The Montrose boys’ track and field team posed on the medal stand after winning the Class 2A title at the 62nd annual Jordan Relays (Tom Robinson Photo)
SCRANTON – The Montrose boys’ track and field team added to its championship list on consecutive days, giving it three in the span of a week.
After winning the Lasagna Invitational April 28 at Wyalusing, Montrose locked up its Lackawanna Track Conference Division 4 title Wednesday and won the 62nd annual Jordan Relays Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.
The Meteors showed they could dominate or come through in the clutch in a tight meet.
Montrose defeated Blue Ridge, 124-26, to complete a 5-0 run through the division.
At the Jordan Relays, Montrose broke a tie in the final event, beating Lakeland head-to-head in the closing 1600-meter relay to win the Class 2A boys’ title by a 51-49 margin.
The Meteors have won 26 straight divisional meets, including going 25-0 with five titles since the switch to four divisions for the start of the 2013 season.
Thursday’s title allowed the Meteors to end the four-year Jordan Relays title run by the Lackawanna League Division 3 champion Chiefs. It was the first Jordan boys’ title in school history.
“I was hoping we could hang with them a little bit and then see what would happen,” Meteors coach Dean Brewer said after his team won three of the six events. “I just put the kids in position. I thought we’d be close, but Lakeland’s a great team and I would have accepted whatever way it came out.
“I just want to be healthy at this point.”
Collin Chidester was part of the wins in the opening distance medley relay and the 1600-meter relay while also finishing second in the 1200 sprint medley.
Zach Mead won in the distance medley and 3200 relay while being part of the third-place 1600 sprint medley team.
Mike Henry was Chidester’s teammate on both relay wins. Curley ran with Mead on both wins.
Brennan Gilhool and Harley Mullins were part of the decisive 1600 relay win and each put in a full night with two second-place and one third-place finish.
Eric Bixby and Owen Brewer joined Curley and Mead on the 3200 relay win.
John Herman was on both second-place teams while Tyler Dovin was on the second-place 400 relay. Colin Spellman was on the third-place 1600 medley.
In Division 4, the Meteors won every meet by at least 72 points for an average victory margin of 123.4-25.6.
Chidester and Colin Mondi each won three events in the clinching win over Blue Ridge. Chidester won both hurdles and the triple jump. Mondi won the shot put, high jump and pole vault.
The final LTC Division 4 boys’ standings were: Montrose 5-0, Lackawanna Trail 4-1, Elk Lake 3-2, Mountain View 2-3, Blue Ridge 1-4, Susquehanna 0-5.
The final Class 2A boys’ standings at the Jordan Relays were: Montrose 51, Lakeland 49, Lackawanna Trail 32, Western Wayne 30, Mid Valley 19, Holy Cross 15, Dunmore 14, Carbondale 13, Mountain View 8, Riverside 3.
Montrose could add to its title run. The Spagna Lackawanna Track Conference Championships were scheduled for Tuesday and the District 2 Championships are next week, but Brewer said another cold night that was anticipated for the Spagna Meet might cause him to take a more cautious approach there to have his athletes ready for the district championship.
“We don’t want to be beat up going into districts,” he said. “We might move some kids around and just do what we need to do to be ready for the following week.”
Mountain View’s Jeff Virbitsky finished second in the 1600 Saturday at the James Cross Invitational, hosted by Wilkes-Barre Coughlin.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Elk Lake girls’ track team and Blue Ridge boys’ volleyball team also won titles during the week.
Keri Jones led the way Wednesday when Elk Lake defeated Susquehanna, 86-64, in a battle of unbeatens on the final day of the Lackawanna Track Conference season to capture the Division 4 girls’ title.
Jones won the 1600- and 3200-meter runs while running a leg on the 3200 relay.
Eliza Bosscher won the triple jump and high jump while Grasyn Bushnell won the 300 hurdles and pole vault.
Skyla Wilson won the 100, 200 and 400 for Susquehanna. Alexia Presley won the 100 hurdles and long jump.
The final LTC Division 4 girls’ standings were: Elk Lake 5-0, Susquehanna 4-1, Montrose 2-3, Blue Lackawanna Trail 2-3, Blue Ridge 1-4, Mountain View 1-4.
