SCRANTON – Coming into the final race of the 61st annual Jordan Relays, Blue Ridge anchor runner Lindsey Rupakus said the school’s girls’ 1600-meter relay team had its eye on a medal.
When Amber Brecht stormed into the lead during the second leg, those thoughts turned to gold.
“As I watched them go around, I saw Amber Brecht get into the lead so I knew that we would have it and I knew that it was up to me to finish it strongly,” Rupakus said.
A season-best time of 4:16.55 allowed Blue Ridge, with Isabella Cosmello and Karris Fazzi joining the two seniors, to place first among Class AA girls teams to take the gold medal. The Lady Raiders finished second of 20 teams overall in the race, finishing behind only the relay team from Class AAA team champion Wallenpaupack.
Cosmello, a junior, got Blue Ridge into contention in the opening leg. Fazzi, a freshman, kept the Raiders there, taking over from Brecht and handing the baton to Rupakus after only Wallenpaupack.
That combination dropped two seconds from its previous best time of the year.
“We’re aiming for the state qualifying time, a 4:08,” Rupakus said.
If the Lady Raiders get there on May 17 in the District 2 championships, they can earn a state championships berth, regardless of their place finish.
The Elk Lake girls and Montrose boys led the way in the team scoring, each placing third in the final Class AA standings.
Holy Cross and Lakeland shared the girls’ team title with 40 points.
Elk Lake edged Western Wayne, 32-30, for third place. Blue Ridge was sixth with 26, Montrose seventh with 19, Susquehanna 10th with 4 and Mountain View tied for 12th with 1.
The Lady Warriors were led by a second-place finish from the 3200 relay team of Julie VanEtten, Keri Jones, Grasyn Bushnell and Justine Johns.
Johns, VanEtten and Jones were joined by Katie Bennett on the third-place distance medley relay team.
Bushnell took third in the 400 relay where she was followed by Adrianna Meaders, Mikaela Meaders and Lydia Ofalt.
Blue Ridge had a second-place finish in the 1200 sprint medley where Cosmello, Brecht and Rupakus were joined by Kandace Smith.
Lakeland ran away with its fourth straight Class AA boys title with 56 points. Riverside outscored Montrose, 33-30, in a close race for second place.
Elk Lake was sixth with 19 points. Blue Ridge (five points), Mountain View (four) and Susquehanna (one) finished 10th, 11th and 12th.
Montrose was led by a pair of third-place finishes.
Mike Henry, Zach Mead and Mike Stewart were on both the 1600 relay and distance medleys. Brennan Gilhool completed the 1600 relay lineup and Brandon Curley was the other distance medley team member.
Elk Lake placed second in the 3200 relay with the team of Hunter Bedell, Brett Carney, Cody Oswald and Seth Owens.
The Scranton boys and Wallenpaupack girls won Class AAA championships.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Lackawanna Track Conference Division 4 titles came down to the final day of the regular season and a meet between Montrose and Elk Lake Wednesday.
The schools split the two titles.
Montrose defeated Elk Lake, 101-49, in a meeting of division unbeatens to take the boys’ championship.
The final boys’ standings were: Montrose 5-0, Elk Lake 4-1, Lackawanna Trail 3-2, Mountain View 2-3, Susquehanna 1-4, Blue Ridge 0-5.
Elk Lake downed Montrose, 94-56, to take the title in a meet where a win by the Lady Meteors would have forced a three-way tie for the title.
The final girls’ standings were: Elk Lake 5-0, Blue Ridge 4-1, Montrose 3-2, Susquehanna 2-3, Mountain View 1-4, Lackawanna Trail 0-5.
Mountain View’s Joe Nally cleared 13-4 Saturday to win the pole vault in the James Cross Invitational in Wilkes-Barre.
In boys’ tennis, Montrose finished tied for seventh out of nine teams in the Lackawanna League Class AA Division.
The final standings: Scranton Prep 13-1, Valley View 11-3, Holy Cross 11-3, Western Wayne 8-6, Honesdale 4-10, Mid Valley 3-11, Montrose 2-12, Riverside 2-12, Dunmore 2-12.
In professional hockey, the Hershey Bears took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The teams are playing in the second round of the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Playoffs, in the Atlantic Division final.
The first two games, in Hershey, ended in shutouts.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won, 4-0, Wednesday before Hershey tied the series with a 2-0 victory Friday.
Hershey took the series lead by winning, 5-2, in Wilkes-Barre Saturday.
In professional baseball, relief pitcher Matt Wotherspoon was promoted from the Class AA Trenton Thunder to the Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Wotherspoon, from Crestwood, became just the second District 2 graduate to play for northeastern Pennsylvania’s minor-league team, currently the top affiliate of the New York Yankees. He follows Hazleton Area’s Russ Canzler.
Montrose graduate Rich Thompson also played Class AAA games at PNC Field, but did so as an opponent.
COLLEGE CORNER
Senior utility player Jackie Furch and sophomore shortstop Jenna Rupakus appeared in all 31 games for the Penn State-Harrisburg softball team this season.
