Freshman Justin Grosvenor had Elk Lake’s top individual performance Saturday at the Les Richards Swimming Championships for Lackawanna League teams at Scranton High School.

Grosvenor finished third in the 500-yard freestyle.

The Warriors also had a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay where Zach Mead, Chase Orlandini, Nathan Grosvenor and Mike Pettit placed behind only Scranton Prep and Abington Heights. They also formed a fifth-place 200 freestyle relay.

Mead was fifth in both the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.

Pettit was sixth in the 100 freestyle and was on both freestyle relay teams.

Leah Ofalt led the Elk Lake girls by placing in the top six in four events. She was fourth in the 100 butterfly and sixth in the 50 freestyle along with placing fourth in the 400 freestyle relay and fifth in the 200 freestyle relay.

Becca Sisson was on both freestyle relay teams.

Lydia Ofalt and Audra Everitt were each on the fourth-place 400 freestyle relay and fifth-place 200 medley relay.

Cami Perry and Louise Thompson were on the 400 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay teams that each finished fifth.

Miranda Decker placed fifth in the 500 freestyle.

The Elk Lake girls are 5-2 and tied for third out of 10 teams in the Lackawanna standings. The boys are 4-2 and in fourth place of nine teams.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Both Montrose basketball teams made it to the final week of the regular season with unbeaten Lackawanna League Division 4 records.

After winning the first half with 6-0 records, both teams improved to 4-0 in the second half.

Forest City kept pace with Montrose in the second-half girls’ standings.

COLLEGE CORNER

Tanner Reyan has appeared in 15 of the first 19 games as a freshman guard on the King’s College men’s basketball team.

The Elk Lake graduate is averaging 2.4 points while playing 12.1 minutes per game.

Reyan is shooting 35.7 percent from 3-point range along with 34.3 percent from the floor and 63.6 from the foul line. He is also contributing 1.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.3 blocked shots per game.

King’s is 10-9, including 3-5 in the MAC Freedom Conference.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The second-half Lackawanna League Division 4 girls’ basketball title should come down to Wednesday night when Montrose plays at Forest City.

The teams finished 1-2 in the first-half standings. Each was 4-0 in the second half going into Monday night.

The same two schools could again be battling for the title in the second-half boys’ standings.

Montrose entered the week alone in first place at 4-0. Forest City was in third place at 2-1.

The District 2 basketball tournament opens up Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Included in the opening-night schedule are first-round games in Class AA girls and the only quarterfinal in Class A boys.

Susquehanna will be in the A quarterfinal, likely at MMI Prep in Freeland.

Montrose, Elk Lake, Mountain View and Blue Ridge are Class AA girls’ teams.

If Montrose wraps up the division title it will be one of the top three seeds and could possibly have a first-round bye. Elk Lake is likely to have a home game. Mountain View and Blue Ridge are set to open on the road.

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.

LET’S GET READY TO GO RACING

Chase Elliott

It’s been a long winter, but the 2015 racing season is right around the corner. The first race of the season, the Sprint Unlimited will be held Sat., Feb. 14 at 8:15 pm on FOX. Qualifying for the top-two spots of the Daytona 500 will be held on Sun., Feb. 15, and can also be viewed on FOX, beginning at 1:00.

NASCAR announced that the season-opening 75-lap Sprint Unlimited, will be split into two segments. A competition caution at lap 25 will separate the segments in the non-points event. New this year, select fans will be paired with each crew chief for a random drawing to determine starting and pit road positions. The drawings will take place on Friday, Feb. 13 beginning at 3:30 pm.

The field of 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will include 2014 pole winners, former Sprint Unlimited race winners and Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full time in 2014, and all 16 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers from 2014. If an eligible driver does not enter the race, the open position will be filled based on 2014 Championship driver points.

 The first five provisional drivers, respectively, are Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Marcos Ambrose, Casey Mears, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 47 will not compete in the Sprint Unlimited because his team was unable to find sponsorship for the exhibition event. JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Tad Geschickter told MotorsportsTalk that NASCAR's late decision to include all 16 Chase drivers in the Sprint Unlimited left his organization with little time to find a sponsor.

“It was nowhere on our radar until they changed the rules on it,” Geschickter said. “If we had won a pole during the season and knew we were in it, I'm sure we would have been well prepared for it. We appreciate being grandfathered in, but, obviously, have to manage our resources to deliver the best year-end points finish we can for our sponsors.”

