Archive - Apr 2011 - Sports Article
April 12th
PUNXSUTAWNEY — The standout performances of senior runner A.J. Meterko and junior thrower Brody Morgan have been vital to the Punxsy boys' track and field team's success this season. Tuesday, quality times, distances and heights from other members of the Chucks were also an important part of the squad's 91-59 victory over St. Marys.
St. Marys kept things close in most of the events, but Punxsy (3-0) earned a 53-34 victory on the track and a 38-25 win in the field thanks to depth throughout.
BROOKVILLE — Brookville boys' track and field head coach Dan Murdock knows that senior Dylan Buffington works hard.
Tuesday afternoon, Buffington pushed himself and won the 100-meter dash, was a member of the 4x100 relay team that won and finished second in the 800-meter run.
While Murdock said he was proud of his performance on the track, he also noted what he left on the field.
"Buff always works so hard. He ran until he threw up on the field today," Murdock said with a laugh. "He ran a few good races today, and he has qualified for districts in the 800."
April 11th
PUNXSUTAWNEY — The Punxsy baseball team has been a notoriously slow starter the past few years.
When the Chucks won the state title in 2007, they followed a 6-5 start by winning 10 of their final 12 games. Last year, Punxsy's seventh-straight District IX Class AAA Championship team started 3-7.
Monday, in a change from years past, Punxsy continued its quick start behind home runs by Tyler Skerkavich and Ty Zimmerman when it improved to 4-0 after a 16-9 victory over Class AAAA DuBois.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Punxsy senior Dave Roberts had to fight hard to pick up his first win of the season Monday afternoon at Punxsutawney Area High School.
Roberts, the Chucks' No. 1 singles player, lost the first set 7-5. After forcing a tiebreaker by winning the second set, 6-3, he fell behind by three points in the tiebreaker.
He rebounded and came back to earn his first win of the season with a 10-7 win in the tiebreak, which helped Punxsy (1-2) beat Clearfield, 9-0.
April 10th
BROOKVILLE — The weather wasn't quite perfect, with permanent gray skies above, but Punxsy boys' track and field was glad to compete in a meet without having to battle snow Saturday at the Brookville Invitational.
Last Tuesday, the Chucks competed in the snow during their dual meet at Brookville.
Punxsy coach John Smith said that he was happy with some of the individual performances his team finished with. No team score was kept.
"We came away with some good performances on a cool, windy day," Smith said. "All day we hoped for a warm-up (in temperature) that never came."
BROOKVILLE — Punxsutawney girls' track and field team had four girls place, including a first place finisher, at the Brookville Invitational Saturday.
Milea Schall took first place in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:53.8.
Punxsy coach Barry Young believes that consistency is Schall's best quality.
"Milea ran very well in the 3,200," Young said. "She is so consistent. As a coach, this is what you want from a runner. She came close to placing in the 1,600 with a fine time of 5:35.1."
April 8th
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Punxsy's junior varsity softball team used a six run third inning to cruise past St. Marys 12-2 in five innings Thursday afternoon in Punxsy.
The Lady Chucks (2-0), who finished the game with 14 hits, limited St. Marys (0-1) to five hits.
Punxsy's Sarah London and Ashley Bacha combined to shut down the Lady Dutch's line up, striking out eight batters. London struck out three batters over the first three innings, allowing two runs, but picked up the win.
April 7th
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Down 11-4 in the seventh inning, having suffered through four 1-2-3 innings and not scoring since the second inning, the Punxsy baseball team seemed destined to lose its first game of the season to State College Tuesday.
Not these Chucks.
For the second-straight year, the Chucks (3-0) erased a seven-plus run deficit at Rich Kuntz Memorial Field by scoring eight runs in their final inning Tuesday to shock the Little Lions, 12-11.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Punxsy senior Shawnna Crago wasn't going to let the Lady Chucks softball team lose to St. Marys Thursday afternoon.
Her optimism kept the team going. While it trailed early, she smacked a triple that gave Punxsy a jump start on offense, and her pitching sealed the game.
Crago struck out nine Lady Dutch batters and scored a run to lead the Lady Chucks to a 4-3 win.
.jpg "Punxsy's (from left) Zak Dickey, Brodi Lowmaster and coach Tom Zimmerman rejoice after Lowmaster's three-run double down the right-field line helped the Chucks score eight runs in the final inning of a 12-11 win Thursday. The hit was this week's Play of the Week. (Photo by Dan Walk/The Punxsutawney Spirit)")
