Sunday, March 11, 2012
Tue DALLAS PosT
PAGE 11
Sports
Local curling enthusiast officiates at nationals
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
Alison Piatt is an avid curler.
Not the hair-twirling kind.
She’s more interested in the
Olympic sport of curling - a
game where players hurl stones
across sheets of ice towards a
targeted area.
It’s like a slippery version of
shuffleboard.
Piatt, of Pikes Creek, is so
dedicated to the sport, she even
volunteered (“I had to pay to
volunteer,” she said) to officiate
at the 2012 USA Curling Nation-
al Championships at the Ice-
Works Skating Complex in As-
ton, Pa.
It was the first time the sport
had been held on the east coast
in recent years. Previous events
The timer Alison Piatt, of Pikes
Creek, had to man during the
2012 USA National Curling
Championships in Aston, Pa. in
February. Each draw, or game,
lasts 73 minutes, and Piatt
had to keep a watchful eye on
the clock.
have been held in Fargo, N.D.;
Kalamazoo, Mich.; Broomfield,
Colo.; and Hibbing, Minn.
Because of the closeness of
the event, Piatt had planned to
volunteer in any capacity she
could until she learned of the of-
ficiating courses in January.
“It was a great opportunity for
me to learn the rules and learn
more about the sport,” said
Piatt, who runs the Anthracite
Curling Club in Wilkes-Barre
and the Misericordia Curling
Club.
She completed two classes in
one day in Philadelphia and had
to record hours of service on the
ice before she could be certified
as an officiator.
Little did she know her practi-
cal experience would come
from the event in which curlers
from across the country face off
to qualify for the world competi-
tion, to be held in Switzerland in
March, and the 2014 Olympics.
Piatt manned a clock during
each 73-minute draw, or game.
The clock acts as a record for of-
ficials in the event players com-
mit an error and a draw needs to
be repeated.
“Though I was intensely fo-
cused on the clock because you
don’t want to mess it up, it was
great to watch this really high
level of excellent curling,” she
said.
Piatt travels often to play her
favorite sport — most recently
she traveled to Rhode Island to
visit a fellow curler and partici-
pate in a tournament. For na-
tionals, it was a no-brainer for
her to get involved.
“I enjoy officiating,” she said.
“It’s another way to be involved
in the sport I'm so passionate
about.”
She said it was also great to
see regional curlers do well at
the event — players on the men’s
team from Ardsley, Pa. and
Plainfield, N.J. had qualified for
the world championships.
“It’s exciting to see that from
a person who's from a small area
and has a small curling club that
locals will compete at the world
competition,” she said.
Piatt said it was a different
kind of experience - she’s usual-
ly comfortable in an ice rink, but
this time she had the chills.
“I live in northeastern Pa. and
I like to curl, so I'm use to the
cold,” she said. “But it was so
cold - like two pairs of socks and
two jackets cold.”
Piatt plans to continue offi-
ciating when she can because it
will help her learn more about
the game she loves.
“It’s both helpful to me and to
my club here and it will only
make me a better curler,” she
said.
SPORTS
BRIEFS
Softball organization
seeking players
Wyoming Valley Vipers
travel softball organization is
looking for a few players.
Pitching is a plus.
If interested, contact Jim
Dunn at 333-4398 or 332-
8027.
@® hosts
. futsal/soccer league
TN SS
Back Mountain Youth
Soccer will host an indoor
Futsal /Soccer league contin-
uing through March for ages
U6 to high school age at the
Penn State Lehman Campus
gym.
FIFA futsal ball and rules
will be used. Games will be
played on weekends.
All area intramural and
travel teams are welcome. All
area individual players seek-
ing a team can sign up online
! well.
@ will be set to
) sure fair competition.
2
3
1
More information and sign
up sheets are available online
at www.bmysa.org.
Gymnastics program
begins registration
Shooting Starz Gymnas-
tics, 250 Johnston St.,
Wilkes-Barre, will accept
enrollment for 2012 on Feb-
ruary 25 and 27, April 14 and
23, June 11 and 25, August 18
and 27, October 15 and Octo-
ber 29 and December 22.
For more information,
please contact Joelle Rose at
822-1212.
Basketball league
sets tryout schedule
Firm A.C. Basketball will
hold tryouts for the spring
2012. The full tryout sched-
ule is listed online at
www.firmacbasketball.com.
All tryouts will be held at
the Kingston Rec. Center,
655Third Ave, Kingston.
Cost is $40 which includes a
t-shirt and the option to
attend all of the tryouts.
For more information and
a registration form, e-mail
firmacbasket-
ball@gmail.com.
Blast fastpitch
teams seek players
The Ul2 and U14 Endless
Mountains Blast fastpitch
teams are still looking for a
few qualified players to fill
their 2012 rosters.
Those interested in U12
should contact John Keefe at
885-5808. Interested Ul4
players should contact Bill
Kern at 498-5991.
The Endless Mountains
Blast is a travel fastpitch
: ftball organization based in
annock. Additional
ormation can be found at
http://www.eteamz.com/
endlessmtblast, or by e-
mailing ronh@sbsmod.com.
4
CEs
Knicks’ Jack Farrell, right, drives to the Suns’ Michael Starbuck, right, goes in
hoop past Suns’ Michael Starbuck.
