Elk Lake graduate Hunter Watkins is off to a fast start in his outdoor track and field career at Mansfield University.

Watkins is the latest Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week after quickly establishing himself as one of the country’s top javelin throwers in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

A two-time state medalist for the Warriors, Watkins finished third in Class 2A at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships last season after placing seventh in 2015.

Watkins hit an NCAA provisional mark, making him a potential national meet qualifier, in his collegiate outdoor debut with a throw of 60.61 meters (198 feet-10 ¼ inches) at Richmond’s Fred Hardy Invitational two weeks before earning the conference award with his effort at the Millersville Metrics April 1.

Watkins finished second overall the meet with a career-best 64.14 meters (210-5 ¼). The second-best javelin throw in Mansfield history is the best in PSAC this season and ranks ninth nationally.

As a senior at Elk Lake, Watkins had a best throw of 200-2, won District 2 with 198-0 and threw 189-1 at the state meet.

During the indoor season at Mansfield, Watkins’ best performances were 10.90 meters (35-9 1/8) in the shot put and 11.45 meters (37-6 ¾) in the weight throw.

At Saturday’s Delaware Open, which included Division I competition among its 18 teams, Watkins posted the third straight second-place finish to start the season. He threw 54.74 meters (179-7).

Mansfield has three Susquehanna County athletes on its men’s team and another on the women’s team.

Chris Carlsen, a versatile senior from Blue Ridge, has the fifth-best triple jump in school history at 12.21 meters (40 feet-0 ¾ inches).

Carlsen joined Watkins in throwing the javelin Saturday. He was 12th out of 31 entries with 42.66 meters (139-11).

After participating in six different sports during his time at Blue Ridge, Carlsen has competed in eight events during his track and field career at Mansfield.

Carlsen won two triple jump titles at invitationals as a freshman. He has outdoor career bests of 48.19 meters (158-1 ¼) in the javelin, 12.38 meters (40-7 3/8) in the triple jump and 5.93 meters (19-5 ½) in the long jump.

During his indoor career, Carlsen has been part of successful 1600-meter relay teams and has run on the distance medley relay team. His career-bests for individual events are 24.99 seconds in the 200-meter dash, 38.90 in the 300, 55.54 in the 400 as well as 12.42 meters (40-9) in the triple jump and 5.48 meters (17-9 ¾) in the long jump.

Conner Kojola, a freshman from Elk Lake, is also on the roster.

Kenzie Jones, a sophomore from Elk Lake, was fourth out of 22 entries in the women’s 3000-meter run at the Delaware Open with a career-best 10:25.48. It was a huge drop from her previous best, which had been an 11:05 indoors.

It was the second straight week that Jones hit a personal best. She had finished third at the Millersville Metrics a week earlier by running the 1500 in 4:56.86.

Jones opened the season by winning the 10,000-meter run in Richmond with a time of 39:03.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Blue Ridge is off to a 3-0 start in boys’ volleyball in what has otherwise been a slow start to the spring season because of poor field conditions for the outdoor sports.

Softball, as well as boys’ and girls’ track and field, had openers delayed last week.

There have been just two Lackawanna League Division 5 baseball games and Montrose is 2-2 in boys’ tennis.

Blue Ridge knocked Mountain View (3-1) out of first place in the Lackawanna League boys’ volleyball Thursday by pulling out a tense, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 18-16 victory at home.

The Raiders also won Friday at Susquehanna, 25-16, 25-15, 25-15.

In high school baseball, Blue Ridge shut out Mountain View, 6-0, April 3 and Montrose defeated Lackawanna Trail, 5-1, April 4.

Derek Stento and Nick Folk combined on a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts for Blue Ridge.

In professional baseball, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and Binghamton Rumble Ponies each had their season openers delayed two days before playing Saturday.

Rowdy Tellez homered twice to lift the host Buffalo Bisons to a 4-2 International League victory over the defending champion RailRiders.

Clint Frazier doubled in one run and scored the other for the RailRiders in the sixth inning.

Binghamton opened with an Eastern League sweep over the host New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Tyler Pill started his second straight season opener and pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings for a franchise record 26th career victory when Binghamton shut out New Hampshire, 2-0, in the opener of the doubleheader.

The Rumble Ponies used a seven-run fifth inning to win the second game, 8-2.

In professional hockey, Cody Wydo and Jarrett Burton scored in the first 7 ½ minutes Sunday when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the host Providence Bruins, 2-1, to clinch the American Hockey League Atlantic Division title.

Casey DeSmith shut the Bruins out over the first two periods when he made 25 of his 33 saves.

It was a big week for the Penguins, who had extended the AHL’s longest active streak of consecutive playoff berths to 15 April 2.

The Penguins hit the 100-point mark in the standings for the sixth time in team history and the first in six years with a 3-0 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With the league’s best record (50-19-3-1), they were the first team to reach the milestone this season.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won three times in three days. It also won, 2-1, in Hartford Saturday with the help of the first career goal by Patrick McGrath.

McGrath, from Shavertown, is the team’s only player who is originally from northeastern Pennsylvania.

Earlier in the week, three Penguins received individual honors.

