Katie Bennett, Kenzie Jones and Justine Johns all earned individual state medals Saturday while helping Elk Lake remain in the top two in its classification for the fourth straight year at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Cross Country Championships.
The Lady Warriors finished second in the state in Class A with a score of 84 points, falling short of Central Cambria (72), but beating out defending state champion Holy Cross (93), the team they lost to in the District 2 championships.
Elk Lake, which won the 2012 Class A state title in the first year that the PIAA switched to three classes for cross country, was second in Class AA in 2011 and second in Class A in 2013.
The Elk Lake boys also remained among the state’s top teams by following up their District 2 title with a fourth-place finish.
The latest team silver medal for the girls was helped along by Bennett, Jones and Johns all finishing in the top 17 of the 218-runner field and the top 10 among runners from the 19 schools in the team competition.
Bennett, a junior, completed the 3.1-mile Parkview Cross Country Course in 19:42 to take 10th place.
Vincentian Academy sophomore Mariane Abdalah ran away for a 54-second victory in 18:35. Mackenzie Greenfield from Holy Cross was fourth in 19:37 for the best District 2 finish.
Kenzie Jones was 11th in 19:48 and Justine Johns was 17th in 20:04.
The top 25 individuals in the state in each race earn medals.
Keri Jones and Jenny Vanetten completed the five-runner team score by placing 46th and 68th.
Kenzie Jones, Johns, Keri Jones, Andrea Rockefeller and Miranda Decker gave Elk Lake five sophomores in its seven-runner state lineuip. Rockefeller was 156th and Decker 187th.
The four individuals from Susquehanna County competing in the race all finished in the top half of the field.
Blue Ridge’s Casey Purdum was 78th, Forest City’s Jennifer Korty was 81st, and Susquehanna’s Skyla Wilson and Mikayala Hargett were 91st and 93rd.
After the three medalists from Elk Lake, the best county individual performance came from Montrose’s Emma Washo.
Washo, the only county runner in Class AA, came in 43rd out of 210 girls with a time of 20:16.
The Elk Lake boys placed their top six within 23 seconds of each other to finish fourth of 19 Class A teams while running a lineup of that included three sophomores and a freshman along with two juniors and just one senior.
Winchester Thurston won with 65 points, followed by Sewickley Academy with 111, Northeast Bradford with 137 and Elk Lake with 145.
Sophomore Dan Bell and freshman Cody Oswald led the Warriors. Bell was 46th in 17:43 and Oswald 51st in 17:48.
Elk Lake had six runners finish in 18:06 or better to finish in the top 84 out of 223 in the race.
Hunter Bedell and Dalton Sherman also broke 18 minutes to take 53rd and 69th. Seth Owen was 80th and Hunter Watkins 84th.
Dylan Bescoter completed the Elk Lake lineup, placing 179th.
Four other county runners competed as individuals.
Forest City’s Tyler Debrino and William Westgate were 127th and 190th. Blue Ridge’s Travis Hickling was 136th and Mountain View’s Joe Nally was 155th.
Elk Lake was part of another successful day for District 2.
Lake-Lehman’s Dominic Hockenbury and Dallas’ Ally Rome each won Class AA individual titles. Rome and teammate Lindsey Oremus finished 1-2.
Scranton Prep was second in girls and third in boys in Class AA.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Mountain View girls’ soccer team and Blue Ridge girls’ volleyball team won district championships while the Montrose boys’ soccer team and Susquehanna football team fell short in district and league title shots.
In girls’ soccer, Mountain View defeated Lakeland, 2-0, Thursday at Wallenpaupack to claim the District 2 Class A championship.
The Lady Eagles made it through three rounds of the tournament without allowing a goal.
Mountain View, which had opened with an 8-0 quarterfinal rout of Elk Lake, topped visiting Montrose, 4-0, in the October 28 semifinals.
Hannah Richner had a hat trick for the Lady Eagles in the semifinal win.
Makenna Whitaker scored two goals in the final 15 minutes of the final to give Mountain View, which already won the Lackawanna League Division 3 title, its fourth straight district championship and its first under coach Erika Lewis.
Mountain View was schedule to face District 4 champion Warrior Run in the first round of the state tournament Tuesday.
In girls’ volleyball, Blue Ridge earned the top seed by finishing third in the Lackawanna League and lived up to that status with a District 2 Class A championship.
