SCRANTON – Allison Lewis and Myra Lattimore defended individual titles then combined to repeat as relay champions while helping Montrose to another strong performance in the District 2 Class AA Track and Field Championships May 13 at Memorial Stadium.
Montrose finished second for the second straight year, posting 84 points to finish behind Lakeland, which scored 118 points.
The Elk Lake girls also came up with a relay champion, in the 3200, and an individual gold medalist.
Taylor Watkins won the javelin title while her brother, Hunter Watkins, won the same event in the boys’ meet.
Blue Ridge’s Brett Hepler won the discus and finished second behind Hunter Watkins in the javelin for the top individual performance among Susquehanna County boys.
Lewis won her second straight title in the 400, finishing in 59.17 seconds.
Lattimore led qualifying in the 200, then repeated as champion in 26.35.
Emma Griffiths and Rebecca Timm joined Lewis and Lattimore on the 1600 relay team that won in 4:05.40. Lewis, Lattimore, Timm and Meghan Gilhool teamed to take second in the 400 relay.
Timm was also one of two county girls to make it to the state meet without winning a district title by meeting one of the predetermined qualifying standards. All district champions advance to the state meet.
Timm and Blue Ridge’s Lindsey Rupakus made it in the 300-meter hurdles where they finished behind a district record performance by Lakeland junior Cassidy Jenkins, who has already won three titles.
Timm finished in 47.07. Rupakus finished in 47.49 for one of her two hurdling bronze medals.
Emma Washo, Griffiths, Angela Russell and Samantha Bennici formed a third-place team for Montrose in the 3200 relay.
Hannah Dieck was fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump.
Madelyn Pasteka placed fourth in the high jump while Griffiths and Timm tied for fourth in the pole vault.
Gilhool took seventh in the 100 and eighth in the javelin.
Bennici (1600), Washo (3200) and Brianna Thompson (discus) also finished seventh.
Elk Lake was ninth out of 17 teams with 39 points.
In addition to the gold medal by Taylor Watkins in the javelin, Julie VanEtten, Katie Bennett, Elizabeth Trowbridge and Kenzie Jones won the 3200 relay by more than eight seconds in 10:06.29.
Taylor Watkins threw the javelin 126-3 to win by almost four feet over fellow state qualifier Emily Johns, a Lake-Lehman freshman, who won the shot put and discus.
Bennett, in the 800, and Jones, in the 3200, were each fourth.
The 1600 relay was fifth and 400 relay was seventh for Elk Lake.
VanEtten, Adrianna Parrett, Bennett and Mikaela Parrett were on the 1600 relay. VanEtten, the two Parretts and Emily Forba were on the 400 relay.
Trowbridge was sixth in the 1600.
Blue Ridge was 10th with 35 points with the help of three bronze medals, the two by Rupakus in the hurdles and another by Lindsey Burdick in the 400. Burdick was also sixth in the 200.
Rupakus, Cosmello and Katherine Kempa were each the 400 and 1600 relay teams that placed fourth. Brianna Brewer was on the 400 and Burdick on the 1600.
Laurren Whitney finished fifth in the javelin.
Susquehanna’s Sarah Serfilippi finished fourth in the discus, giving the Lady Sabers five points and 15th place.
Mountain View freshman Stephanie Ostir scored the team’s only two points with a seventh-place finish in the 200.
The top six in each event earned medals while the top eight scored points for their teams.
Lakeland also won the boys’ team title with 123 points.
Blue Ridge was 10th with 29 points, Montrose 11th with 26, Elk Lake and Mountain View tied for 14th with 20 and Susquehanna 16th with four.
Hepler’s gold and silver medals led Blue Ridge. He also placed seventh in the 400.
Zach Edwards was fourth in the pole vault and Zach Conrad was seventh in the 400.
Craig Stanley was eighth in the long jump and joined Craig Monks, Steven Jesse and James Murnock on the eighth-place 400 relay.
Montrose’s Brenton Warner finished second, behind Hepler, in the discus.
The Meteors also got points from Colin Mondi finishing fourth in the high jump, Owen Brewer taking fourth in the 3200, the 1600 relay team of Billy Hewes, Steven Shelp, Nick Hendrickson and Mike Stewart placing fourth and a sixth-place finish from Hewes in the 100 high hurdles.
Hunter Watkins won the javelin for Elk Lake with a throw of 162-2 and also was fourth in the 300 hurdles.
Tommy Malindori was sixth in the shot put while Hunter Bedell (1600) and Daniel Bell (3200) were eighth.
Mountain View was led by James Goodenough taking second in the 400.
The 3200 relay of Trevor Mills, Brandon Freely, Joe Higby and Tyler Chidester was third. Brett Crowley was fourth in the 800.
Crowley, Goodenough, Higby and Warren Moran made up an eighth-place 1600 relay.
Sal Pelicci was fifth for Susquehanna in the pole vault.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Chris White threw a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and also went 2-for-3 at the plate May 12 when Mountain View wrapped up its Lackawanna League Division 4 season by clinching the title with an 8-0 win over Forest City.
Colby Thomas went 3-for-3 and Andrew Adams hit a two-run homer in the win.
The final Division 4 standings: Mountain View 11-1, Lackawanna Trail 10-2, Montrose 8-4, Forest City 5-7, Elk Lake 5-7, Blue Ridge 3-9.
