Sports briefs
West Greene’s Jackson commits to Army
Benjamin Jackson served up some memorable football performances while at West Greene High School.
Now, he intends to serve his country.
Jackson, a 6-1, 215-pound tailback-linebacker, has chosen West Point to continue his academic and athletic career.
Jackson was offered admission into the United States Military Academy recently and will play football for Army.
It was his first Division I offer.
“I feel like it’s my duty to serve,” Jackson said. “God has blessed me with a great life and I feel the need to serve.”
Last year, Jackson favored enlisting in the Marines Corps but changed his mind. Penn State also made the final list.
He became the leading rusher in Greene County history, rambling for 7,102 career yards and breaking the mark of another West Greene running back, Rodney Wilson (6,304).
Jackson became the first WPIAL player to run for 3,000 or more yards in a single season, breaking the previous mark of 2,949 yards by Zane Dudek of Armstrong in 2016.
His 50 touchdowns came within two of breaking the single-season record of 51, set by Clairton’s Tyler Boyd in 2012.
He is the third-leading rusher in WPIAL history behind only Hopewell’s Russel Shell (9,078) and Fort Cherry’s Mike Vernillo (7,646).
W&J tabs Jones as head coach
After serving as the interim head coach for the 2019 season, the Washington & Jefferson College has elevated Kendra Jones to head coach of the women’s soccer program.
Jones served as the interim head coach for the team during the 2019 season. The Presidents finished 4-1-3 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play and 6-9-3 overall this past fall.
“I’m really excited about the challenges ahead and where we can take the program,” Jones said. “We want to create a more competitive environment with the players we have returning and our upcoming recruiting classes.”
W&J earned the No. 3 seed in the PAC Championship Tournament, where they fell 2-0 to eventual league champion Grove City in the semifinals. It marked the sixth straight season that the Presidents qualified for the four-team PAC Tournament.
I
n golf
A tropical breeze replaced the raging wind and made golf a lot easier for Patrick Reed, Tiger Woods and just about everyone else Thursday in the Hero World Challenge in Nassau, Bahamas.
Reed took advantage of the back nine at Albany Golf Club for the second straight day. He was tied for the lead until making six birdies over his last 10 holes for a 6-under 66 that gave him a three-shot lead over U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland.
Reed was at 12-under 132.
Woods, playing for the first time since he won in Japan for his record-tying 82nd career victory on the PGA Tour, kept a clean card to match Reed’s 66 and remain six shots behind. Unlike the opening round, when Woods started poorly and ended even worse to wipe out a good back nine, he played bogey-free and made up ground on the back nine.
The tournament ends Saturday so the American team can board a charter to Melbourne, arriving on Monday for the Presidents Cup. Dustin Johnson, who withdrew from the Bahamas to have one more week for his knee to recover, plans to fly in on Saturday to join the rest of the Americans on the charter.
I
n the NHL
Gabriel Landeskog scored in his return from a lower-body injury and the Colorado Avalanche beat the slumping Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Thursday night.
Ryan Graves and Matt Calvert also scored and backup goalie Pavel Francouz made 39 saves to help the Avalanche win their fifth straight game and improve to 18-8-2.
Andrei Svechnikov scored in the shootout, Petr Mrazek stopped San Jose cold in the tiebreaker and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Sharks, 3-2.