Blue Ridge defeated Lackawanna Trail, 25-21, 21-25, 25-12, 25-19, in Wednesday’s championship match at North Pocono.
Katherine Kempa had 31 assists while Megan Houlihan and Kimberly Klim had 11 kills each for Blue Ridge.
The top seed as the Class A team with the best record in the regular season allowed Blue Ridge the chance to host an October 27 doubleheader.
Lackawanna Trail rallied from behind to defeat Susquehanna, 14-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, in the opener of the semifinal doubleheader. Blue Ridge then handled MMI Prep, 25-8, 25-20, 25-10, in the second match.
Blue Ridge was scheduled to play District 4 champion Troy in the state tournament opener Tuesday.
In football, with a chance to share the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 title on the line in the regular-season finale on its home field, Susquehanna came out flat.
The Sabers fell behind by two touchdowns in the first eight minutes and 19 points in the first half before falling short against Old Forge, 26-12.
Old Forge finished the season with the LFC’s only perfect overall record while winning the division for the fourth straight year and extending winning steaks to 16 straight in the regular season, 18 within District 2 and 20 in LFC Division 4 play.
The Blue Devils gained at least 13 yards on three consecutive plays in their opening drive then got a 10-yard touchdown run from Cooper Califano two plays later for a 7-0 lead with 6:08 left in the first quarter.
Exactly two minutes later, the lead was at 13-0.
The Sabers lost five yards on their second possession, then Brandon Vahey blocked and recovered a punt to put Old Forge at the 2.
Bobby Rinaldi scored the first of his three touchdowns on the next play.
Old Forge had a chance to blow the game open early when Joey Gutowski made a diving interception on the next play at the Susquehanna 37.
A key penalty on Old Forge and a third-down tackle for a loss by Wes Richardson helped the Sabers hold on downs after the Blue Devils had gotten as close as the 19.
Susquehanna had a chance to get back in the game when Christian Miller blocked an Old Forge punt midway through the second quarter to put the Sabers at the 3.
Two pass incompletions and two runs for losses on the ensuing possession, however, allowed Old Forge to take over at the 10.
The Blue Devils needed just five plays to cover 90 yards, including a 56-yard dive play by Rinaldi for the touchdown with 2:47 left in the half for a 19-0 lead.
Thoroughly outhustled and outgained, 211-35, to that point, the Sabers managed to play the Blue Devils on even terms the rest of the way to cut into the final margin.
Old Forge’s total offense advantage was just 135-124 over the final 26:47 to finish with a 356-159 lead.
Susquehanna used a 40-yard pass from Austin White to Nolan Hausser to set up White’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Craig Stanley with 39.7 seconds left in the half. The extra point was blocked, leaving the Old Forge halftime lead at 19-6.
Old Forge, a state Class A finalist in 2013, put together an eight-play, 52-yard scoring drive on its second possession of the second half for a 26-6 lead.
Rinaldi went 3 yards for the score on the first play after Paul Carlati threw a 32-yard pass to Joey Gutowski on third-and-19.
White broke a 49-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one with 10:16 left to cut Old Forge’s lead to 14.
The Sabers forced a punt and recovered a fumble to get two more shots, but were not able to get any closer.
Luke Brinton forced the fumble that Kyle Bayle recovered with 4:43 left.
Continuing to take advantage of 11 Old Forge penalties for 106 yards, the Sabers got as close as the Old Forge 45 before stalling in the final three minutes.
White finished 6-for-20 passing for 88 yards and led the Sabers in rushing with 43 yards on 12 carries.
Old Forge led in first downs, 14-7, while holding Susquehanna to fewer than three yards per carry (24-71).
Gutowski passed for 100 yards, intercepted a pass and broke up two others. Califano carried 18 times for 87 yards and had three tackles for 24 yards in losses. Rinaldi, who rushed for 91 yards, and Armando Sallavanti had two tackles for losses.
Several Sabers had busy days defensively.
Jared Mills made 10 tackles and assisted on 11. One of his tackles was for a 6-yard loss.
Michael Vaccaro had a team-high 11 tackles, including one for a loss, and four assists.
Miller made five tackles and assisted on six others in addition to blocking the punt and batting down a pass.
Zach Conrad made eight tackles and assisted on seven others.
Brett Hepler had five tackles, five assists and a broken-up pass.