Geschickter said he's not worried about missing additional track time at Daytona by skipping the race, because they are part of an alliance with Richard Childress Racing.

The following week there will be a full card of Camping World, Xfinity, and Sprint Cup races culminating with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 22.

RAINBOW STEW FOR CHASE ELLIOTT

Chase Elliott’s rise to the top of NASCAR’s racing ladder has been phenomenal. He started off in the Truck series; after one year moved to the Xfinity series, and in 2016 will take over Jeff Gordon’s vacated ride in the No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet. His racing career is set.

How did he do it?

Was his rise to stardom really that spectacular, or was every stage planned?

Remember Chase, whose real name is William Clyde Elliott II, is the son of 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup champion and Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.

In January 2013, it was announced that Elliott would compete in five ARCA Racing Series and nine NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events for Hendrick Motorsports during the 2013 racing season, driving in the latter series using trucks prepared by Turner Scott Motorsports. On June 8, 2013, Elliott became the youngest winner in ARCA history following his Pocono Raceway victory. In qualifying for the UNOH 200 Truck race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elliott won his first career NASCAR pole position with a lap speed of 125.183 miles per hour, and became the youngest pole-sitter in Truck Series history. Elliott would win his first race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, in the first road course truck race outside the US; he was at the time the youngest winner in Truck Series history, at the age of 17 years, 9 months, and 4 days.

In January 2014, it was announced that Elliott would be competing full-time in the Nationwide Series in 2014, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts. On April 4, 2014, Elliott won the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, holding Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch off after taking the lead with 16 laps to go. On April 11, 2014, Elliott won the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway by passing Elliott Sadler on the last lap after restarting sixth with two laps to go. Elliott won the EnjoyIllinois.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway after holding off Trevor Bayne. At Phoenix, Elliott clinched the Nationwide Series championship with a 53-point lead over teammate Regan Smith, becoming the first rookie and youngest driver to win a NASCAR national series title.

On January 29, 2015, Hendrick Motorsports announced Elliott will make his Sprint Cup Series debut in 2015, running in five races at Martinsville, Richmond, Charlotte, Indianapolis, and Darlington. The team also announced that he will take over Jeff Gordon's No. 24 starting in 2016.

Forbes Magazine list’s the net worth of the 18-year-old at $2-million.

Quite an accomplishment for anyone by any means.

But is this young man really such a heroic driver.

Did he come by his talents through hard work and hands-on experience, or was much of what he acquired ready made for him?

To say he is not a good driver wouldn’t be fair. He is a good driver. But I‘ve seen and known dozens of drivers racing late models, Trucks, and Nationwide cars that have just as much talent as he does, but never made it out of their hometown because of money.

There are several ARCA Series drivers that barely make it from race to race. Unlike the Elliott family, their family and friends don’t have the financial means to support them or provide them with decent racing equipment. They continue to struggle with what they are able to afford. For most it means their racing talents will never be allowed to develop.

But wait, in America everyone has the same opportunity.

Right?

No, wrong.

Chase Elliott is a great example of what happens when a young kid has everything he needs to develop his talent and skills. Elliott had the encouragement, training and money to pursue his dreams.

It reminds me of a song by country music singer, Merle Haggard, “Drinkin’ Free Bubble Up and Eating Rainbow Stew.” It goes like this:

“One of these days when the air clears up,

And the sun comes shining through.

We’ll all be drinking free bubble-up

An eatin’ that rainbow stew with a silver spoon.”

For most young drivers the air will never clear up enough for them to follow their racing goals and dreams.

But for a lucky few like Chase Elliott who are born with a silver spoon, their sky will always remain blue.

That’s just the hard facts of life and NASCAR racing.

Racing Trivia Question: Who won the 2014 Daytona 500?

Last Week’s Question: How many Cup wins did Richard Petty have during his career? Answer. 200, the most of any driver.

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

Meghan Gilhool

Meghan Gilhool spent most of January leading Montrose to more team accomplishments.

The last day of the month was reserved for a personal achievement.

Gilhool helped Montrose win the first-half Lackawanna League Division 4 girls’ basketball title, then scored the 1,000th point of her career to earn the first Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month award for the second straight year.

