Sports

The Elk Lake athletic program, led by a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A state boys' cross country championship, enjoyed a banner year in 2025.

The Warriors joined Mountain View in winning two District 2 team championships and also led the way for Susquehanna County schools with seven individual district gold medalists.

Elk Lake won six Lackawanna League overall or Lackawanna division titles, more than the other five county schools combined.

The highlight of the year in county sports came early in November in Hershey when Elk Lake won its state team title and Montrose junior Cara Evans captured a PIAA Class 2A state title in the girls' tennis singles tournament on the same day.

Evans lost just eight games in six sets in the first three rounds, then, after splitting the first two sets of the state final, she handled Belle Vernon's Gabriella Dusi, 6-1, in the third set for the title.

Kendel Jones finished second, Cody Adams fourth and Parker Upright sixth to all earn individual state medals while leading Elk Lake to the title on the Hershey Parkview Cross Country Course.

Susquehanna's Maxx Kelly finished 14th for another medal.

Kendyl Weisgold earned a medal in the Class A girls' race by placing ninth and leading the team to a fourth-place finish.

The Mountain View girls' basketball team also finished in the top four in the state. When the Lady Eagles made the Class 2A semifinals, it was their third straight trip to the state Final Four, following up trips to the state semifinals and final in Class A.

Addison Kilmer was named state Class 2A Player of the Year in her third straight season as a first-team, all-state player, according to state sports writers.

Two county athletes, both from Elk Lake, medaled at the state track and field meet.

Gianna Tewksbury was fourth in the Class 2A girls' discus while Jones was sixth in the Class 2A boys' 3200-meter run.

Mountain View won District 2 titles in Class 2A girls' basketball and Class A girls' volleyball.

Susquehanna won the District 2 Class A girls' basketball championship.

Elk Lake swept the District 2 Class A cross country titles, winning both team championships while Jones and Weisgold finished first individually. Jones completed a four-year career sweep of gold medals.

Evans qualified for the state tennis tournament with a District 2 title as part of an unbeaten season.

Elk Lake's Brynn Warriner won the 50-yard freestyle in the Class 2A girls in the District 2 Swimming and Diving Championships.

Blue Ridge's Brice Woodruff, a Susquehanna student competing for the Raiders as part of a cooperative sponsorship of the sport, won a District 2 Class 2A wrestling title.

The District 2 Track and Field Championships saw county athletes claim six individual and one relay title.

Kate Korty, a Forest City student competing for Carbondale as part of their cooperative sponsorship, set a meet record while winning the 800 in 2:13.19.

Jones won both the 1600 and 3200 runs.

Tewksbury won the discus while teammate Kate McGlynn won the shot put.

Montrose's Sadie Jones won the Class 2A girls' triple jump.

The Montrose 400-meter boys' relay team of Carl Nolt, Jamier Robinson, Nicolo Christian and Maximus Kuwaye also struck gold.

Elk Lake won the overall Lackawanna title in boys' cross country with a perfect season and also had unbeaten championship seasons within divisions in girls' swimming, girls' basketball and softball. The Warriors also won division titles in boys' basketball and baseball.

The Susquehanna boys and Montrose girls won Lackawanna Track Conference division titles with unbeaten seasons. Blue Ridge did the same in Lackawanna League wrestling.

Mountain View won a Division 2 title – in the three-division format – in Lackawanna boys' soccer.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Blue Ridge's Woodruff picked up the 100th win of his wrestling career on the way to a seventh-place finish at 132 pounds in the Windsor Christmas Tournament Dec. 29-30.

Ryder Hobart led the way for the Raiders, taking sixth at 190 pounds.

Blue Ridge scored 32 team points to finish 29th out of 38 teams.

Minisink Valley (NY) won the team title, 191-167, over Poquoson (VA).

Hobart lost his fifth-place match in overtime.

Woodruff went 3-2 in the two-day event, including winning three out of four decisions that were decided by three points or less. The defending District 2 champion and two-time district finalist improved to 17-4 on the season and 101-39 for his career.

Zachary Krupovich also placed seventh for Blue Ridge, winning his final bout by pin at 175.

Wyatt Steele led the way when Montrose finished ninth out of 16 teams in the Frank Wadas Memorial Wrestling Tournament Dec. 29-30.

Steele finished third at 152 pounds. He went 4-1 with all his bouts decided by pins in 50 seconds or less, including a 36-second victory over East Stroudsburg North's Micah Alicea in the consolation final.

Sawyer Brander took fifth at 107. Corey Anderson was sixth at 215; Delos Stone (133), Carl Nolt (139) and William Fraiser Jr. (285) all finished seventh; and Lucas Brookes (145) and Jeffery Kany (189) were ninth.

Hanover Area won the title with 202 points. Benton beat Dallas 162½-148½ for second place in the 16-team field. Montrose scored 83½ points. Elk Lake was 14th with 44½ and Mountain View was last with 5½.

Ethan Smith led Elk Lake by placing third at 285. He pinned two opponents in the first period, then defeated Nathaniel Thurman in 2:35 of the third-place bout.

Colby Ruark was fourth at 215 and Ben Hillier was sixth at 127.

Trey Hummel, who won twice at 172, and Ada Chamberlin, who won once at 127, had the only wins for Mountain View while placing ninth in their weight classes.

In girls' basketball, Addison Kilmer poured in 45 points to go along with 14 rebounds and six blocked shots Friday night when Mountain View won at Susquehanna, 58-29, as Lackawanna League Division 3 play resumed after the holiday.