Defenseman David Warsofsky was named as a second-team AHL all-star. He ranks sixth among AHL defensemen in scoring with 15 goals and 30 assists.

The Penguins also landed two of the sixth spots on the AHL’s All-Rookie team.

DeSmith was selected as the goalie. Jake Guentzel, who scored 42 points in 33 games to earn a promotion to the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, made it as a forward.

The Binghamton Senators were shut out in AHL award selections.

LOOKING BACK

Forest City High School senior distance runner Jennifer Korty and her siblings turned in strong performances at the Scranton Half Marathon April 2.

Jennifer, 17, won her age group and was the top Susquehanna County finisher in the 13.1-mile race.

The District 2 champion, who runs for Forest City in fall cross country season and for Carbondale in the spring track and field season as part of a cooperative sponsorship between the two schools, finished the course in 1:28:56. She was first out of 33 runners in the Female 18-and-under age group and 63rd out of 2,346 total finishers.

Two of Jennifer’s brothers joined her as the only other county runners in the top 100 and 12-year-old sister Rachel finished second to her in the age group. Rachel Korty was 202nd overall in 1:39:51.

Joshua Korty was 79th overall in 1:30:16. The 19-year-old was 12th of 102 in the Male 19-24 age group.

Matthew Korty, 14, was third of 22 in the Male 18-and-under age group. He was 88th overall in 1:31:14.

Tyler Eustance from Binghamton won by less than a second over New York City’s Abu Kebele Diriba in 1:07:52.

Emily Helme from Milford was the women’s champion, coming in 17th overall in 1:19.00 and beating former champion Heidi Peoples from Scranton by nine seconds.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Abington Heights is at Blue Ridge Thursday in a match between the two Lackawanna League boys’ volleyball teams that entered the week sharing first place with 3-0 records.

In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins return home Wednesday to face the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the last of 12 times this season.

The Penguins have shut out the Phantoms in each of the last three meetings.

In professional baseball, Binghamton will play its first home game since changing the team nickname from the Mets to the Rumble Ponies Thursday when it hosts the Erie SeaWolves.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

JOHNSON GETS FIRST WIN

Johnson Gets First Win of Season

FT. WORTH, Tex.--Las Vegas odds makers had listed Jimmie Johnson's chance of winning Sunday's Texas Cup race at 10:1.

They were wrong.

It was a no contest for Johnson in the less-than-exciting, 334-lap race.

Johnson was near the front for most of the race. He gained the lead from Joey Logano after a restart on lap 319 and led the remaining 15 laps for his first win of the season and the seventh at the one and one-half mile Texas track.

“We just kept working on the car all day,” said Johnson. “When we got the lead after that last restart, I felt like we had the winning car.”

Kyle Larson was gaining on Johnson in the closing laps, but had to settle for runner-up.

“I could really pass people when we were racing, but the car couldn't get up to speed the way I would have liked,” said Larson. “I made a mistake on that last restart, and couldn't get up front in time.”

Larson's second-place finish moved him to the top of all driver's in points.

Joey Logano, who led 38 laps was third.

“Well, I felt like our car was good enough to beat until Jimmie got by me,” said Larson. “I guess they found a little more speed, because I couldn't hold him off.”

Kevin Harvick had a fast car and led four times for 77 laps, mostly in the middle stage of the race.

“The car didn't want to go on that last restart,” said Harvick. “I don't know if we picked up some trash on the tires, or what. It just didn't seem like it was the same car as we had earlier.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fifth for his best finish of the season.

“This was not a win, but it makes me feel better,” said Earnhardt. “I don't think there is anything wrong with the team. I'm proud of them. They all work hard and do a good job. We'd like to win and I believe we will, but when and where, I don't know.

“We are capable of winning any week. I won't say that we have better luck at one track than others. I think we are capable of winning at any track.”

The remaining top-10 finishers were: Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex, Chase Elliott, and Kurt Busch.

Ryan Blaney won both of the Race Segments and led the most laps (148). Late in the race he over shot his pit stall, which cost him valuable time. When he did return to the track, he was 14th. He moved up two spots to finish 12th.

Top-10 leaders after 7 of 36: 1. Larson-315, 2. Elliott-298, 3. Truex-275, 4. Keselowski-274, 5. Logano-243, 6. Blaney-221, 7. Kyle Busch-218, 8. McMurray-209, 9. Bowyer-204, 10. Harvick-198.

JONES TAKES TEXAS XFINITY RACE

Eric Jones out raced Cup regulars, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, and Austin Dillon to win Saturday's Texas Xfinity race.

“I think we did a good job figuring out what to expect from this new pavement,” said Jones. “The team made the right adjustments during the race, and that's what allowed us to win.”

Ryan Blaney finished second, .54-seconds back, followed by Harvick, Austin Dillon, Cole Custer, Darrell Wallace Jr., William Byron, Ty Dillon, Matt Tifft, and Elliott Sadler.

Jones won the first race segment, while Byron took the second one.

Top-10 leaders after 6 of 33: 1. Sadler-225, 2. Byron-219, 3. Reed-183, 4. Wallace-176, 5. Allgaier-174, 6. Tifft-139, 7. Hemric-136, 8. B. Poole-134, 9. Annett-130, 10. Koch-130.