Montrose finished second in Class 2A girls the distance medley at the Jordan Relays with Georgia Smith running the opening 800 meters, Anna Loomis and Chalice Guyette running 400 legs and Hannah Perkins running the anchor 1600 meters. They combined to finish in 10:11.17.
Blue Ridge took third in the 1600 sprint medley with Gwen MacConnell running the 400, Kandace Smith and Isabella Cosmello running 200s and Karris Fazzi the anchor 800 meters.
The final Class 2A girls’ standings at the Jordan Relays were: Western Wayne 42, Lakeland 41, Dunmore 33, Holy Cross 31, Lackawanna Trail 20, Blue Ridge 16, Montrose 16, Carbondale 10, Susquehanna 7, Mid Valley 7, Riverside 5, Mountain View 5.
In boys’ volleyball, Blue Ridge won three times in four days.
The Raiders needed a rally from two games down at Mountain View Tuesday to prevent the Eagles from forcing a tie for first place, then won back-to-back, three-game sweeps Thursday and Friday against Western Wayne and Forest City.
Garrett Mansfield had 14 kills and 10 digs when Blue Ridge came back to defeat Mountain View, 23-25, 15-25, 25-12, 25-20, 15-11.
Dane Beers also had 14 kills, Kyle Bayle also had 10 digs and Dominick Rogers had 38 assists.
The Raiders then defeated Western Wayne, 25-18, 25-15, 25-20, and Forest City, 25-19, 25-12, 25-15.
In boys’ tennis, Montrose finished fifth of nine teams in the Class 2A Division of the Lackawanna League, then won its first-round District 2 playoff match.
The Meteors defeated visiting Tunkhannock, 4-1, Wednesday in the only match needed to trim the field from nine to the eight quarterfinalists.
Montrose advanced to meet top-seeded Wyoming Seminary, the unbeaten Wyoming Valley Conference champion, in a quarterfinal match that was scheduled for Monday.
Final Class 2A Division standings: Scranton Prep 13-1, Holy Cross 11-3, Western Wayne 11-3, Valley View 11-3, Montrose 7-7, Mid Valley 5-9, Honesdale 3-11, Dunmore 1-13, Riverside 0-14.
In baseball, Blue Ridge came out of the week in sole possession of first place in Lackawanna League Division 5 by beating Elk Lake, the same team it got help from earlier in the week.
Elk Lake knocked Forest City out of a share of the division lead with a 9-4 win Tuesday, but then when it had a chance to jump into the division lead, it lost to Blue Ridge, 4-3, Thursday.
Trenton Finch had two hits and scored twice Tuesday for Elk Lake, which took the lead with two runs in the sixth and broke the game open with four in the seventh.
Jarred Mills went 3-for-3 and scored twice, Eric Peters had a single, double and two RBI and Derek Stento struck out nine in six innings to lead Blue Ridge.
In softball, Elk Lake finished the week in first place in Lackawanna League Division 4 at 8-1. Montrose (6-1) and Lackawanna Trail (5-1) also have just one loss.
COLLEGE CORNER
Jenna Rupakus tied for third on the Penn State-Harrisburg softball team with four stolen bases.
The junior shortstop from Blue Ridge scored 20 runs and drove in 10 while playing 29 games when the team went 14-20.
Rupakus has three doubles and two sacrifices. She has walked nine times and struck out eight.
In 96 career games, Rupakus has a .290 batting average with 15 doubles, a home run and 31 RBI.
THE WEEK AHEAD
District 2 Class 2A boys’ tennis singles tournament is scheduled to begin Thursday at 9 a.m. at Kirby Park, Wilkes-Barre.
Action continues Thursday until the four semifinalists are determined. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Friday.
In baseball, second-place Forest City is at first-place Blue Ridge Thursday in Lackawanna League Division 5 game.
In track and field, the District 2 Class 2A Championships are scheduled for Monday, May 15 at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
Jenn Korty, one of the Forest City athletes who is part of the Carbondale team in a cooperative sponsorship, is the defending champion in the girls’ 800- and 1600-meter runs.
Susquehanna’s Skyla Wilson is the defending 300 hurdles champion while Elk Lake’s Lydia Ofalt is the defending champ in the 400.
