The Dallas Post
SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013
Tue DALLAS POST
PAGE 11
Matthew Edkins merged two sporting
4 terests together as a young boy.
Six years later, the Lake-Lehman soph-
romore has established himself as one of
the best high school athletes in the state
at his new endeavor.
_ Edkins earned his second Pennsylva-
imia Interscholastic Athletic Association
state medal in Class AA boys diving
\March 14 at Bucknell University with a
third-place finish at the PIAA Swimming
land Diving Championships.
|i The son of Lake-Lehman swimming
\lcoach Nancy Edkins, Edkins was used to
| being around the pool when his mother
''was coaching the sport at Misericordia
{{University. After spending four early
ars in gymnastics, he took many of the
ills and traits necessary for success in
that sport and brought them back to the
pool.
“During gymnastics, I got an injury
with my heel,” said Edkins, who made
the switch in 2007. “Mom knew a diving
coach and signed me up for that. I kind
of got right into it.”
While the Lake-Lehman swimming
program, which does not have its own
pool, struggles, Edkins will jump into
a swim event and do the best he can to
help the team.
His training time, however, goes into
perfecting his skills as a diver. And, that
is where he has been able to help the
Black Knights make an impact at the
state level.
“You have to make sure you get all the
fine stuff down before you can get into
the more complex skills,” Edkins said.
“You just have to practice a lot.”
That practice has paid off.
SPOTtS
Edkins won District 2 titles in both his
freshman and sophomore seasons. At
Bucknell, Edkins picked up a sixth-place
state finish as a freshman.
“I think I was just kind of going to do
my best and the medal was a nice addi-
tion,” Edkins said.
Expectations were higher this season.
“Especially with my seed, seeded
third, I wanted to make sure I stayed at
my seed or finished higher,” he said. “I'm
happy I did that.”
Like top high school athletes in other
sports, Edkins will continue his training
year-round. He coaches and participates
in the Back Mountain Dive Club. That
participation means practice for the en-
tire spring, summer and most of the fall
until high school competition returns in
early December.
Edkins will work the same dives re-
peatedly, trying to perfect them, while
doing abdominal work, push-ups for arm
strength and training to increase his leg
strength and push off from the diving
board.
In essence, he will still perform some
of the same flipping and twisting he
started as a gymnast, only he will land
in water.
Edkins led the way at the state meet
but was not the only Back Mountain
medalist at the PIAA Swimming and
Diving Championships.
Brian Stepniak took seventh in the 50-
yard and 100-yard freestyle events and
was part of a 200 freestyle relay team
that also finished seventh in Class AA
for Dallas. Marcus Wagner, Patrick Gel-
so and Jack Matusiak were also on the
relay team.
Dallas placed ninth in the team stand-
ings out of 60 teams that scored points at
the state level.
Lake- Lehman diver Matt Edkins
has established himself as one of
the best high school athletes in
the state.
BACK MOUNTAIN ICE HOCKEY TEAM
HOCKEY HEATS UP
| Back Mountain's Logan Obes, left, and Pittston Area's Tommy Schwab battle for position.
i
|| By TOM ROBINSON
|For The Dallas Post
I
asey McAn-
I drew, David
I Payne and
I ric Gotow-
I eski provided
the leadership for a suc-
|cessful season by the Back
Mountain Blackhawks.
I The three Dallas High
School students will be
“Back together on the ice
Friday night when the
Northeast Pennsylvania
Scholastic Hockey League
conducts its All-Star Game
the Mohegan Sun Arena.
‘McAndrew, the team captain,
was selected to the all-star team
along with alternate captains
Payne and Gotoweski and Lake-
Lehman student Hunter Hack-
ling. The Blackhawks also had
Ton Brady, an Easton player
who joined the team last season,
selected and Northwest's Logan
Obes listed as an alternate.
«McAndrew, Payne and
weski captained Back
Mountain to a 9-5-0 record and
third place in the varsity stand-
Senior members of the Blackhawks hockey team are, front,
Sean Jenkins. From left, second row, David Payne, Hunter
Hackling, Casey McAndrew, Dylan Pilger, Eric Gotoweski and
John Butler.
ings. The Blackhawks then
routed Susquehanna Valley, 11-
0, in the quarterfinals before
having their season end with a
9-3 semifinal loss to Wyoming
Valley West.
“It was disappointing to lose
in the semis, but it was a good
season,” Back Mountain coach
Jack Ciaccia said.
McAndrew centered the top
line.
“He’s a well-rounded, excel-
lent hockey player,” Ciaccia
said.
Payne played both forward
and defense.
“He was tremendous for us in
tough situations,” Ciaccia said.