BOWYER FEELS LIKE A NEW MAN

Since moving to Stewart Haas Racing at the start of the 2016 season, Clint Bowyer couldn't be happier.

Bowyer has already had as many top-10 runs after six races into the season as he had in all of the 2015 season.

“Things are going good, things are going relatively smooth,” he said. “You always want to be better. You always want to be contending for wins. That’s what they pay us for. So far, so good.

“It’s fun to go to the race shop every week and talk about what we’re going to do to get better for the following week.”

Bowyer raced last season for HScott Motorsports, biding his time until Tony Stewart retired from Cup racing. Bowyer posted only three top-10 runs after having at least double-digit top-10s the previous 10 years.

Bowyer has fit into the group at SHR well and has formed a nice tandem with crew chief Mike Bugarewicz, Stewart’s old crew chief. Bowyer and Bugarewicz may be opposites on the personality scale, but each is driven to succeed.

As Stewart put it, “Buga is the right guy for him.”

And SHR is the right team for Bowyer, a team where he can be himself and contend on Sundays. Bowyer is back to making headlines for the right reasons.

“This is an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often, whether it was my first opportunity in this sport or my last,” Bowyer said. “This is the opportunity you are giddy about no matter where you are in your career.”

AWARD BANQUETS MOVING TO CHARLOTTE

NASCAR's Annual Camping World Truck and Xfinity Series banquets will move to Charlotte this year.

The two series will combine with the celebration of NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series and NASCAR Touring Series for a weekend of festivities in December at the Crown Ballroom in the Charlotte Convention Center. The awards ceremonies will take place on Friday, Dec. 8, and Saturday, Dec. 9. 

The move from Miami to Charlotte was discussed with, and favored by, teams competing in both the Xfinity and Truck series. Moving closer toward teams' home bases creates an opportunity for more teams to attend.

“Hosting the awards in Charlotte provides an opportunity to honor these series' champions in a year-end, week-long celebration of their own,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer.

“This will allow for broader participation by the entire industry – teams, partners and fans alike – and promises to be an even bigger event that honors our deserved champions.”

The move may also open the door for the Cup Series banquet.

On March 5, Motorsport.com reported the addition of a fall Las Vegas race to the Cup schedule in 2017 could also mean that series’ annual awards banquet, which has been held in Las Vegas for several years, could move to Charlotte as early as the 2018 season.

Weekend Racing: There will be no NASCAR racing next weekend. It is Easter weekend, and NASCAR has a long standing policy of not racing on Easter.

Racing Trivia Question: Who owns the Bristol Motor Speedway?

Last Week's Question: What year did Clint Bowyer break into Cup racing? Answer. His first race was in 2005 for Richard Childress Racing.

You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com. 

Jeff Morris, Blue Ridge basketball

Jeff Morris was a star among stars.

The Blue Ridge forward earned Most Valuable Player honors on the winning team for his performance in the Lackawanna League Senior Boys’ Basketball All-Star Game.

Despite playing just 12:08, Morris scored 19 points to lead the Blue, made up of players from Divisions 1 and 4, to a 106-102 victory over the Red March 28 at Valley View High School.

For his effort, Morris has been selected as the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for March.

Morris made all three of his 3-point attempts in the game and finished 8-for-12 from the floor. He also had four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

The all-star game performance capped a big senior season for Morris, who led the Raiders in scoring for the second straight season, averaging nearly 19 points per game.

Morris led a turnaround by Blue Ridge in the process.

The Raiders were coming off a 4-19 finish in the 2014-15 season when an injury opened a spot in the starting lineup for Morris.

“That’s when I got a chance to prove myself,” said Morris, who had spent time on the junior varsity team in his first two seasons, appearing briefly on the varsity level as a freshman before moving up to the point of becoming a spot starter as a sophomore. “I had to work twice as hard and show what I can do.”

Morris got off to a fast start in his junior season and kept going.

In the last two years, he has showed off his versatility.

“I switched to quite a few different positions,” Morris said.

Playing as part of a bigger lineup as a junior, he played both guard positions and forward on a team that more than doubled its win total, going .500 in Lackawanna League play and finishing 9-14 overall.

With different needs this season, Morris played center and forward.

“I had to focus more of myself on the post and post moves,” Morris said. “I had to get stronger and that’s something I worked on in the preseason.”

Morris did so well while spending more of his time inside that he earned Lackawanna Division 4 Player of the Year honors from the division’s coaches.

The Raiders had the division’s best record in all-season division play (10-2) and overall (17-8). Although it fell short of the all-season division title, Blue Ridge did win two tournaments and the first-half Division 4 title.

“We brought both (tournament) trophies back to Blue Ridge, which was a great feeling,” said Morris, who was the Most Valuable Player of the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament.

Morris will attend Susquehanna University where he hopes to play basketball while majoring in business and minoring in actuarial science. His all-star performance was cut short in the third quarter by a knee injury that requires surgery.

Jeff Jr. is the son of Jeff Sr. and Sara Morris from Jackson Township.