Hayleigh Fekette and Megan Houlihan from Blue Ridge each were named Class A all-state by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association.
The two seniors led the Lady Raiders to the Lackawanna League title, a repeat of the District 2 Class A championship and a win in the first round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament to reach the state quarterfinals.
Houlihan was a repeat selection while Fekette was honored for the first time.
Fekette was named Player of the Year in the Lackawanna League when coaches selected their all-star team.
The senior setter/outside hitter contributed to the team in a variety of ways.
She led Blue Ridge in kills (171), service points (184) and assists (311) while finishing second in aces (77) and blocks (24) and third in digs (99).
Fekette was also a first-team, all-District 2 choice on the team selected by NPFSports.com, placing her among the district’s top seven players regardless of class.
Houlihan was named second-team, all-District 2 after earning first-team honors last year.
She was second on the team with 166 kills and 100 digs, third in aces with 55, fourth in blocks with 13 and sixth in service points with 148.
MORE ALL-STARS
Montrose’s championship boys cross country team had three runners honored by NPF Sports when the website named its all-District 2 team for the sport.
Owen Brewer and Zach Mead were named first-team, all-district for their performance while helping Montrose win Lackawanna League and District 2 Class A titles before finishing fifth in the state among Class A teams.
Brandon Curley was a second-team choice.
Brewer earned a state individual medal by finishing 13th in the state.
Mead won the District 2 title and finished 28th in the state.
Curley followed Mead to the finish line at the district meet as part of a sweep of the top three spots with the help of Brewer.
All three were also first-team Lackawanna League all-stars, according to league coaches.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Jeff Morris scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half Saturday night to lift Blue Ridge over Susquehanna, 56-45, in the championship game of the Sayre Tip-Off Tournament.
The Raiders from a 21-19 halftime deficit.
Morris went 4-for-4 from the line in the second half to help the team finish 13-for-15.
Mason Deakin scored 14 points and Eric Lee added 12 for Susquehanna.
Both teams won Friday night to reach the final.
Morris had 21 points when Blue Ridge opened the tournament with a 54-46 win over Wyalusing.
Tyler Williams scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half when Susquehanna rallied from three down to defeat Sayre, 54-40.
Montrose matched Susquehanna by splitting its opening weekend games.
Brennan Gilhool scored 15 points as the Meteors defeated Coughlin, 49-44, Saturday.
Brendan Buck added 10 points.
Montrose dropped its opener, 44-25, to Mid Valley.
The other three Susquehanna County boys’ teams each lost openers Friday night.
Carbondale handled visiting Elk Lake, 73-51, in the 40th annual Michael “Red” Wallace Memorial Scholarship Game Friday.
The Chargers hit 11 shots from 3-point range to ruin the head coaching debut of Elk Lake’s Rich Emmons, a former Susquehanna assistant.
Evan Dearie hit five of the 3s while scoring 18 points. Andrew Manarchuck hit four to score 12.
Ben Woolcock was Elk Lake’s Most Valuable Player in the game, scoring 24 points.
In other openers, Nanticoke routed Forest City, 76-27, and Western Wayne edged Mountain View, 33-31.
Nanticoke scored 10 straight points in the first 1:17 of the second quarter for a 26-8 lead. The Trojans then went on a 27-2 tear in the first 5:37 of the second half for a 66-21 lead.
Kolby Rotella led Forest City with eight points.
Former Old Forge coach Al Semenza got a win in his first game at Western Wayne.
In girls’ basketball, Elk Lake made Kevin Tewksbury a win in his head coaching debut, beating Tunkhannock, 49-34.
Justine Johns and Keri Jones led the Lady Warriors with 11 points each.
Blue Ridge split a pair of games to finish third in the Towanda Tip-Off Tournament.
After losing to Sayre, 41-34, the Lady Raiders edged Towanda, 41-39.
County teams lost the other three openers. Wyoming Area topped Susquehanna, 63-41; Valley View defeated Montrose, 38-22; and Lakeland handled Forest City, 36-23, Saturday.
Sarah Holweg, last year’s Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 co-Player of the Year, led Wyoming Area past Susquehanna with 31 points, including five 3-pointers.
Taylor Huyck led the Lady Sabers with 11.
In wrestling, Montrose finished sixth, Elk Lake seventh and Blue Ridge last in the 10-team field at the Ram Duals in Wyalusing.
Montrose went 2-2 in pool competition, beating Elk Lake, 47-24, and Waverly, N.Y., 59-24, while losing to Crestwood, 42-30, and Tunkhannock, 45-28.