The Blue Ridge graduates were among the team leaders during a 13-18 season.
Furch was second on the team with seven doubles and tied for second with two pitching wins. She pitched in eight games, starting six, and went 2-4 with a 3.82 ERA, 12 strikeouts and 16 walks in 40 innings. At the plate, she was fifth on the team with 12 RBI while batting .218.
Rupakus batted .304, third-best on the team.
Furch and Rupakus accounted for two of the team’s five home runs by each hitting one.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The District 2 Class AA boys’ singles tournament is scheduled for Thursday and Friday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.
The first three rounds are Thursday. The semifinals and finals are Friday.
In track and field, the District 2 Class AA Championships are scheduled for Tuesday at Scranton Memorial Stadium, beginning at 2 p.m.
In professional hockey, Game Five of the Calder Cup Atlantic Division Finals is scheduled for Wednesday night in Hershey.
If a Game Six is needed, it would be Friday night in Wilkes-Barre. Game Seven, if necessary, is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. in Hershey.
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.
THIRD WIN FOR KYLE BUSCH
Kyle Busch
KANSAS CITY, Kan.--Kyle Busch held off Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch to get his third Cup win of the season Saturday night at Kansas.
“It was a really great day,” said Busch. “I didn't know that we'd have that much speed in our race car. I guess I should have known. We had a top-five car going there in the beginning part and middle part of the race. We just kept making improvements to it, kept making it better. There with about two runs to go, we kind of got on the tight side. I felt like we had decent speed. I really didn't know what to do to make it any better.
“After that final pit stop, we kind of got on the free side and were a little bit loose. Matt (Kenseth) was catching us there. Those last couple cautions gave us the opportunity to kind of cool the tires down and go back at it again with some of those other guys.”
Harvick did not lead any laps, but was gaining on Busch as the laps wound down.
“For whatever reason I got tight,” said Harvick. “I hit a big piece of debris down there about six or seven laps into the run. From that point on I just got real tight. It's going to be a long week. We're going to do some testing, figure out what we're short on, and have some fun with it.”
Matt Kenseth was fourth, with Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, AJ Allmedninger, Chase Elliott, and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top-10 finishers.
A mechanical issue late in the race crippled a commanding performance by Martin Truex Jr., who led a race high 172 laps, but had to settle for 14th. He started the 267 lapper from the pole, was the class of the field until he reported a loose wheel following a Lap 212 pit stop. The culprit was a broken head bolt off the brake that got caught behind the right-front wheel. Truex had no choice but to make an unscheduled pit stop.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Truex.. “I went around [Turns] 1 and 2 and I was like, ‘Man, the wheel’s loose.’ Kept telling myself, ‘Maybe it’s not, maybe it’s just shaking because it’s got tape on it or something stupid.’ But it was loose; I knew right away. Frustrating, but that’s how it goes.”
Joey Logano got caught up in a wreck after Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin spun each other out with 26 laps remaining. Hamlin and Logano were both forced to withdraw after the incident.
Larson wound up 35th, while Hamlin was 37th, and Logano was 38th.
Top-10 leaders after 11 of 36: 1. Harvick-390, 2. Kyle Busch-386, 3. Edwards-367, 4. Johnson-353, 5. Kurt Busch-350, 6. Keselowski-332, 7. Logano-320, 8. A. Dillon-307, 9. Earnhardt-305, 10. Truex-303.
BYRON TAKES KANSAS TRUCK RACE
William Byron survived some late race turmoil at Kansas Speedway for his first Truck Series victory Friday night.
The 18-year-old, Kyle Busch driver had built a 5-second lead before Tyler Reddick spun with four to go, sending the race into a green-white-checkered finish. Byron got shuffled to third behind Johnny Sauter and Ben Rhodes on a restart, but he had enough power to pass them on the last lap.
“It was crazy, the last couple of restarts,” Byron said. “I had the lead there on the last green-flag run and I was just praying for no cautions. But you know, you have to earn it.”
The remaining top-10 finishers: 2. Matt Crafton, 3. Daniel Hemric, 4. Christopher Bell, 5. Clint Bowyer, 6. Ryan Truex, 7. Cole Custer, 8. Timothy Peters, 9. Ben Kennedy, 10. Spencer Gallagher.
Top-10 leaders after 4 of 23: 1. Peters-103, 2. Hemric-95, 3. Ryan Truex-93, 4. Young-89, 5. Nemechek-88, 6. Crafton-88, 7. Byron-87, 8. Gallagher-85, 9. Brown-83, 10. Kligerman-82.
EARNHARDT FAMILY FEUDS OVER NAME
Kerry Earnhardt, oldest son of Dale Earnhardt, is in a feud with Teresa Earnhardt, Dale's third wife and widow, over the use of the family name, according to ESPN.
Despite the fact that Teresa married into the family, she does not want Kerry and his wife, Rene, to promote the "Earnhardt Collection" of residential units built by Schumacher Home.
Kerry and Rene helped design and promote the brand that will also add furniture to its collection.
