Montrose graduates Chris Snee and Rich Thompson extended successful professional sports careers while softball players and runners from Susquehanna County continued to excel in 2011.

Snee, an offensive guard with the New York Giants, was listed 77th when current National Football League players helped pick the game’s top 100 overall players for the NFL Network.

As the season progressed, Snee helped the Giants battle their way back into the playoffs. He bounced back quickly from a concussion, missing just one game, the only one the eight-year pro has not started during the past seven NFL seasons.

Thompson remains one step below Major League Baseball which he enjoyed with the Kansas City Royals for six games at the start of the 2004 season.

At age 32, however, Thompson was one of the top players in the Class AAA International League, helping the Lehigh Valley IronPigs post their first winning season and advance all the way to the IL Championship Series.

The franchise’s all-time leader in stolen bases, runs, hits and games played signed a minor league contract in December to return for another season.

Thompson, a lead-off hitting center fielder, led the entire IL in runs (81) and stolen bases (48-for-52) while batting .276 in 124 games. In seven more playoff games, he scored four runs and stole five bases while hitting .240.

Some of the year’s top performances by former and current county athletes took place on the softball field.

Blue Ridge graduate Jocelyn Dearborn completed a standout career at Fordham University by earning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors and helping the Lady Rams to the NCAA Division I national tournament.

While starting all 61 games, Dearborn led Fordham in runs (45), hits (70), doubles (11), triples (8), home runs (16), RBI (44) and walks (20). She was second in batting average (.350) and stolen bases (8).

Pitcher Brooke Darling and catcher Gabby Baltzley were named first-team all-state by the Pennsylvania Softball Coaches Association after helping Elk Lake take an unbeaten record into the state quarterfinals before losing in extra innings.

Elk Lake won the Lackawanna League Division 3 and District 2 Class AA titles, beating defending state champion Nanticoke in the final.

The softball team was one of three Elk Lake spring sports teams and four overall to go unbeaten in league play.

The others, fueled by the school’s strong and deep group of distance runners, also stretched their success beyond the league level.

Both track teams and the girls’ cross country team won division titles.

The girls’ cross country team came within three points of repeating as state champions.

Maria Trowbridge finished 11th and Jenny VanEtten 15th to earn state medals.

Luke Jones finished second in the state in Class AA boys' cross country after claiming his second straight District 2 championship. In the spring, he won a District 2 championship in the 3200 meters.

Mike Bedell was the star of the District 2 Class AA track meet when he won the 400 and 800 meters and was part of the winning 800 and 1600 relay teams.

Bedell then wrapped up his career with a fourth-place state medal in the 3200 relay and a seventh-place medal in the 800.

Carney was part of the relay team and had his own seventh-place state medal in the 400, an event he won on the district level.

Will Bennett and Bryan Grosvenor were also part of the fourth-place state relay team.

Bennett joined Bedell and Carney in being part of both the 800 and 1600 relay teams when they won district titles.

Blue Ridge’s Allison Hall won her sixth state running medal with a fourth-place finish in the state 800 meters. That came after her third district title in the event.

Cassie VanEtten of Elk Lake was sixth in the state in the 400.

Elk Lake also won the 1600 and 3200 relays on the district level.

Montrose’s Jeremy Dibble won a district pole vault title.

Blue Ridge’s Hall (800) and Zach Kruger (300 hurdles) won titles at the Lackawanna Track Conference’s Robert Spagna Championship Meet.

Elk Lake also won both Class AA team titles at the Jordan Relays.

There were other success stories produced by county athletes and teams throughout the year, as well as by nearby professional franchises.

The Binghamton Senators won their first Calder Cup championship in 29 years as a member of the American Hockey League.

Ryan Keller’s third-period, power-play goal produced a 3-2 victory over the Houston Aeros in Game 7 of the championship series.

Binghamton’s title came after the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were the league’s best team in the regular season with a 58-21-0-1 record.

Before the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees announced that they were leaving Moosic for the 2012 season while stadium renovations were made at PNC Field, Alex Rodriguez made an appearance with the team on an injury rehabilitation assignment. Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with two walks in two games, but struggled defensively.

In college sports, Montrose graduate Cody DeBoer became an NCAA Division II indoor track and field All-American with an eighth-place finish in the long jump.

Mountain View graduate Robbie Johnson surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark as a member of the Misericordia University men’s basketball team.

In the Scranton Lions Club Dream Game, former Susquehanna and Montrose players helped the City defeat the County, 19-7.

Susquehanna’s Dan Kempa was in on seven tackles while Nick Marco was in on five. Susquehanna’s Rob Hubal rushed the passer into two incompletions and Montrose’s Ethan Jones was in on three tackles.