Abington Heights defeated Montrose, 39-36, in the fifth-place match.
Elk Lake was 1-3 in the pool then beat Lackawanna Trail, 39-36.
Blue Ridge went winless, including a 36-27 loss to Waverly, N.Y. in the ninth-place match.
COLLEGE CORNER
Austin White finished his football season at King’s College with catches in all 10 games.
The Monarchs finished 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the Middle Atlantic Conference.
The sophomore from Blue Ridge, who played quarterback for the Susquehanna Sabers as part of the cooperative sponsorship of the sport between the two schools, finished with 18 catches for 200 yards. He also made a tackle and assisted on two others.
White’s best game came Oct. 29 when he caught four passes for 55 yards during a 41-20 loss to Stevenson University, the 12th-ranked NCAA Division III football team in the nation.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Lackawanna League Wrestling Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. at Wallenpaupack.
Mountain View and Blue Ridge will be making their season debut in the tournament. Montrose and Elk Lake are also part of the field.
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.
DALE JR FANS CAN REJOICE
Dale Earnhardt Jr and Fiance Amy Riemann at Las Vegas in December, 2016. Furnished by NASCAR
There is good news for those fans who have wondered if Dale Earnhardt Jr. would ever return to racing.
This past week, Earnhardt Jr. announced that he had been medically cleared to race after a special racing and test session at Darlington, and would be negotiating an extension of his contract with Hendrick Motorsports. In addition, he said he was looking forward to marrying his fiance, Amy Riemann on December 31, 2016.
Dr. Jerry Petty, Earnhardt's neurologist, attended the test, and proclaimed him fit to return to full-time racing.“Dale is one of the hardest-working patients I've ever encountered,” Petty said. “He's done everything we've asked, and we believe he is ready to compete at a professional level again and can withstand the normal forces of a race car driver. Dale has been very open with us, and we've had plenty of time for his treatment, so we feel very good about his long-term prospects and how this has been managed by everyone involved.” Earnhardt completed 185 laps during a five-hour session at Darlington under the guidance of his crew chief, Greg Ives.
“I wouldn't be coming back to the seat and wanting to drive and be excited about driving cars if there was any risk other than the typical risk that every driver faces on Sunday,” said Earnhardt. “I feel very confident in what I've seen in myself, my improvement and I feel confident in what my doctors tell me about my future.”
In addition to the on-track test, which was observed by NASCAR, he spent more than 15 hours in a racing simulator during his recovery.
Speaking during a teleconference with team owner Rick Hendrick, Earnhardt was upbeat about his return after missing half of the 2016 NASCAR season due to the effects of a concussion suffered during the June race at Michigan.
“I feel great, and I'm excited to officially be back,” Earnhardt said. “I expected things to go really well yesterday, and that's exactly what happened. Actually getting in a race car was an important final step, and it gives me a ton of confidence going into 2017. Thanks to the staff at Darlington for hosting our team and to NASCAR for giving us the opportunity to put a car on the track. I'll do more testing in January to help knock the rust off. When it's time to go to Daytona, I'll be ready.”
Earnhardt Jr. said he believes his health is better now than it was before the crash at Michigan, which caused a concussion, and triggered balance and vision issues as well as nausea that kept him out for the final 18 races of 2016. He plans to resume contract negotiations with Hendrick Motorsports before he returns to racing in February, 2017.
Earnhardt's driving contract is up at the end of 2017, and contract negotiations were put on hold after he stepped out of the car in July.“We're probably going to revisit our contract extension before the season starts,” Earnhardt continued. “I've told you guys that before I got sick, me and [team owner] Rick [Hendrick] had been sitting down and talking about our future and the extension and what we wanted to do and all that stuff was starting to come together.”
Earnhardt said he does not expect he will have to undergo any additional tests because of his concussion history if he gets into a crash other than the evaluation given to any other driver.
Team owner Rick Hendrick said he was thrilled to have Earnhardt back.
“Dale deserves so much credit,” said Hendrick. “I'm proud of him for listening to his body and standing up to take responsibility for his health. He's worked extremely hard and set a terrific example for others. It's great news as we go into the off-season, and we can't wait to see him back on the racetrack at Daytona.”
While Earnhardt will take part in all the practice sessions leading up to the Daytona 500, he will not participate in The Clash, a non-points preliminary race, which is run one week prior to the Daytona 500.