Blue Ridge’s Cosmello is back after being part of gold medal relay teams in the 400 and 1600. Smith was on the 400 team while Fazzi was on the 1600 team.
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.
WHO'S GONNA FILL EARNHARDT'S SHOES?
Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Junior at Bristol in 2000
RICHMOND, Vir.-- Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced last week that he will bring his NASCAR Cup Series driving career to a close at the conclusion of the 2017 season.
Now in the midst of his 18th full-time season at the Cup level, Earnhardt made his 600th career series start on March 26 at Fontana, California. He will compete in his final Cup Series race on Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Maybe it was injuries that hastened his decision. Earnhardt has been plagued by three concussions during his career, and missed the second half of the 2017 season.
Perhaps it was his marriage on January 1, 2017, that brought about changes.
Maybe it was a combination of things, and Earnhardt just thought it was time to move on to another chapter in his life.
The big question for the folks back at Rick Hendrick Motorsports, owner of car No. 88, is who will replace him. Finding a driver won't be a problem, because Hendrick has several young drivers waiting to step up.
There has been talk of Carl Edwards returning, but Edwards has given no indication that he plans to race again. Another possibility is Kyle Larson, driver of Chip Ganassi's No. 42 in the Cup Series. Larson's contract expires this year, but last week he said he will remain loyal to Ganassi.
Alex Bowman is a young driver that must be considered. He replaced Earnhardt for 10 races last season when he was out with concussion symptoms. Bowman was welcomed by the Junior Nation, although he struggled a bit at the beginning.
William Byron is another Hendrick developmental driver that could be ready for the big time. He has raced in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports. While Byron is young and doesn't have a lot of Cup experience, look at Chase Elliott, who has made a great jump to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Gordon.
No matter which driver is chosen, he will not have the name recognition of Earnhardt, and that could be a factor in funding the No. 88.
Any driver must be able to earn his keep. The No. 88 car with Junior behind the wheel brings in about $30-million a year from sponsors. A new, untested driver without his drawing power won't command near that price.
Most leading Cup teams operate on about a $15-$20-million dollar sponsor budget. That is in addition to what they win on the track. With Earnhardt's legendary status, Hendrick Motorsports has been able to charge sponsors almost double of what the average team could.
With a new driver, the amount sponsors are willing to pay will go down. The dollars a driver can command from sponsors will go a long way in determining who gets Earnhardt's ride.
PENSKE DRIVERS FINISH 1-2 AT RICHMOND
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, two Penske Racing teammates finished 1-2 in Sunday's 400-lap NASCAR Cup race at Richmond, Virginia.
Logano gained the lead from Kyle Larson after a restart on lap 384 and went on to victory lane in his 300th Cup race.
“We ran as hard as we could there at the end,” said Logano. “I knew Brad was coming, and he might have had a little faster car, so I had to really race hard.”
Keselowski led six times for 110 laps, but could not get back to the front after a pit stop.
“That last restart hurt us,” said Keselowski. “I got caught behind a car that didn't get going very well. I'm happy for Joey, but I wish we could have had ten more laps.”
Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, and Martin Truex Jr.
Matt Kenseth won Stage One, while Keselowski took Stage Two.
Kyle Busch was running in third position late in the race, but he was given a pit road penalty, and had to go to the tail end of the field of cars. He finished 16th.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was banged into the outside wall during lap 345. Earnhardt was running the outside line, when Jimmie Johnson had a right front tire blow out, causing him to swerve up into Earnhardt.
“I wasn't watching what was happening on the inside of me,” said Earnhardt. “Normally when you're riding up there, you don't have too much to watch for. I didn't see Jimmie's car. It was like an explosion when he hit me.”
Earnhardt finished 30th, while Johnson was 11th.
Polesitter Matt Kenseth led the most laps (164), but had a right rear tire go down that damaged his car, and he had finished 23rd.
Eric Jones was the first casualty of the race. He was involved in a wreck during lap 8, and was the last place driver.
The win gave Ford their fourth win in nine races this season.
