-team District 2 Class A tournament that is expected to start this week.
In girls’ volleyball, District 2 play will get underway October 31.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
Bowyer Gets Chidress His 100th Win
TALLADEGA, Ala. - Clint Bowyer pushed teammate Jeff Burton for most of the 188 laps around Talladega on Sunday, but it was Bowyer that stood in victory lane.
The last restart was a green/white/checkered affair, with Burton, the leader, being pushed by Bowyer from the start/finish line. The two cars opened up a wide lead over the rest of the field. As they neared turn-4 on the final lap, Bowyer dropped low, got underneath Burton, and all Burton could do was watch as Bowyer took the checkered flag, and he had to settle for runner-up.
Clint Bowyer, Talladega Cup winner.
“I’ve got to thank my teammate Jeff Burton for helping me get this win,” said Bowyer. “We talked about it before the race and fortunately it worked out in my favor.”
It was Bowyer’s first Cup win of the season and the 100th for Richard Childress Racing.
“It’s hard to feel good about getting beat like that,” said Burton. “To come so close and not win isn’t good. I knew he was going to try something there at the end, and there was nothing I could do. It’s just racing.”
Dave Blaney finished third, the best Cup finish of his career.
“Brad Keselowski and I committed yesterday to helping each other,” said Blaney. “He did an awesome job of pushing me all afternoon.”
Keselowski finished fourth, followed by Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Michael Waltrip, and Martin Truex.
A six-car wreck on lap 104 did major damage to the Chase chances of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Harvick wound up 32nd, while Busch was 33rd.
Tony Stewart lost his partner, teammate Ryan Newman, when Newman spun off Stewart's bumper in the tri-oval. With heavy front-end damage, Newman lost a lap on pit road as his team repaired the car and two more laps on the race track before taking his car to the garage after 97 laps. He finished 38th.
After Newman went to the garage, Stewart teamed with Joey Logano, who was driving the same car that carried Stewart to his 2002 and 2005 Cup championships.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was never a threat to win and finished 25th.
Top-12 Chase leaders after 32 of 36: 1. Edwards-2237, 2. Kenseth-2223, 3. Keselowski-2219, 4. Stewart-2218, 5. Harvick-2211, 6. Kyle Busch-2197, 7. Johnson-2187, 8. Kurt Busch-2185, 9. Earnhardt-2163, 10. J. Gordon-2155, 11. Hamlin-2153, 12. Newman-2149
ARE COMPANIES AND TEAMS GOING OVERBOARD
The following press release was received last week from the No. 17 Roush Ford Cup team, driven by Matt Kenseth.
It’s about a new marketing program for one of their sponsors.
“Knowing that tattoos are one of the most iconic symbols of badass NASCAR fans, Matt and his Talladega sponsor Jeremiah Weed flavored malt beverages, will provide free Jeremiah Weed and Matt Kenseth-inspired tattoos to adult race fans on the Saturday of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
“A series of tattoos will be available for fans to choose from including Matt’s signature, a number 17, Jeremiah Weed logos and a Jeremiah Weed Lightning Lemonade flavored malt beverage can.
“For every tattoo inked, Jeremiah Weed will make a $100 donation to The Air Force Village, a charity committed to providing a safe, secure and dignified place for indigent surviving spouses of retired Air Force personnel.”
To get one of the permanent tattoos, fans must sign up at the Jeremiah Weed venue at the track, and they will receive free transportation to a local tattoo parlor.
Tattoos are certainly a matter of personal taste. Fans with tattoos and body piercings are becoming more and more evident at each race.
I know that the slick ads and marketing mumbo-jumbo presented to fans at the track and on television can be considered a form of exploitation. What we see and hear can make us want to drink more beer, eat more candy, and chase more women (or men, whichever the case may be), because racing is an emotional sport, and the products associated with it are designed to reach us on an emotional level.
If you go on some type of binge, when the moment is over, that’s it. With a body tattoo, you’re going to hang on to that experience for the rest of your life.
Somehow, I’m not able to square this marketing program with my core beliefs.
Do you think this type program belongs in NASCAR? Should teams and drivers promote this type behavior? Is this type P/R good for racing? Should a company ask individuals to have a logo tattooed on their body? Give us your thoughts. We’ll send you a photo of your favorite driver if we use your comments.
HORNADAY PUSHES MIKE WALLACE TO VICTORY
Two old NASCAR veterans, with a combined age total of 105 years, shared Talladega’s Victory Lane Saturday evening.
In his first Truck Series start since 2009, Mike Wallace won as teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. pushed him across the finish line.
“I’m very emotional right now, because a lot of people doubt you,” Wallace said. “They doubt your ability. An opportunity like this just proves, ‘Hey, I can get it done. Give me something good to drive, and I can prove I can do it.’
“I’m numb. My son’s at home, my daughters… I wish they were all here. It is my wife (Carla) and my anniversary this weekend. It’s a cool anniversary.”
The victory was the fifth overall for Wallace, who was substituting for Elliott Sadler, whose wife, Amanda, is expecting the couple’s second child. Wallace won in the truck series for the first time since 2000. The victory was his first in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series since he won a Nationwide race at Daytona in July 2004.
Hornaday ran second, followed by James Buescher, who made a dent in the series points lead of Austin Dillon. Ricky Carmichael, Jason White, Todd Bodine, Austin Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Kyle Busch, and Max Papis rounded out the top-10.
Johnny Sauter’s championship aspirations suffered a major setback on Lap 35. He and teammate Matt Crafton had dropped to the rear of the field to stay out of harm’s way early in the race, but the strategy backfired.
The two trucks crashed as they ran together in tandem, after Donnie Neuenberger’s Chevrolet blew a right-front tire in front of them. Sauter, who entered the race second in the standings and five points behind Dillon, lost two laps as his crew made repairs on pit road.
With a wave-around and a free pass, Sauter got back on the lead lap and finished 15th.
Top-10 leaders after 22 of 25: 1. Dillon-769, 2. Buescher-766, 3. Sauter-755, 4. Hornaday-753, 5. Peters-727, 6. Bodine-710, 7. Whitt-698, 8. Crafton-689, 9. Coulter-680, 10. Kligerman-659
Weekend Racing: The Cup and Truck teams are at Martinsville Speedway, the smallest and oldest track on the NASCAR circuit (.526-miles; first NASCAR race was in 1949). The Nationwide Series does not race again until Nov. 5.
Sat., Oct. 29, Camping World Trucks Kroger 200, race 23 of 25; Starting time: 2 p.m.; TV: Speed Channel.
Sun., Oct. 30, Sprint Cup Tum’s 500, race 33 of 36; Starting time: 1:30 p.m.; TV: ESPN.
All times are Eastern.
Racing Trivia Question: Who is the current crew chief on Tony Stewart’s No. 14?
Last Week’s Question: What year did Kurt Busch win the Cup championship? Answer. It was 2004.
You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.