Alex Bowman will race the No. 88 Chevrolet in that race on Feb. 18, which will feature pole winners from the previous year. Bowman won the pole at Phoenix in November.
“Alex did such a great job in the car this year, and I felt like he deserved another opportunity,” Earnhardt said. “When I spoke with Rick and the team about him driving The Clash, everyone agreed that he more than earned it, and Nationwide was one hundred percent on board. I'm really grateful to him and Jeff for what they did for our team, and I'm glad Alex is getting another run with us.”
Earnhardt will test again Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Phoenix International Raceway.
In 2016, Earnhardt was winless in 18 starts, although he did finish second four times. For his career, Earnhardt has 595 NASCAR Premier Series starts, which have produced 13 poles, 26 victories, 148 top fives and 252 top tens.
“Personally, just going through that process you learn a lot,” Earnhardt continued. “I don’t know if we’ve got time to go over it all, but you certainly realize the things that you might be taking for granted in life. You learn to appreciate a lot of different parts and aspects of your life a lot more. I had that same kind of experience before in 2012. When you get something kind of taken away from you, you certainly realize what it is worth. We gripe about our schedule and this and that and the other, but once you are not doing it and you are watching all your friends out there on the track and watching your crew work without you, really puts thing into perspective.
“It helps you kind of appreciate really what you’ve got. Definitely feel recharged and energized about the opportunity to be able to come back and race. I felt like I have a lot left in the tank. I’m excited about getting to Daytona. We are going to test in Phoenix, which I’m really looking forward to. Testing is kind of boring, but I’m ready to get more and more laps in the car so I feel real confident in myself. Confidence is really critical for me to perform well. The more I can do to help build my confidence before we got to Daytona the better.
“I’m excited.”
Meanwhile Rick Hendrick believes that Monster Energy, the new NASCAR series title sponsor will bring new and younger faces into the sport.
There's no secret that NASCAR's fan base is made up mostly of middle aged and older people. With an influx of younger drivers, the new sponsor might help attract a younger audience. Monster Energy has done well in the other forms of motorsport they have become involved in; Formula 1, MotoGP, AMA Supercross, NHRA, Australian Supercars, Global Rallycross, World RX, the Dakar Rally and the Baja 1000.
“We see the demographics of the people in our fan base because of drivers like Chase Elliott. They are a lot younger and we need that in our sport,” said Hendrick. “Sponsors are looking for that younger demographic too. We need the veterans, but we've got a great crop of young guys.
“I think Monster could be a big boost. You look at what they do with the demographics of the young people they have, and the energy they have behind all the other series they're in. I think it could be really good for our sport. They've done a good job of marketing. I think their fan base is really good, so I'm excited about it.”
Racing Trivia Question: What year did Tony Stewart win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of The Year?
Last Week's Question: What year did Dale Earnhardt win his last NASCAR Cup championship? Answer. It was 1994.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
Justine Johns
Justine Johns made four trips to Hershey with the Elk Lake girls cross country team.
Johns came home with four state medals.
After her latest, Johns repeated another accomplishment.
The senior has earned a Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month award for the second straight year.
Johns finished 18th individually to lead Elk Lake to a second-place team finish in Class A at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Cross Country Championships.
With that effort, she receives the Athlete of the Month award, one month earlier than in 2015.
A year ago, Johns was honored after leading Elk Lake to the championship of the Denise Reddon Tournament in girls’ basketball.
The past performances in Hershey – Johns was 20th, 17th and 19th in her first three years – added expectations to the final trip.
The top 25 in each race earn state medals.
“That was very exciting,” said Johns, who finished the 3.1-mile Hershey Parkview Course in 19:57. “I felt like I had a lot of pressure on me to get the fourth one.”
Johns led the team in the state meet for the first time as the Lady Warriors tied St. Joseph’s Catholic for the best score, only to have to settle for second place on a tiebreaker.
With Johns finishing a team-best third place, Elk Lake knocked off unbeaten Lackawanna League champion Holy Cross at the District 2 championships to earn its state meet shot.
The state runner-up team finish was the third of her four-year career for Johns, who said she plans to continue running in college.
Johns has been accepted at NCAA Division III schools Moravian and Marywood along with Division II Mansfield University. She may consider additional schools before making a final decision.
“I’m still figuring it out,” Johns said.
An all-star point guard, Johns is now in her fourth season as a basketball starter. She also competed in track and field as a sophomore and junior and earned a state relay medal in her first season.
Justine, is the daughter of Thomas and Heather Johns of Meshoppen.