DYB Champions
for a layup.
wo
Knicks’ Aiden Conrad launches a
ESR
3
1
A
SN
three-pointer against the Suns.
Sun's Todd Phillips, left, drives to the basket as Knicks’ Jack Farrell defends in the grad
championship game at the Dallas High School gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
7TH/8TH GRADE BOYS
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Spurs 55
Magic 38
Sukhmail Mathon poured in 30
points to lead the Spurs to a 55-38 win
over the Magic in the championship
€
ners.
Lee Eckert led the Magic with 19
points while Nico Deluca added 6
points in a losing cause.
Conner McCarty and Frankie Bevavi-
Paul Zablotney added 10 points for
the winners and Spencer Bowanko add-
ed 8 points and numerous assists. Chris
Menning also played well for the win-
no played great defense for the Magic.
ets.
5TH/6TH GRADE BOYS
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Raptors 32
Hornets 30
Michael Anderson scored 14 points to
. lead the Raptors to a hard fought 32-30
victory over the Hornets in the title
game. Josh Lupole added 10 points for
the Raptors while Zack Bloom, Zack
Palfey and Zack Hill all played excellent
defense for the winners. The Hornets
were led by Andrew Kovalick with 15
points while Derek Answini chipped in
with 9 points in a losing cause. Nick
Whitesell, Blaine Rex and Cole Wyffels
BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/FOR THE DALLAS POST
e 3-4 Dallas Youth Basketball
played excellent defense for the Horn-
3RD/4TH GRADE BOYS
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Suns 48
Knicks 25 :
Todd Phillips exploded for 38 points
as the Suns defeated the Knicks 48-25 in
the championship game. Ethan Capita-
no and Michael Starbuck each added 5
points for the Suns while Nathaniel
Spare and Cooper Kelly played excel-
lent defense for the winners. Jack Far-
rell led the Knicks with 19 points while
Aiden Conrad and Drew Lojewski also
played well for the Knicks.
LA a aa lS ES SA
DMAC
RESULTS
The Dallas Mountaineer Aquat-
ic Club had a strong showing at
the Northeast PA Age Group
Swim League District Champion-
ships, earning 69 medals (first -
eighth place) and 48 ribbons
(ninth - 16th place). The event
was held at the Wilkes-Barre CYC
on Feb. 26 (boys) and March 4
(girls).
FIRST PLACE
Annalise Cheshire
50 Freestyle & 100 Freestyle
Ava Baur
10 & Under 100 Freestyle
Jordan Bond
6 & Under 50 Freestyle
Dominic Augustine
14 & Under 200 Freestyle
Hunter Kline, Madison Feder-
ici, Julia Sabol, Ava Baur
Girls 10 & Under 200 Medley
Relay
SECOND PLACE
Abby Zolner
12 & Under (2) 100 IM & 50 Fly
Ava Baur
10 & Under 50 Freestyle
Kaylin Augustine
14 & Under 100 Back
Jordan Bond
6 & Under 25 Breast
Porter Luksic
14 & Under 200 IM
Gabriel DeLuna
6 & Under 25 Breast
Tyler Manzoni
12 & Under 50 Breast
Tyler Manzoni, Donovan
McCall, Troy Reinert, Thomas
Manzoni
Boys 12 & Under Free Relay
Ethan Meuser, Tal Richards,
Tanner Manzoni, Gary Weaver
Boys 8 & Under 100 Medley
Heather Shively, Madison
Hurst, Abby Zolner, Annalise
_ Cheshire
Girls 12 & Under 200 Free
Relay
Lauren Finnegan, Krista Vivian,
Julia Baur, Felicia Brittain
Girls 14 & Under 200 Medley
Relay
THIRD PLACE
Kaylin Augustine
14 & Under 50 Free
Madison Hurst
12 & Under 50 Fly
Julia Baur
14 & Under 100 Fly
Jordan Bond
6 & Under 25 Back
Dominic Augustine
14 & Under 100 Fly
Porter Luksic
14 & Under 100 Breast
Amanda Puza, Lauryn Lombar-
do, Emma Thomas, Lauren Hurst
Girls 8 & Under 100 Free Relay
Jordyn Miller, Jessica Ravert,
Taylor Cercone, Peyton Ross
Girls 12 & Under 200 Medley
Relay
FOURTH PLACE
Madison Federici
10 & Under (2) 100 IM & 50
Breast
Julia Baur
14 & Under 100 Freestyle
Madison Hurst
12 & Under 50 Back
Julia Sabol
10 & Under 50 Back
Jarod Willis
14 & Under 200 Free
Gary Weaver
8 & Under 25 Free
Porter Luksic
14 & Under 100 Fly
Thomas Manzoni
12 & Under (2) 100 Free & 50
Fly
Tyler Manzoni
12 & Under 50 Back
Mikail Krochta, Evan Sabecky,
Garrett Pall, Conner McAndrew
Boys 12 & Under 200 Medley
Relay
FIFTH PLACE
Lauren Finnegan
14 & Under 200 Freestyle
Hunter Kline
10 & Under 50 Back
Jordyn Miller
12 & Under 50 Back
See RESULTS, Page 12