The Lady Meteors extended their Division 4 winning streak to 49 games Jan. 31 when GIlhool scored 15 points, including her 1,000th, in a 62-50 romp over Lackawanna Trail.

“We’ve been playing really well in the league,” Gilhool said.

Gilhool went into the game knowing she needed nine points. She reached the milestone early in the second quarter when she made a steal and took the ball the other way for a layup.

Before getting the calendar year off to a strong start, the three-sport athlete made a commitment to continue her basketball career at Western New England College in the final days of 2014. Gilhool will play for Montrose graduate Nicole Chaszar, the school’s all-time winningest coach.

Gilhool has started at point guard for Montrose for 3 ½ seasons, increasing her scoring throughout and becoming the division’s top scoring threat this season with more than 20 points per game.

“That just came about naturally,” Gilhool said of her scoring output. “I knew this year, being a senior, I had to step up more on the court and off.”

Gilhool has put up the big scoring numbers despite playing with a partial ACL tear from a knee injury suffered in soccer season. Treatment of the injury may force her to miss track and field season after being a major contributor to a division championship team and a past district gold medalist as a sprinter.

In soccer, Gilhool was a four-year varsity player. She was a division all-star as a junior and the team’s center midfielder as a senior.

Gilhool plans to study health sciences at the college in Massachusetts.

Meghan is the daughter of Joe and Dana Gilhool of Montrose.

The South New Milford Baptist Church will host its Annual Men’s and Boys’ Sportsmen Dinner on Saturday, February 21, 2015.

 

Richard Bernier of Big Whitetail Consultants will be the speaker for the evening. Bernier is a legendary whitetail buck hunter, consultant, award winning writer, award winning nature photographer, and author from Standish, Maine.

Richard Bernier

He has devoted much of his life to studying, writing, photographing, and lecturing about the greatest animal God ever created, the whitetail deer.

Additionally, Bernier has lectured to packed audiences all across the country with his highly informative and entertaining white-tailed deer seminars.   

The doors will open for the Sportsmen’s Dinner at 3:00 with dinner served at 5:00. This dinner is free and all men and boys are invited to attend. During the evening there will also be exhibits, presentations, and door prizes.

The South New Milford Baptist Church is located at 2967 Harford Road, New Milford, PA.

To RSVP by February 20 or for questions, please contact the South New Milford Baptist Church at 570-434-2101. You may also email the church at snmbc@snmbc.org

On February 21the local branch of the Quality Deer Management Association will be hosting an Antler Scoring and Jawbone Aging session. The public and any successful hunters are invited. You can bring antlers from the recent past to some old ones that have not been scored. Entries can include typical and non-typical whitetail deer harvested or found dead, as well as shed antlers; single or matched pairs.

Our trained measurers will be on hand to process scores. There is no charge for our unofficial measurement. Measurements taken on green antlers and skulls will not be the same as when they have air-dried at normal room temperature for 60 days after the animal was killed.

Fawn jawbone

The Branch will also be aging deer jawbones so bring these in to get an accurate age on that deer that was harvested. Branch Director Rusty Ely notes that “… the deer jawbone is the new trophy. The method used to age these jawbones is called tooth wear and replacement. Over the past 10 years I have looked at a lot of deer jawbones and I believe that the oldest jawbones that I have aged belong to a deer that was in its teens.”

The February 21st event will run from 1 to 4pm at the Central Conservation Club on Sterling Road in South Montrose. Coordinates are: North 41º 47.819   West 75º 54.281. In the three hour time frame for scoring, the Branch will limit the number of antlers to be scored to 25 racks, it will be first come first served.

 For more information you can call Rusty Ely at 570-396-0216; Mike Koneski at 570-965-2176 or Bob Wagner at 570-278-1011, ext. 108.

I have been asked many times about rutting activity during December and January and whether this signals a problem.

Rubs, scrapes and chasing behavior during December and January are common sights to deer hunters and managers in the South. Deer in southern latitudes are afforded the luxury of breeding during several months, even though this can still be a sign of poor health, poor habitat or skewed sex ratios and can be improved by better deer management. I have seen newborn fawns in central Florida as early as March and as late as November. These fawns would have been conceived in August and April, respectively. This demonstrates that does breed during at least 9 months of the year in Florida, and this window is around five months in most other areas of the South. This phenomenon has been well documented in the scientific literature.