The final standings for LFC Division 3 teams with division and overall records were: Old Forge 5-0, 10-0; Lackawanna Trail 3-2, 7-3; Susquehanna 3-2, 6-4; Carbondale 2-3, 3-7; Holy Cross 1-4, 1-9; Mid Valley 1-4, 1-9.
Montrose had a halftime lead before falling to Honesdale, 28-14, in an LFC Division 2 game to complete a 1-9 season.
The Meteors led 8-7 after Patrick Parks hit Jack Fruehan for a touchdown and two-point conversion in the first half.
Parks also threw a touchdown pass to Austin Cook.
The final standings for LFC Division 2 teams were: Dunmore 5-0, 9-1; Honesdale 3-2, 7-3; Western Wayne 3-2, 6-4; Riverside 3-2, 3-7; Lakeland 1-4, 4-6; Montrose 0-5, 1-9.
In boys’ soccer, Montrose ended Mountain View’s four-year title run with a semifinal victory but was no match for Wyoming Seminary in the District 2 Class A championship game.
Wyoming Seminary defeated Montrose, 4-0, Thursday night at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
Montrose, the Lackawanna League Division 3 champion, edged visiting Mountain View, 2-1, in overtime in the October 28 semifinal.
The win by the Meteors eliminated any hope of Mountain View making a third straight state championship appearance. The Eagles won the title in 2012 and finished second in the state in 2013.
Kyle Watkins scored his second goal of the game in the 13th minute of overtime to lift Montrose to the win.
Wyoming Seminary held Montrose without a shot on goal while getting scores from four different players in the final.
COLLEGE CORNER
Elizabeth Trowbridge, a freshman from Elk Lake, helped the Indiana University of Pennsylvania women’s cross country team finish second out of 19 teams at the Go Fast River Run Oct. 25 in Lock Haven.
Trowbridge finished 52nd overall and seventh on the IUP team.
Maria Trowbridge is a junior on the cross country team at Division I Southeast Missouri State where she also is part of the indoor and outdoor track and field teams.
She made the Ohio Valley Conference Honor Roll in the spring outdoor season and finished sixth in the steeplechase at the conference championships. During cross country, Maria Trowbridge has run just once this season, placing 70th overall and ninth on her team when the Redhawks won the 10-team Gabby Reuveni Early Bird in St. Louis.
THE WEEK AHEAD
A two-game losing streak to end the regular season means that Susquehanna (6-4) will have to travel to Lackawanna Trail (7-3) for Friday night’s District 2 Class AA semifinals.
As the only four Class A teams in District 2, Old Forge, Lackawanna Trail, Susquehanna and Holy Cross were all automatic to make the playoffs. A Week Eight win over Lackawanna Trail had moved Susquehanna into position to possibly host a playoff game.
Delaware Valley made the District 2-4-11 Class AAAA Subregional, while Scranton Prep (Class AAA) and Dunmore (AA) qualified for District 2 playoffs.
Scranton (AAAA), Honesdale (AAA) and Western Wayne (AA) will represent the LFC in the Eastern Conference playoffs, which do not advance teams toward state play.
Our high school football predictions were 8-2 (80.0 percent) last week to complete the regular season 89-31 (74.2). The predictions will continue until all LFC teams are eliminated.
This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: LACKAWANNA TRAIL 22, Susquehanna 16 … OLD FORGE 48, Holy Cross 0 … DUNMORE 34, Lake-Lehman 23 … BERWICK 22, Scranton Prep 17 … DELAWARE VALLEY 35, Wyoming Valley West 26 … Northern Lehigh 22, WESTERN WAYNE 15 … Fleetwood 43, HONESDALE 36 … SCRANTON 30, Emmaus 23.
Our predictions also included the order of finish in each LFC division.
We had four of the six Division 2 teams in their exact final spots – Dunmore in first, Honesdale and Riverside as part of a three-way tie for second and Montrose in sixth.
Of the league’s other 16 teams, we had seven within one place of their actual finish.
The biggest surprise on the positive side was Scranton finishing second in Division 1 after we predicted them fifth. The biggest negative was West Scranton placing eighth in Division 1 after we predicted them third.
In both girls’ soccer and girls’ volleyball, the state tournament quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday and the semifinals are set for Tuesday, November 8.
If the Mountain View soccer team or Blue Ridge volleyball team made it past Tuesday’s first-round match-ups, they would play Saturday.
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.
