Winter sports start up Friday

Athletics teams from Susquehanna County will return to action with the first official winter sports practice taking place on Friday, Nov. 19.

Here is a roundup of all the local teams:

Boys’ Basketball

Blue Ridge’s boys’ basketball team is coached by Brian Woodruff and is entering Lackawanna League Division III coming off a 5-9 league record in 2009-10.

Elk Lake’s team is coached by John Warnero, and is taking to the court after finishing out a 10-4 season in Lackawanna League Division III.

Forest City is hitting the court under new coach Mike Heck, and is looking to improve upon its 2-12 Division III record from last season.

Montrose’s boys’ team is coached by Todd Smith, and returns after winning the Lackawanna League Division III championship in 2009-10 with a 12-2 record.

Mountain View’s boys’ basketball team is coached by Lawrence Tompkins, and after finishing with a 9-5 record last year, the Eagles are eying a strong finish in Division III.

Susquehanna’s Sabers, coached by Scott Glidden, finished up with a 1-13 Division III record, and look to improve in 2010-11.

Girls’ Basketball

Blue Ridge’s Lady Raiders are starting a new season under the direction of first-year coach Mike Budnik, and are hoping to boost the team’s 5-9 record from the 2009-10 campaign.

Elk Lake’s girls’ basketball team will have a new coach this year in Tyrone Hinkley, after the retirement of coach Al Caines. The Lady Warriors finished off last season at 7-7 in Lackawanna League Division III, good enough for third place.

 Forest City’s girls’ basketball team finished the Lackawanna league Division III campaign last year with an 11-3 record, good enough for second place under coach Carl Urbas.

Montrose’s Meteors are coached by Al Smith and are returning to Lackawanna League Division III after taking the division championship in 2009-10 with a 13-1 league record.

Mountain View will be coached by first-year coach Jason Nese, a former Pittston Area assistant coach, and are looking to contend after finishing 7-7 in Lackawanna League Division III last season.

Susquehanna will again be under direction of coach Dori Sabatelli, who will look to improve the Sabers’ record of 0-14 in Division III last season.

Wrestling

The Blue Ridge wrestling team is headed back to the mats with a new coach as Zack Edwards takes the reins from John Ciotoli. They finished last season with a 2-6 team record.

Elk Lake’s team, coached by Wes Warner finished 7-1 last year, finishing in second place overall in Lackawanna League Division II and look to contend for a league title after being bested by Western Wayne last year.

Montrose’s wrestling team, coached by second-year coach Jim Lewis will hit the mats after a 3-5 Lackawanna League Division II finish in the 2009-10 season.

Susquehanna’s Saber team finished off the 2009-10 campaign at 1-7 in Lackawanna League Division II, and return this season under the direction of coach Don Orner.

Swimming and Diving

Elk Lake’s swimming and diving teams coached by Ed Murach (swimming) and Jim Phillips (diving) finished out the 2009-10 campaign with 2-5 record for both the boys’ and girls’ teams.

Montrose athletes will also compete with the Elk Lake team, per an agreement between the two districts.