NEPA Sports Nation

Dallas girls move into top spot

Dallas takes over the top spot among Big School girls teams in this week’s Riverfront Sports Super Six Track and Field Power Rankings of District 2 teams as they make the transition from the regular season to the postseason.

Dallas and former No. 1 Abington Heights, both long-time powers, won impressively in first-place showdowns to end the regular season.

The regular-season performances by Dallas translate to the Mountaineers landing top seeds in four events and having an athlete seeding among the top six in 15 of 18 events – all but the three throws.

Dallas won the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls title, giving it at least a share of the championship in 10 of the past 13 seasons, when it handled fellow unbeaten Pittston Area, 97-53.

Abington Heights finished its 14th straight unbeaten dual meet season in the Lackawanna Track Conference, winning the Division 1 title by defeating Scranton Prep, 99½-40½. The Comets move to the second spot.

North Pocono, in Big Schools, and Mid Valley, in Small Schools, held their top spots in the boys rankings while Lake-Lehman remained on top of Small School girls.

North Pocono won three times, making up for time lost to COVID-19 protocols, to take over the lead and ultimately win the LTC Division 2 boys title.

Lake-Lehman, which had already clinched at least a tie, wrapped up a WVC Division 2 girls championship.

The Crestwood and Berwick girls, as well as the Scranton Prep boys, move into the Super Six this week. The Holy Redeemer and Montrose girls joined Dallas as teams that moved up.

The top three teams in the Big School girls rankings are all division champions.

Wallenpaupack wrapped up its LTC Division 2 title but dropped from second to third.

Crestwood and Berwick, which kept Hazleton Area from finishing in the top three of WVC Division 1 for the first time since at least 2007 (official final standings are only readily available for 2008 forward), join the rankings in the fifth and sixth spots, replacing LTC Division 1 members Scranton Prep and Valley View.

Holy Redeemer, which lost only to No. 1 Lake-Lehman, moves up from fourth to second in Small School girls after finishing second in WVC Division 2.

LTC Division 3 champion Lakeland holds on to third.

Western Wayne, which finished at .500 while competing against all larger schools as an LTC Division 2 member, drops two spots to fourth.

LTC Division 4 champion Montrose moves up from sixth to fifth, swapping positions with Wyoming Area.

The Big School rankings are for Class 3A teams while the Small School rankings are for Class 2A. The District 2 Class 2A Championships are set for Monday, with Class 3A scheduled Tuesday, both at North Pocono.

The top three spots in the Small School boys rankings remain the same.

LTC Division 3 champion Mid Valley is followed, in order, by WVC Division 2 champion Wyoming Area and seven-time defending District 2 Class 2A champion Lakeland.

Scranton Prep, which went 2-2 competing against Big Schools in LTC Division 1, joins the rankings in fourth.

Holy Cross slips from fourth to fifth. Holy Redeemer holds sixth.

Tunkhannock competed in Division 2 of the WVC in the regular season, but the Tigers are a Class 3A boys team for postseason purposes. They were inadvertently listed among Small Schools in the previous two rankings.

The Big School boys rankings remain the same.

LTC Division 2 champion North Pocono and LTC Division 1 champ Valley View are 1-2, followed by Hazleton Area and Wyoming Valley West, the top two WVC Division 1 teams. Abington Heights and Wallenpaupack, the two runner-up teams in the LTC divisions, are fifth and sixth.

The track and field rankings, with previous rankings and division records:

RIVERFRONT SPORTS SUPER SIX TRACK AND FIELD POWER RANKINGS

Big School Boys

RankTeamPrevious RankingDivision Record
1North Pocono14-0
2Valley View24-0
3Hazleton Area36-0
4Wyoming Valley West45-1
5Abington Heights53-1
6Wallenpaupack63-1

Small School Boys

RankTeamPrevious RankingDivision Record
1Mid Valley15-0
2Wyoming Area26-0
3Lakeland34-1
4Scranton PrepNR2-2
5Holy Cross43-2
6Holy Redeemer64-1

Big School Girls

RankTeamPrevious RankingDivision Record
1Dallas36-0
2Abington Heights14-0
3Wallenpaupack24-0
4Pittston Area45-1
5CrestwoodNR4-2
6BerwickNR3-3

Small School Girls

RankTeamPrevious RankingDivision Record
1Lake-Lehman16-0
2Holy Redeemer45-1
3Lakeland35-0
4Western Wayne42-2
5Montrose65-0
6Wyoming Area54-2

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