Forest City’s Dylan O’Dell and Montrose’s Austin Smith were named to the first All-District 2 Golf Team selected by NPFSports.com.
Adam Kowalewski from Forest City was a second-team choice.
All three players are seniors.
The selections put the three players among the top 13 boys’ golfers from the 40 District 2 schools that have golf teams.
O’Dell was the only District 2 boy to play in the state tournament as both an individual and a team member. He was one of two state medalists from the district, placing 10th in Class AA while also helping the Foresters to a tie for fifth in the state as a team.
The Foresters won their first Lackawanna League and District 2 titles with O’Dell and Kowalewski as the veteran leaders.
O’Dell placed third at the District 2 championships.
Smith is the only District 2 player who finished in the top 20 in the state each of the past two years. He placed 15th this year.
After opening the season by finishing second overall and winning the low senior prize at the Jackman Memorial Tournament, Smith went on to place second in District 2 and tied for third at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association East Regional.
MORE ALL-STARS
Juniors Owen Brewer and Zach Mead and sophomore Brandon Curley were named first-team Lackawanna League boys’ cross country all-stars after leading Montrose to an unbeaten, championship season in the league.
The team, which was selected by the league’s coaches, honored the top 12 runners in the league as first-team stars.
Elk Lake senior Hunter Bedell also made the team.
Cody Oswald, a sophomore from Elk Lake, made the second team.
In girls’ cross country, Elk Lake juniors Keri Jones and Justine Johns were first-team selections, along with Forest City junior Jen Korty.
The second team included freshman Shyanne Bennett and senior Katie Bennett from Elk Lake.
WEEK IN REVIEW
SCRANTON – Lackawanna Football Conference teams swept the District 2 Class AAA, AA and A championships in title games played Friday night.
Scranton Prep earned its first district title and state playoff appearance when Kevin Holmes returned an interception for one touchdown and passed for another in a 37-7 rout of visiting Berwick in the Class AAA final.
Dunmore defeated visiting Lake-Lehman, 28-13, in Class AA.
Old Forge scored the game’s final 42 points to erase an early deficit and defeat Lackawanna Trail, 49-14, in the Class A final.
Riverside won the Class AA title of the Eastern Conference, which does not advance teams into state play, with a 27-16 victory at Wilkes-Barre Meyers.
In winter high school sports, official practices for the upcoming basketball, wrestling and swimming seasons began November 16.
In professional hockey, Chris Driedger made 40 saves Friday night when the Binghamton Senators snapped an 11-game winning streak by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with a 3-1 American Hockey League victory.
Earller in the week, Penguins left wing Conor Sheary was named AHL Player of the Week.
Sheary was honored after scoring a goal and assisting on seven others during the last three wins of the team-record streak.
COLLEGE CORNER
Kenzie Jones, a freshman from Elk Lake, helped the Misericordia University women’s cross country team to its best finish ever.
Jones was a regular in the lineup throughout the season and was the team’s sixth runner Nov. 14 when it placed ninth out of 50 teams at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Mideast Regional.
Jones placed 119th out of 365 runners, finishing the 6-kilometer course in 24:41.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Scranton Prep, Dunmore and Old Forge each open the state football playoffs Friday night.
Our high school football predictions last week were 4-0, making us 13-0 for the playoffs and 102-27 (79.1 percent) for the season.
This week’s predictions: Saucon Valley 29, Scranton Prep 21 … Notre Dame-Green Pond 34, Dunmore 31 … Old Forge 25, Wellsboro 21.
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.
“ROWDY” KYLE BUSCH WINS IT ALL
Kyle Busch holds the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship trophy.
HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Not only did Kyle Busch win the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, but he also won the last race of the season.
Busch’s season ended much better than it started. He broke his right leg and left foot in an Xfinity Series race prior to the Daytona 500 and missed 11 races. To make the Chase, NASCAR rules required that he finish 30th or better during the regular 26-race season.
He finished 28th and had one victory, which made him Chase eligible.
Busch’s hard work showed during Sunday’s race. He had led 41 laps, but was running third behind Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson on lap 253 of the 267-lap race, when a caution for debris came out.
He and the other leaders pitted for four fresh tires. On the restart, Busch quickly took over the lead from Keselowski. Kevin Harvick attempted to close on Busch, but with only eight laps remaining in the race, all Harvick could do was watch as Busch’s No. 18 Toyota pulled away from him.
“What a great day,” said Busch. “This is the dream of a lifetime. With all the things we went through being here is unbelievable. I’ve got to thank my wife and team for all the help and not allowing me to give up.”