Elk Lake and Montrose were each eliminated from the Class AA playoffs Thursday, the first day of District 2 tournament action.
Northwest defeated Elk Lake, 5-1.
Brandon Traver’s double and Ben Townsend’s single were the only hits for Elk Lake.
Lakeland best host Montrose, 7-4, to advance to a quarterfinal game at Mountain View that was scheduled for Tuesday.
Kyle Watkins had three hits and Matt Lewis added two for Montrose in the loss. Chris Lee drove in two runs.
In softball, Montrose locked up the Lackawanna League Division 4 title Wednesday when it scored three runs in the fifth to defeat Lackawanna Trail, 5-2.
The game was tied, 1-1, before the outburst.
Nicki Lewis was 2-for-4 to lead the offense. Lacy Nealy did not walk a batter while pitching the complete game for the win.
Susquehanna, which had lost its first two games, wound up winning nine of 10, handing Montrose its only two losses and tying for second place.
The Lady Sabers beat Blue Ridge, 6-3, May 12 then shut out Elk Lake, 2-0, Wednesday to complete the run.
Taryn Tross had a double and drove in two runs while D.J. Decker single in a run against Blue Ridge. Haley Aldrich had two hits.
Micaela Rhone scattered seven hits to shut out Elk Lake with the help of strong defense from shortstop Mikayla Hargett, who made eight putouts and handled four of the last six plays of the game.
Baily Barnes singled and eventually scored the first run on an infield hit by Decker. Aldrich tripled and scored the other run on a passed ball.
The final Division 4 standings: Montrose 10-2, Mountain View 9-3, Susquehanna 9-3, Lackawanna Trail 6-6, Elk Lake 6-6, Blue Ridge 2-10 and Forest City 0-12.
In boys’ tennis, both Montrose teams were eliminated in the first round of the District 2 Class AA Doubls Championships Wednesday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.
Bryan Schultz and Justin Parrish lost to eighth-seeded John Carlon-Cognetti/Jimmy Tressler from Scranton Prep, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5.
Austin Smith and Thomas Van Nostrand lost to third-seeded Andrew Schukraft-Eamong Gibbons from Wyoming Seminary, 6-2, 6-4.
In boys’ volleyball, Coughlin ended Mountain View’s season with a 25-16, 25-17, 25-16 victory Wednesday in a District 2 Class AA quarterfinal at Holy Redeemer.
Chad Schmidt had nine kills and Austin Mack had 16 assists for Mountain View.
In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins won two out of three games in Providence to take a 3-2 series lead over the Bruins in the second round of the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Penguins came within a second of taking all three games and putting away the best-of-seven series.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton recovered from a late, three-goal deficit before winning Game 3 in double overtime, 5-4, to take its first lead of the series.
Simon Despres scored his second goal of the game 6:32 into the second overtime for the win.
The Penguins rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the final 12:23 with goals by Tom Kostopoulos, Despres and Conor Sheary.
Sheary also had two assists while Peter Mannino made 36 saves in the win.
The Penguins had a chance to take a commanding lead in the series Friday until they gave up a goal with six-tenths of a second remaining in regulation and wound up losing, 3-2, to the Bruins in overtime.
Anton Zlobin scored with 5:40 left in regulation for a 3-2 win Saturday night to move back ahead in the series.
The Penguins went into Monday night’s home game in Providence with a chance to close out the series.
Zlobin has three game-winning goals in the playoffs.
Mannino made 31 saves in the win.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Lewis and Lattimore will be trying to earn a state relay medal for the second straight year when the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Track and Field Championships are held Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.
The top eight in each event earn medals.
They helped Montrose finish seventh in the state last season.
The Lady Meteors are seeded ninth out of 25 teams.
Blue Ridge’s Hepler is the top seed among county athletes as the eighth seed in the boys’ discus.
Lewis, in the 400, and Taylor Watkins, in the javelin, are both seeded 10th.
Qualifying on the track is Friday with finals scheduled for Saturday.
Hunter Watkins will compete in the boys’ javelin Friday morning. Taylor Watkins will compete in the girls’ javelin Saturday morning when Hepler will also be competing in the discus.
In softball, Susquehanna is the top seed and will have a home game in Thursday’s District 2 Class A semifinals.
The Lady Sabers will host the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between MMI Prep and Blue Ridge. Forest City was in the other quarterfinal at Old Forge, trying to advance to Thursday’s semifinal at Lackawanna Trail.
The finals are scheduled for Tuesday, May 27.
The Class AA quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday, the semifinals Friday and the finals Tuesday, May 27.
Elk Lake, Montrose and Mountain View were playing in the first round Monday, trying to reach Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
In high school baseball, the District 2 tournament is progressing toward four championship games Monday, May 26 at PNC Field in Moosic.
The Class A final is set for 1 p.m. that day.
The winner of Monday’s Blue Ridge/Forest City quarterfinal will play at Lackawanna Trail Wednesday in a Class A semifinal.
Mountain View was playing Tuesday trying to advance to Thursday’s Class AA semifinal. The Class AA final is scheduled for 4 p.m. May 26.
In professional hockey, if the second-round Calder Cup series goes to a seventh game, it will be played Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre at 7:05.
Game Six was scheduled for Monday night.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
