Montrose’s Brandon Curley arrives at the finish line as District 2 Class A boys’ cross country champion (Tom Robinson photo)
SCOTT TWP. – Susquehanna County runners dominated the Class A boys’ race at the District 2 Cross Country Championships Wednesday at Lakeland High School.
Brandon Curley won the individual title to lead Montrose to a championship repeat in a race that featured six county runners in the top seven, eight in the top 10 and another in 12th place.
Curley avenged a Lackawanna League loss when he pulled away from Andrew Healey from Holy Cross over the final quarter mile after the two had run together for most of the 3.1-mile race.
“He’s really good,” said Curley, who finished in 16:16.35 to win by 13 seconds. “I was looking forward to the chance to run with him again to see what we could do.”
Curley, who was second in the district meet a year ago behind graduated teammate Zach Mead, led a group of five Meteors in the top nine and seven in the top 12. That combination produced the district title and claimed the only state championship meet berth available to the district in Class A.
“The whole season, the team has been working really hard,” Curley said. “We’ve been doing everything we can to get back to the state meet.
“We have a few seniors on the team so we want to get there as many times as we can. The whole year, especially today, everybody had a really good race.”
Montrose’s Liam Mead finished third.
Elk Lake’s Peyton Jones and Cody Oswald were fourth and fifth to take two of the five individual state berths that were available to runners beyond the championship team members.
Colin Spellman (sixth), Max Brewer (seventh) and Eric Bixby (ninth) completed the Montrose five-man team score.
Jerome Washo (10th) and Nick Coy (12th) gave the Meteors individual district medals for the entire seven-man lineup.
Mountain View’s Robert Gray finished 16th, one place out of a district medal.
Montrose ran away with the team title, 26-63, over Lakeland.
Elk Lake was fourth out of 12 teams with 109 points.
Blue Ridge beat out Susquehanna, 132-161, for fifth and sixth place. Mountain View was eighth with 240 and Forest City 10th with 273.
Jack Condon led Blue Ridge in 18th; Val White was Susquehanna’s top finisher in 22nd; and Matthew Korty led Forest City in 33rd.
Elk Lake is also sending two individual girls to the state meet even though last year’s state runners-up did not have enough runners to score as a team this season.
Shayanne Bennett and Sadie Bosscher finished third and fourth behind Lexi Walsh and Molly Repecki from team champion Holy Cross.
It was the second title in three years for Walsh.
Blue Ridge’s Karris Fazzi was ninth and Elk Lake’s Lydia Ofalt was 13th to earn district medals.
Fazzi was in the last state position for much of the race, but fell late in the race and missed by one spot.
None of the county schools entered a full team.
Blue Ridge’s Kayleen Conklin was 23rd, Forest City’s Skyla Silfee was 26th, Susquehanna’s Taylor Huyck was 27th and Susquehanna’s Elizabeth Delaney was 28th.
Montrose’s Georgia Smith made the state meet and earned a medal in Class 2A by finishing 15th out of 105 runners.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Susquehanna held visiting Holy Cross without a first down in the first half Saturday afternoon on the way to a 47-14 romp in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 season finale at William Emminger Memorial Field.
Sam Cosmello and Travis Craig each ran for 2 touchdowns to lead a balanced ground game that produced 333 yards and 6 touchdowns on 33 carries.
The Sabers, who started the year 3-0, snapped a six-game losing streak to finish the season with a 4-6 overall record.
“It was a rough middle stretch between the teams that we played and the injuries we had,” Sabers coach Kyle Cook said. “It was rough on everybody; rough on the kids that were playing because they were playing a lot more and in some positions they weren’t used to.
“But, they hung in there and I think we got better. Even though we were down some guys, we did improve in the last couple games, so that was a plus.”
Cosmello, the team’s leading rusher who had missed the previous 2 games, carried 5 times in the second quarter for 108 yards.
Craig had 73 yards on 7 carries.
C.J. Stone, who ran for 64 yards on 9 carries, and Anthony Dolfini, who ran for 46 yards on 7 carries, also had touchdowns.
The Holy Cross defense put Stone, the Sabers quarterback, on the ground on six of the first seven option plays that Susquehanna ran.