Deer in northern latitudes are not afforded the luxury of breeding over that range of months. Weather and vegetation growth cycles dictate that the majority of deer breed over a relatively short time period. A tight breeding window ensures an equally tight fawning period corresponding with the peak of native-vegetation quality after spring green-up. This timing is critical as fawns arriving at green-up receive nutritional advantages over fawns arriving early or late. This phenomenon increases in importance as you move north and is also well documented in the scientific literature.

December and January rutting activity in the South is common. This activity in the North may be a red flag depending on who is doing the breeding. The majority of deer in northern latitudes breed during a 2- to 3-week window in November. Conception data from Pennsylvania, however, shows deer breed over at least a 100-day period. Most of these deer breed during November, but a few breed as early as September and as late as February. These early and late breeders are at a distinct ecological disadvantage. Does that are not bred during their first estrous cycle will cycle again in about 28 days. Therefore, if a doe isn’t bred during November, she will recycle in December and again in January if necessary. Does that breed late will have fawns that are born late, and late fawns begin their life disadvantaged. In these cases, December and January breeding signals poor management.

Quality Deer Management can help increase the number of does that are bred during the optimal breeding period by balancing the adult sex ratio and increasing the number of mature bucks in the population. Poorly managed herds often have skewed sex ratios favoring does and contain more deer than the habitat can adequately support. This number of deer can be high, or it can be low if the habitat is poor. For example, 15 deer per square mile may not sound like many deer if you are used to having high densities, but it is too many if the habitat can only support five to 10 deer per square mile.

When Doe Fawns Breed

Even well-managed northern herds can show signs of December and January breeding. I’ll define "well-managed" as having the proper number of deer for the habitat, a balanced adult sex ratio (less than two does per buck) and bucks in multiple age classes (25 percent or more of the bucks are 3 1/2 or older). Because these herds are in balance with the habitat, the deer typically receive enough nutrition to express their body, antler and reproductive potential. Late breeding in these herds is more common following autumns with abundant mast and/or agricultural crops and during winters that begin with mild weather.

The culprits are often 7- to 8-month-old doe fawns. Fawns can become sexually mature in their first fall and can breed if they reach a certain body size, approximately 80 to 90 pounds for northern deer and about 70 pounds for whitetails in the South. Fawns that receive abundant forage can reach this threshold weight, but they often reach it after the primary breeding period. These breeders come into estrus in December, January and even February, and are often the reason for late-season rutting activity.

The percentage of fawns that breed is an important piece of data for managers to collect. It is not uncommon in areas with poor habitat, overabundant herds and/or extreme winter conditions to have less than 5 percent of doe fawns breeding. Conversely, it is not uncommon in areas with good soils, abundant forage, balanced deer herds and/or mild winters to have 50 percent of the doe fawns breeding.

The Answer Lies in Your Data

So how do you know if late-season breeding is being conducted primarily by adults or fawns? The answer lies in your harvest data. Are your doe weights above average for your respective region? What percentage of your adult does are lactating? Are any of your yearling does lactating? If yearlings are lactating, that means they were bred as fawns. This is why it is so important to pull a jawbone and collect data from every deer harvested or found dead on the property. The percentage of yearling and 2 1/2-year-old does lactating provides much insight into the cause of late-season breeding activity.

Here's a look at seven easy ways you can collect the data you need.

If your adult does have low body weights and low lactation rates for your area, then late-season breeding activity may be a sign your management program needs help. Other cues are likely also present, such as a skewed adult sex ratio, poor fawn-to-doe ratio and predominantly young buck age structure. If your adult does have good body weights and high lactation rates, then at least some and probably most of the late-season breeding activity involves fawns. Again, other cues will likely be present such as a balanced adult sex ratio, high fawn-to-doe ratio and a higher percentage of older bucks in the population.

Every rule has exceptions, though, and areas with large amounts of agriculture typically have higher percentages of fawns breeding.

Abundant food can mask some management shortfalls. The increased quantity and quality of nutrition from agricultural crops can put deer on a higher nutritional plane and allow a higher percentage of doe fawns to breed.

So, is late-season rutting sign good or bad? If you are in the South it may be a sign that deer physical condition is poor or adult sex ratios are highly skewed toward does, but if you are in the North it is definitely a critical piece of information. Look at your harvest data and the health of the habitat. North or South, they will let you know whether your management program is progressing or is in need of help.