Top-16 Chase Contenders after 9 of 26: 1. Larson-398, 2. Truex-358, 3. Elliott-346, 4. Logano-333, 5. Keselowski-327, 6. Harvick-286, 7. McMurray-282, 8. Johnson-270, 9. Bowyer-266, 10. Kyle Busch-235, 11. Hamlin-231, 12. Blaney-229, 13. Newman-225, 14. Bayne-216, 15. Stenhouse-201, 16. Jones-193.
LARSON WINS XFINITY RACE
Justin Allgaier might have had the best and fastest car, but it was Kyle Larson that got the win in Saturday's 250-lap Xfinity Series race.
Two late restarts didn't play out in Allgaier's favor and he had to settle for second.
“Unfortunately there at the end, we got caught short,” said Allgaier. “We're really disappointed. I'm sure we had the fastest car and we're just gonna look back and see how we lost.”
Allgaier led 157 laps and was leading the race, when a caution came out on lap 239. All the leaders pitted and Allgaier was second out of the pits, behind Ty Dillon. On the restart, Dillon jumped the start, while Allgaier got left far behind.
Another caution came out with five-to-go. Dillon was penalized by NASCAR for jumping the start and sent to the rear of the field. When the race was restarted Kyle Larson was the new leader, followed by Allgaier and Elliott Sadler.
Larson got a good jump on Allgaier to take the lead. Before the field could reach the start/finish line, there was another wreck, bringing out the final caution, and handing the win to Larson, who was leading at the time the yellow flag was given.
But it wasn't all bad for Allgaier. He won $100,000 as the winner of the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finishing series regular.
Daniel Hemric was third, followed by Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace Jr., Elliott Sadler, Michael Annett, Casey Mears, and Spencer Gallagher.
Top-10 leaders after 8 of 33: 1. Sadler-295, 2. Allgaier-254, 3. Byron-251, 4. Hemric-228, 5. Wallace Jr.,-211, 6. Reed-198, 7. Koch-190, 8. Annett-186, 9. Tifft-183, 10. B. Poole-180.
Weekend Racing: The Cup and Xfinity teams will be at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, the longest track on the circuit.
Sat., May 6; Xfinity Series race 9 of 33; Starting time: 1 pm ET; TV: Fox.
Sun., May 7; Cup Series race 10 of 36; Starting time: 2 pm ET; TV: Fox.
Racing Trivia Question: How many Cup championships has Matt Kenseth won?
Last Week's Question: Which former NASCAR driving champion once owned part of the Richmond track? Answer. Joe Weatherly, the 1962 and '63 NASCAR champion.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
Dane Beers
The Blue Ridge boys’ volleyball team had enough experience and past success to go into this season with high expectations.
The Raiders have found a way to exceed those expectations, clinching the Lackawanna League championship early and taking an unbeaten record into this week’s regular-season finale.
“We talked about getting 2017 on our league championship banner,” senior middle hitter Dane Beers said. “But we didn’t expect to be completely undefeated, as we are right now.
“We didn’t expect the season to be as good as it is.”
Beers, who leads the balanced team in kills and shares the team lead in aces, was a big part of Blue Ridge putting together its first championship of the millenium. For those efforts, he has been selected Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for April.
The Raiders went 7-0 during the month. Beers played in six of those matches, producing double figures in kills and multiple aces in each of the first five. He had a season-high 17 kills against Abington Heights, one of the teams that is tied for second in the Lackawanna League.
Beers said the dedication of head coach Lori Zick, who has also led the girls’ program to two straight league titles, and assistant Dave Corbin is a big part of the success, along with teamwork.
“We’re like one big family,” he said. “We’ve all known each other since basically kindergarten. We all play well together.
“We’ve been playing together, most of us, for three, four years. We’re constantly in sync and we have that emotional connection, too.”
Beers broke into the program as a freshman, playing junior varsity matches until moving up to the varsity for the last two of the season. He spent his sophomore school year at Tunkhannock and was in the varsity rotation. After returning to Blue Ridge last season, he earned second-team Lackawanna all-star honors from coaches.
The team and personal success have led to Beers being contacted by college coaches.
“I have to make a decision soon,” said Beers, who would like to continue the sport in college.
Beers said studying computer science and playing volleyball at Misericordia is one of the options he is considering.
Dane is the son of Brian and Audra Beers from Hallstead.