Stone pitched every time, producing runs of 9, 11, 8, 10, 13, 10 and 62 yards with 3 of the last 4 going for touchdowns. After the 7 option pitches produced 123 yards and 3 touchdowns, Stone kept twice in a row and went 32 yards for a touchdown on the second.
By running for 158 yards and 4 touchdowns on 9 first-half option plays, Susquehanna took a 25-0 halftime lead.
“We thought we could get on the outside on them with the option,” Cook said.
The Sabers had first-half statistical advantages of 10-0 in first downs, 204-3 in rushing yards and 204-17 in total offense.
Mason Deakin intercepted 2 passes, including 1 he returned 47 yards for a touchdown to put the final 4:44 of the game into the Mercy Rule.
Craig also contributed on defense with five tackles, including one for a six-yard loss, and six assists.
Eli Aldrich, another player who returned from injury to play in the finale, had two tackles for losses totaling 11 yards. He had two other tackles, an assist and a pass rush.
Devon Dubanowitz had a pass interception, but an illegal block on the return nullified his touchdown on the play.
Montrose also had its season come to an end.
The Meteors did not manage a first down or pass completion when host Lackawanna Trail held them to negative yardage in a 48-0 win Friday night.
The Lions opened a 41-0 lead at halftime.
The loss was the sixth straight for the Meteors, who finished 1-9 overall.
The final LFC Division 3 standings were: Dunmore 9-0, Old Forge 8-1, Lackawanna Trail 7-2, Carbondale 6-3, Lakeland 5-4, Mid Valley 4-5, Susquehanna 3-6, Riverside 2-7, Montrose 1-8, Holy Cross 0-9.
Both the Sabers and Meteors fell short of the playoffs when they were unable to make the top four in the District 2 Class 2A playoff points races.
The final District 2 playoff points standings with record and points: Dunmore 10-0, 1400; Carbondale 6-4, 760; Lakeland 5-5, 610; Mid Valley 5-5, 570; Susquehanna 4-6, 450; Riverside 2-8, 200; Montrose 1-9, 90.
In girls’ soccer, Montrose and Mountain View each advanced to the District 2 finals.
Montrose, the third seed in a 13-team field, made it with a pair of wins in Class 2A while Mountain View, the second seed in a 6-team field, made it with a semifinal victory in Class A.
The Lady Meteors defeated Holy Redeemer, 4-1, Thursday and second-seeded Dunmore, 2-0, Saturday morning.
Junior Madison Gilhool, an all-state player as a freshman, moved past 100 goals for her career with a hat trick against Holy Redeemer and a goal in each half for the win at Dunmore.
Montrose was scheduled to play for the district title Tuesday night at defending champion and top seed Lake-Lehman.
Mountain View had a quarterfinal bye, then used a Lucy Adams hat trick and two goals from Erika Freely to defeat Holy Cross, 5-1, in Friday’s semifinal.
Adams had all three of her goals in the second half to break away from a 1-1 tie.
In boys soccer, Mountain View and Forest City reached the District 2 Class A final by winning three games by a combined 24-2 margin.
Top-seeded Forest City had a quarterfinal bye before beating Holy Cross, 6-1, Wednesday.
Jay Lipko and Tyler Clift each had two goals and an assist for the Lackawanna League Division 3 champion Foresters, who broke a 1-1 halftime tie.
Mountain View beat Gregory the Great, 5-1, in the quarterfinals before shutting out Old Forge, 13-0, in the semifinals.
Alex Showalter and Luke Schmidt had two goals each when the Eagles opened a five-goal lead in the first 21 minutes against Gregory the Great Oct. 23.
Nick Pellew had three goals and an assist while Mike DeWolfe had two goals and two assists for Mountain View.
Montrose and Blue Ridge each won Class 2A openers before the 11th-seeded Meteors knocked out the third-seeded Raiders, 4-2, Wednesday.
Zack Dieck and Dan Barclay each had a goal and an assist for Montrose.
Garrett Mansfield scored both Blue Ridge goals.
Dieck scored four goals Oct. 23 to lead Montrose to a 6-0 rout of Lake-Lehman.
Blue Ridge opened with a 3-1 win over Western Wayne the same day.
In girls’ volleyball, Blue Ridge missed out on a chance at a Lackawanna League title in the final match of the regular season, but bounced back to win its District 2 Class A semifinal.