“He has a great wrist shot that
is very accurate.”
Gotoweski led the defense.
“He’s a very physical player,”
Ciaccia said. “For any team, it’s
nice to have that physical player
on defense that keeps an offense
on its toes when it tries to enter
your defensive zone.”
Hackling played defense.
Ciaccia praised his all-around
ability, including his work on
the special teams.
BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE DALLAS POST
The Blackhawks drew players
from eight school districts on
the varsity level and six on the
junior varsity level where about
half the team was made up of
Tunkhannock players.
Most of the team’s games
were played at the Revolution
Ice Centre in Pittston, although
some games were also held at
the Coal Street Complex in Wil-
kes-Barre.
Dylan Pilger, Eric Yenchack
and goalie Corey McAndrew
were the other Dallas players on
the varsity roster.
John Butler, Alex Hoyt and
Jimmy Loeflad were the other
varsity players from Lake-Lehm-
an.
The Blackhawks also had
some swing players, who were
available for both the var
sity and junior varsity rosters.
Those players included Patrick
Newhart and Liam Barrett from
Dallas, J.P. Natishan and Zacha-
ria Ouladelhadjahmed from
Lake-Lehman and Paul Ciaccia,
a home-schooled student from
the Lake-Lehman district.
The junior varsity team had
similar results, finishing third
in the standings with an 83-1
record and winning a quarterfi-
nal playoff before losing in the
semifinals.
The JV team included J.D.
Barrett from Dallas and Drew
Poslock from Lake-Lehman.
Dallas native runs for
laptops for students
pecial education
teacher Liz By-
ron, originally
from Dallas, is
giving new meaning to
“going the extra mile” to
support her students.
This spring, Byron will
run 155 miles through
the Sahara Desert to
raise $50,000 for the ur-
ban public school where
she teaches.
Byron has qualified
to run in Marathon de
Sables (“Marathon of
the Sands”), a six-day,
155-mile self-supported
“ultra-marathon” - the
equivalent of six consec-
utive marathons - con-
sidered the toughest foot
race on the planet.
She is running to raise
funds to buy a classroom set
of laptop computers for her
students at Gardner Pilot
Academy (GPA), a public
school in Boston, MA where
she works as a learning spe-
cialist in GPA’s new sixth
grade, as the former elemen-
tary school begins expansion
of a K-8 school.
Byron, 28, was raised
in Dallas and now lives in
Allston, MA. She is a gradu-
ate of Bishop Hoban High
School where she competed
for the Argents in swimming,
volleyball, cross-country,
track and javelin while also
participating in an indoor
soccer league.
She is a 15-time High
School All-American and
Academic-All American, a
Pennsylvania high school
state champion, a five-time
state runner-up and has won
seven other state medals.
She was named All-State
16 times and is a 16-time
high school district champi-
on, making her the most dec-
orated high school district
athlete of all time in North-
eastern Pennsylvania.
While in high school, she
broke or reset more than 75
team and area pool records.
She was named Scholar-
Athlete of her graduating
class, was captain of the
swim team for two years and
finished her high school ca-
reer undefeated in the dual
meet season.
A former member of the
Bloomsburg Area YMCA, she
is a two-time YMCA national
Dallas native Liz Byron has
qualified to run in Marathon
de Sables (“Marathon of the
Sands"), a six-day, 155-mile
self-supported “ultra-mara-
thon" - the equivalent of six
consecutive marathon.
HOW TO HELP
To make a tax-deductible contri-
bution to Liz Byron's fundraising
campaign, visit www.runforlap-
tops.org.
champion, runner-up and has
placed in the top 16 at YMCA
Nationals numerous times.
Her parents, Tom and Joan
Byron, live in Dallas.
Byron began teaching full-
time in 2008. She earned her
undergraduate degree from
Boston College where she
was a four-year Division 1
All-American swimmer and
master’s degrees from Har-
vard Graduate School of Edu-
cation and Lesley University.
She has competed in nu-
merous other endurance chal-
lenges, including six mara-
thons, an Ironman triathlon
and several other running,
biking and swimming events.
The race begins in south-
ern Morocco on April 5.
Competitors must carry all
personal belongings and food
for the entire event in their
backpacks, running across
sand dunes and rocky ter-
rain.
Event organizers provide
only water and tents. Even in
early April, midday tempera-
tures in the Sahara can reach
1202 F. Only 50-60 of the esti-
mated 800 runners are Amer-
icans, with most competitors
coming from European and
African nations.
All of the funds Byron raise
will go directly to the laptop
initiative.
She is covering all of her
own travel and registration
costs. Marathon Sports is
helping to publicize her ef-
forts.