Teresa filed an appeal last week in federal court over a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruling that denied Teresa's challenge to the "Earnhardt Collection" trademark applied for by Kerry Earnhardt Inc.
“Rene and I have worked extremely hard to develop the Earnhardt Collection brand and make it uniquely ours,” Kerry Earnhardt said. “I chose to leave a successful career in racing and could not be happier with what we've been able to achieve in the five years we've been building our home lifestyle brand inspired by our love of the outdoors.
“I was born an Earnhardt and I felt that I had the right to own that name and be part of me, and he (Dale Sr.) was all for it.”
TRUEX GIVES MOM HER DUES
With Saturday night's Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway being conducted on Mother’s Day weekend, Martin Truex Jr. reflected on how appreciative he is of his mother (Linda) for allowing him to continue to race after she watched in fright her pre-teenage son getting wrecked while competing in a go-kart.
“When I was a kid starting to race go-karts, my dad (Martin Truex Sr.) was racing as well, so a lot of the weekends when I was racing my mom would take me to the track,” recalled Truex. "She was obviously pretty nervous about it at first. Her 10 or 11-year-old kid and she’s like, ‘I don’t want you to do this,’ and we’re racing go-karts – a bunch of kids just being crazy.
"It was one of the first weekends I’d raced and somebody hit me in the back and ended up on top of me basically. The kart was sitting on my head and my mother was pretty freaked out by it. I’m like, ‘Mom, it’s okay. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Look at me.’ She was a mess. It was almost the end of my career, but luckily she let me keep going. She’s a great mom.”
The go-kart accident that Truex maintains was “no big deal” started a career journey for the New Jersey native, who has advanced into a premier driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
In 2006, Truex moved to the No. 1 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevy full-time in the Nextel Cup Series. He had two Top-5 finishes and finished 19th in points. Truex got his first win of the 2007 season in the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Open, securing a spot in the 2007 Chase, where he finished 10th.
In 2008, he had 11 Top-10's and finished 15th in points.
Truex began 2009 by winning the pole for the Daytona 500. Later in the season, he claimed two more poles at Atlanta and Phoenix. That would be his final season with the team.
At the conclusion of the 2009 season, he left to drive the No. 56 for Michael Waltrip Racing.
After he lost his ride at MWR at the end of 2013,, Truex found a home at Furniture Row Racing, which needed a driver after Kurt Busch went to Stewart-Haas Racing. It was more a marriage of necessity than choice. Truex needed a ride. Front Row Racing was the best one available.
Nine races into the 2016 season, the team has yet to win a race but has had fast cars in just about every start. The fastest of those cars may have been the one Truex drove in the season-opening Daytona 500. He finished second – just inches behind Denny Hamlin.
“I think we have, actually, more speed” than a year ago, Truex said. “Obviously the finishes have not come as easy as they did last year, especially early in (the 2015) season, but with all we had to change in the off season…every single thing we do that has to do with building the cars, running the cars, it’s all new stuff.”
Weekend Racing: The Sprint Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series will all be at the Monster Mile in Dover, DE.
Fri., May 13; Truck Series race 5 of 23; Starting time: 5:30 pm ET; TV: Foxsports1.
Sat., May 14; Xfinity Series race 10 of 33; Starting time: 2 pm ET; TV: Fox.
Sun., May 15; Sprint Cup Series race 12 of 36; Starting time: 1 pm ET; TV: Foxsports1.
Racing Trivia Question: Former Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) driver Jody Ridley of Chatsworth, Georgia had one Cup win during his NASCAR career. Which track did he win at?
Last Week's Question? Who owns the Kansas Speedway? Answer. International Speedway Corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of NASCAR race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
Jake Decker
Jake Decker earned Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month honors last June for leading Blue Ridge to a strong finish that included a district title and a trip to the state quarterfinals.
Decker is back, earning the award again for this April after getting the Red Raiders off to a solid start this time.
With Decker continuing to make big contributions on the mound, at the plate and in key defensive positions, Blue Ridge finished the first month of the season 4-2 and tied for second in Division 4 of the Lackawanna League.
“Compared to last year, it’s a very young team,” Decker said. “We have a lot of freshmen; a lot of sophomores.
“Our hitting has been very successful. I think we’re a more powerful team.”
Decker has 56 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched, going 2-1 with a 2.10 earned run average. He also leads the team with eight RBI while batting .300 with two doubles.
The strikeout total is by far the best in the Lackawanna League.
Decker, who has been equally effective with his fastball and curveball, said offseason work helped him be ready to go all out each game without worrying about saving something for the next game.
“Every other day after school, I was going to the weightroom, building my legs,” Decker said. “And, also I did resistance training to strengthen my arm.”
A few offseason workouts with his travel team, the Broome County Bandits from Endicott, N.Y., helped Decker be ready to make an immediate impact when the season opened.
In addition to continuing to play shortstop at times when he is not on the mound, Decker is also playing some catcher for the first time ever.
Decker, a junior, is already a three-year starter in baseball. He has also been on the cross country team throughout high school, although he missed the sophomore season with an injury.
Jake is the son of John and Evie Decker of Susquehanna.