The championship was his first Sprint Cup title and the fourth for car owner Joe Gibbs. On Friday night, Busch’s truck team driven by Erik Jones claimed the series championship, giving Busch an owner’s title.
Kevin Harvick would have won his second Sprint Cup championship if he could have passed Busch, but he finished second, 1.86-seconds back.
“We had a lot of trouble getting off the corners,” said Harvick. “The longer the runs, the more problems we had. Today, it didn’t go our way.”
Brad Keselowski finished third, while Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five.
“Oh man, what a day,” said Chase contender, Jeff Gordon, who finished sixth. “We had a decent car, but the handling wasn’t what we had hoped for. I was loose for most of the race.
“But it’s still a great day. I’ve had a great career, and while this wasn’t my best race, it’s been a wonderful experience, and I thank all my fans.”
Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin were the remaining top-10 finishers.
The fourth Chase contender, Martin Truex Jr. finished 11th.
“We did our best, but obviously we are disappointed,” said Truex. “The car just didn’t handle the way we needed it to. Making the Chase was a great experience and we’ll build on it.”
Top-20 final points leaders: 1. Kyle Busch, 2. Harvick, 3. Gordon, 4. Truex, 5. Edwards, 6. Logano, 7. Keselowski, 8. Kurt Busch, 9. Hamlin, 10. Johnson, 11. Newman, 12. Earnhardt, 13. McMurray, 14. Menard, 15. Kenseth, 16. Bowyer, 17. Almirola, 18. Kahne, 19. Larson, 20. Biffle.
BUESCHER AND ROUSH WIN XFINITY TITLE
Chris Buescher’s 11th-place finish in the season-ending Xfinity race was good enough to earn him his first series title.
Kyle Larson, who led 160 laps, was the race winner, followed by Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Brian Scott, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Regan Smith, and Darrell Wallace Jr.
Buescher’s title run came in only his second season in the Xfinity Series. The championship marked the fifth time a Roush Fenway Racing driver has won an Xfinity Series championship and the third time in the past five seasons.
“This is the biggest moment in my career,” said Buescher. “It’s just an awesome year for our organization, for our team. The guys did a tremendous job – no DNFs all year, no mechanical failures, nothing that we beat ourselves on. We were flawless in that regard and it put us in the position to go out and win this thing like we did today. We didn’t have to go out and win the race in order to bring the championship home. We had to make sure we finished and did just that. I’m so happy we were able to pull it off and, again, so proud of my team. They really stepped up to the occasion and made sure this happened.”
The No. 22 car, owned by Penske Racing won the Owners Championship.
Daniel Suarez was the Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year.
Final top-10 points leaders: 1. C. Buescher-1190, 2. Elliott-1175, 3. T. Dillon-1172, 4. Smith-1168, 5. Suarez-1078, 6. Sadler-1075, 7. Wallace Jr.-1071, 8. Scott-1032, 9. Gaughan-902, 10. Reed-902.
ERIK JONES CAPTURES TRUCK CROWN
Matt Crafton won the last Truck Series race of the season, but it was young Erik Jones who claimed the championship.
John Nemechek finished second in the race, followed by Tyler Reddick, Ben Kennedy, Timothy Peters, Erik Jones, Johnny Sauter, Daniel Hemric, Cameron Hayley, and John Wes Townley.
“Well, after Gateway back here in the summer months, we finished 23rd, and I think we were down 20-something points to Crafton, third in points, and at that point I don't think I had the right mentality to go win a championship,” said Jones. “I think at that point we were just focused on winning races.
“I kind of switched my mentality to the point of take the wins when we can get them, but we need to take these seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths when we can get them, as well, and not try to force anything. The last eight races or even a little bit before that we had a streak of top-10s here all the way to the end. I don't know the exact number it ended up at, but just finished in the top-10, being consistent, being competitive and running up front and contending for wins, that's all we needed to do throughout the rest of the year, and that's what we did.”
Jones became the youngest driver in Camping World Truck Series history to win a championship at just 19 years, 5 months and 21 days.
The owner of Jones’ No. 4 Toyota is Kyle Busch. It is the first Owner Championship he has won.
Final top-10 points leaders: 1. E. Jones-2. Reddick-884, 3. Crafton-877, 4. Sauter-809, 5. Peters-804, 6. Hayley-866, 7. Hamric-733, 8. Townley-730, 9. Kennedy-690, 10. Gallagher-677.
Racing Trivia Question: Where is Martin Truex Jr.’s hometown?
Last Week’s Question: Who will Chase Elliott be driving for in 2016? Answer. He will replace Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsoprts.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
