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Winning continues for Burke, Palone
Burke, who has a farm in Fredericktown, made harness racing history last year when he accumulated $10.62 million in winnings. No other trainer has surpassed the $10 million mark and Burke is on pace to do it twice in as many years.
Through 1,743 races this season, half of Burke's horses have finished in the money. He has earnings of $5.35 million in winnings this year and could top $11 million when the season ends in December.
Burke's horses have finished in the money in one out of every two races, and his 1,743 starts are nearly twice that of Virgil Morgan's 731. Burke is on pace for 744 victories, 80 more than last season. He has 372 as of Monday.
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But Palone's numbers are more impressive considering his has had about 800 fewer starts than either Tetrick or Morgan. Palone had $5.6 million in winnings and 650 first-place finishes last year.
• Ron Headlee continues his impressive start as the new head wrestling coach at Waynesburg University. The former Jefferson-Morgan High School head coach, who guided Cary Kolat to four straight PIAA gold medals and an unbeaten record, has landed some familiar names in his first recruiting class.
Headlee made a splash in April, when he received commitments from Corbin Semple, who captured a state title for Waynesburg High School in 2005; and Chris Pihiou, a talented 130-pounder for Canon-McMillan last season.
The latest commitments came from a number of area wrestlers, including two familiar names from Greene County: Mark Throckmorton and Garrett Johnston. Throckmorton was a state medalist for Waynesburg High School before graduating in 2004 and Johnston finished with a 126-45 record at West Greene.
Other notables included Todd Martinek and Jared Robert, who each wrestled at Trinity; and Stefan Chaussard, who competed at Chartiers Valley and is the son of Fort Cherry wrestling coach Rick Chaussard.
The Yellow Jackets' home-opener is Nov. 19 against Duquesne.
• It promises to be another great season of football for Washington & Jefferson College and California University. Both the Presidents and Vulcans have been turning up in a number of preseason publications.
The Sporting News College Football 2008 magazine, which was formerly Street & Smith's, has W&J ranked No. 2 in the country in NCAA Division III. Lindy's College Football Preview has W&J at No. 5, and USA Today puts the Presidents at No. 20.
The Sporting News has California, which reached the NCAA Division II semifinals last year, ranked No. 2.
• Michael Nackoul, who will be a senior at Canon-McMillan this fall, recently defended his title in the School-Age National Weightlifting Championship.
Nackoul, representing the Pittsburgh Barbell Club, lifted 117 kilos (258 pounds) in the snatch and 156 kilos (344 pounds) in the clean-and-jerk. His total of 273 kilos ranked fifth in the 17-and-under age division and makes him eligible to represent the United States in the Pan American Championships, Sept. 9-14 in Peru.
• Hoopfest will be held Saturday, Dec. 13. The day-long local basketball extravaganza raises money for Special Olympics.
• High school football camps open Monday, Aug. 11.
Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