Miranda Woosman had 18 assists and 7 aces in Saturday’s 25-13, 25-15, 25-15 playoff sweep of visiting Mountain View.
Abby Hartman had 12 kills and Alex Stanley added 7 digs.
The Lady Raiders had lost, 25-19, 25-14, 25-11, at Abington Heights Oct. 24.
Woosman had 14 assists, Jerni Schell 8 digs and Hartman 7 kills in the loss.
MMI Prep eliminated Susquehanna, 25-9, 25-22, 25-18.
The final Lackawanna League standings were: Dunmore 17-1, Blue Ridge 16-2, Abington Heights 15-3, Western Wayne 11-7, Forest City 10-8, Susquehanna 8-10, Lackawanna Trail 6-12, Montrose 4-14, Mountain View 2-16, Elk Lake 1-17.
COLLEGE CORNER
Colby Thomas is one of the leaders of the Messiah College team, which is ranked third in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III soccer.
The senior forward from Mountain View leads the team in assists with nine, ranks second in total points and is third in goals with seven. He has started all 18 games.
Thomas shares the team lead with five game-winning goals. His latest came Oct. 14 in a 1-0 victory over Widener. Two of his game-winners have been the only goal of the game, including another against Misericordia.
Messiah completed an unbeaten run through the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth schedule with a 4-0 win over Stevenson Saturday. Thomas had an assist in the team’s 15th straight win to finish the regular season at 8-0 in the Commonwealth and 17-1 overall.
Zeb Cross, a teammate of Thomas when Mountain View won one state title and reached another state final, has played in 13 games, including one start He has a goal and an assist.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Blue Ridge will play MMI Prep Wednesday night at 7 at North Pocono High School for the District 2 Class A girls’ volleyball championship.
The District 2 Class 2A championship match will be played Thursday at Wilkes University at 5.
Forest City was the fourth seed in the six-team tournament and needed wins in matches scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in order to reach the final.
In girls’ soccer, Mountain View is at Lakeland Wednesday at 5 p.m. to decide the District 2 Class A championship.
In boys’ soccer, the District 2 Class 2A championship will be played Wednesday.
Montrose needed a Monday semifinal win to make it into the game.
In high school football, the District 2 playoffs will open Friday night.
Our high school football predictions were 9-1 last week, making our record 29-1 (96.7 percent) over the final three weeks and 83-21 (79.8) for the regular season.
The predictions will continue until all Lackawanna Football Conference teams have been eliminated from the playoffs.
Delaware Valley and Scranton are in the District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional while Wallenpaupack and Abington Heights are in the District 2 Class 5A playoffs; Valley View and North Pocono are in Class 4A playoffs; Scranton Prep and Western Wayne are in the Class 3A playoffs; Dunmore, Carbondale, Lakeland and Mid Valley are in the Class 2A playoffs; and Old Forge and Lackawanna Trail are in the District 2 Class A championship game.
This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: DELAWARE VALLEY 42, Scranton 7 … WYOMING VALLEY WEST 53, Abington Heights 13 … VALLEY VIEW 43, Crestwood 12 … NORTH POCONO 37, Pittston Area 22 … SCRANTON PREP 42, Meyers 0 … WESTERN WAYNE 28, Lake-Lehman 20 … CARBONDALE 31, Lakeland 20 … DUNMORE 43, Mid Valley 3 … OLD FORGE 34, Lackawanna Trail 28.
Our divisional standings predictions had nine of the 20 LFC teams correct with the proper order of all four Division 1 teams, the correct prediction of Scranton Prep as Division 2 champion and the placement of Dunmore first, Old Forge second, Carbondale fourth and Holy Cross 10th Division 3. We had every team within two spots of its actual finish, including Susquehanna, Riverside, Valley View, North Pocono, Honesdale and West Scranton just one spot away from their actual finishes.
In cross country, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships are scheduled for Saturday on the Hershey Parkview Course.
The Class A girls’ race, which includes Elk Lake’s Bennett and Bosscher, is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
Montrose, which finished fifth a year ago, is in the Class A boys’ race at 10:15.
Elk Lake’s Jones and Oswald also qualified for the race as individuals.
Montrose’s Georgia Smith is in the Class 2A girls’ race at 11.
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.