Kilmer made five 3-pointers in the game and was 4-for-4 from the line. She had 10 points as Mountain View took a 14-6 lead after one quarter, added 12 of the team's 13 as the lead reached 27-17 at halftime, broke out for 14 in the third quarter as the lead swelled to 43-21, then added nine more in the fourth.

Aubrey Sanders helped set up Kilmer with 10 assists.

The Lady Eagles are 5-5 overall.

Cassie Cottrell led Susquehanna with 10 points.

Montrose joined Mountain View at 2-0 in the division with a 53-29 victory over visiting Forest City.

Sadie Jones led the Lady Meteors with 19 points.

McKenna Kublo added 12.

Molly Weller scored all 10 of her points in the first half when Montrose was taking a 33-15 lead.

Sophia Lombardi led Forest City with nine points.

Blue Ridge and Elk Lake won on the road.

Abigail Gelinger scored 34 points to lead Blue Ridge past Lackawanna Trail, 64-34.

Lynndee Barbour added 13 points and Melodie Bloomer had 10.

Elk Lake topped Carbondale, 48-17.

Forest City and Susquehanna each suffered one other loss.

Forest City fell to Western Wayne, 43-28, Dec. 30 in the third-place game of the Honesdale Jaycees Tournament.

Susquehanna dropped a non-league game to visiting Northwest, 71-33, the same day.

Lauren Huyck hit five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points in the loss.

In boys' basketball, Susquehanna was the only Susquehanna County team to win twice during the week.

The Sabers won a non-league game at Tunkhannock, 49-45, Dec. 30, then defeated host Mountain View, 69-49, in a Saturday Lackawanna Division 3 game.

Jaxon Downton's two free throws with 2.1 seconds left helped Susquehanna hold off a Tunkhannock comeback.

Griffin Fisk made four 3-pointers while scoring 16 points. Downton finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Mason Keyes had 10 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots.

Keyes had 21 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots against Mountain View.

Fisk had 17 points and three steals. Preston Wolf had 15 points and four steals. Hudson Stengel chipped in six points, six rebounds and six assists.

The Sabers overcame 29 points by Mountain View's Jordan Jagger.

Elk Lake and Lackawanna Trail share the division lead with Susquehanna at 2-0.

John Heitsman scored 18 points to lead four Elk Lake players in double figures in a 68-38 romp over Carbondale in the annual Michael "Red" Wallace Memorial Scholarship Game.

The Warriors outscored the Chargers 19-1 in the first quarter and put up 25 points in the third quarter for a 62-29 lead.

Brayden Miller (13), Chase Pond (12) and Conner Stephens (10) joined Heitsman in double figures.

Montrose won 71-43 at Forest City and Blue Ridge fell 57-50 to visiting Lackawanna Trail in other division games Saturday.

Jai Herman led the Meteors with 27 points. Jude Adams added 11 and Kasey Carey had 10.

Wyatt Reynolds led Forest City with 11 points.

Earlier in the week, Mountain View defeated Sayre, 67-49, in a non-league game d Forest City lost to North Pocono, 67-18, in the third-place game of the Taylor Lions Tournament at Riverside.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Elk Lake is at Scranton Prep in swimming Wednesday.

There are four-way ties at the top of the Lackawanna League in both boys' and girls' swimming. In both cases, the two teams are included with 2-0 records.

In girls' basketball, Mountain View has a big week ahead.

First, the Lady Eagles are defending champion Elk Lake Thursday in a Lackawanna League Division 3 game, which is also a rematch of the District 2 Class 2A title game where Mountain View avenged two regular-season losses.

Then, Mountain View hosts Montrose Monday, Jan. 12 in a game between the two teams that entered this week's action sharing the division lead.

In boys' basketball, Susquehanna is at Lackawanna Trail Friday night in a game between two of the three teams that take 2-0 Lackawanna Division 3 records into Tuesday night's games.

Then, Lackawanna Trail is at defending champion Elk Lake, the other team in that tie, Tuesday, Jan. 13.

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.

As the team around John Heitsman has evolved, so has his game.

Heitsman has found new ways to produce offensively while helping Elk Lake remain in the hunt for more boys' basketball success.

The senior was named Most Valuable Player when the Warriors repeated as Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament champions and arrived at the New Year with the county's best overall basketball record.

For his efforts, Heitsman has been selected as the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for December.

The Warriors finished the month 8-1, including a win in the opener of their Lackawanna League Division 3 title defense with Heitsman leading the way at 16 points per game. That production is up from a year ago when he was the team's second-leading scorer.

"We lost two seniors last year and both were guard," Heitsman said. "We added a big guy."

With that in mind, Heitsman has spent more time on the wing, serving as an off guard along with his usual time at forward. With more offensive versatility, he has produced multiple double-doubles, including 14 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots in the tournament final, a 58-44 victory over host Montrose.

Heitsman scored a game-high 23 points in the 73-57 semifinal win over Blue Ridge.

The Warriors rolled into the New Year looking to repeat their success of last season.

"Having that league championship definitely puts a target on our back," Heitsman said. "Teams want to beat us to show they could win that championship, but it's no different in how we play."

Despite Heitsman's shift of emphasis, the Warriors look similar to last season.

"Our ball movement is a big part of it," Heitsman said. "The more we move the ball, it makes the defense move and it opens up our shots."

The team's commitment to tough man-to-man defense is another key part of the consistent success, according to Heitsman.

Heitsman broke into the starting lineup for two games as a freshman after spending much of that season as the sixth man. He is in his third season making regular starts.

After playing left field and pitching on the baseball team in the past, Heitsman is planning a switch to volleyball for the spring of his senior year. He also has been a member of the school's championship cross country program for four years.

John is the son of Doug and Jo Ann Heitsman of Dimock.