Steve Skurski of Susquehanna and Josh Oliver of Montrose were also part of the win.

Elk Lake’s Adam Phillips earned a pair of state seventh-place medals in swimming in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke, an event in which he won a District 2 title.

Both Mountain View soccer teams enjoyed a successful fall.

The Eagles reached the state quarterfinals.

Both teams won District 2 Class A titles as part of a doubleheader. Colby Thomas had four goals and an assist in the second half of a 6-3 win over Holy Cross after the girls had defeated Forest City, 2-1, in overtime.

The girls also went unbeaten while winning Division 2 of the Lackawanna League.

Forest City won a District 2 Class A girls’ basketball title after falling to Montrose, 45-43, in overtime in the all-season Lackawanna Division 3 championship game. Both teams went 13-1 in Division 3 play.

Montrose went 7-0 in the second half and 13-1 on the season in Lackawanna Division 3 boys’ basketball, but lost the all-season championship game to Lackawanna Trail.

In other Lackawanna League play, Montrose won the Northern Division golf title; Forest City won the Division 3 boys’ soccer title; Elk Lake won the Division 3 girls’ tennis title in a playoff over Riverside; and Susquehanna and Mountain View shared first-place in Division 2 girls’ volleyball.

Susquehanna’s Tom Maby and Blue Ridge’s Dalton Church each won District 2 titles and one Northeast Regional match to end the 2010-11 season then became teammates in the 2011-12 season.

The two schools joined forces in cooperative sponsorships of golf and wrestling, adding to the football and soccer arrangements they already had.

Elk Lake and Montrose agreed to co-sponsor football, beginning in 2012.

Elk Lake’s Devin Fiorentino was the only county wrestler to reach the Lackawanna League final. He also made the District 2 final, along with Blue Ridge’s Zach Edwards, another runner-up.

Susquehanna advanced to the state boys’ basketball tournament by finishing second in the District 2 Class A tournament.

Forest City golfer Katie Zefran won the Jackman Memorial Tournament girls’ division.

Susquehanna football coach Dick Bagnall announced his retirement at the end of a season, which included one of the biggest comeback wins in the program’s history. The Sabers scored 26 straight points over the final 11 minutes of a 32-21 win at Holy Cross.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Montrose defeated Blue Ridge, 64-56, Friday night to take sole possession of the Lackawanna League Division 3 boys’ basketball lead.

There was a three-way tie to start the night, but Lakeland also suffered its first loss, 57-43, to defending champion Lackawanna Trail.

In wrestling, Montrose and Elk Lake both lost their Lackawanna Division 2 opener.

Valley View defeated Montrose, 60-9. Scranton Prep topped Elk Lake, 57-12.

COLLEGE CORNER

SCRANTON - Marywood University struggled but Brent Keyes had two strong performances when the Pacers hosted the Cross County Challenge Jan. 2-3.

The senior from Susquehanna was the top Marywood scorer both nights in men’s basketball losses to King’s College (81-53) and Wilkes University (89-70).

Keyes had 18 points and six rebounds in 34 minutes before fouling out against King’s. He was in foul trouble much of the first half against Wilkes, but had 21 points in the second half to finish with 23 points in 31 minutes.

“Whenever Brent plays well, we seem to play well,” Marywood coach Eric Grundman said. “Brent is an energy guy. He has really improved for us over the course of four years.”

Keyes had 10 points during a 20-2 surge that allowed Marywood to cut a 27-point Wilkes lead to nine midway through the second half.

For the two games, Keyes shot 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) from the floor, 5-for-15 (33.3) from the line and 8-for-8 from the foul line.

Kirk Fallon, another senior from Susquehanna, played 10 minutes during the challenge. He missed his only shot and grabbed one rebound.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Elk Lake will host the Zurn-Bush Memorial wrestling duals Saturday.

In girls’ basketball, Forest City is at Montrose Thursday for the Lackawanna League Division 3 lead.

The teams met in last season’s championship game after won one half of the league schedule. Both teams entered Monday’s action with 3-0 records.

See next week’s Susquehanna County Transcript, for the annual Athlete of the Year selection covering 2011.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

Bayne And Wood Brothers To Return

The Wood Brothers, the longest continuous operating team in NASCAR will return for the 2012 season with Trevor Bayne as their driver.

Bayne, who delivered the Woods their fifth Daytona 500 triumph in just his second start in the No. 21 Ford Fusion, said he's pleased to be putting any off-season uncertainty behind him.

Joey Logano (left) and Trevor Bayne at Talladega, 2011.

“I'm excited,” he said. “It's a big deal for me. It's what I had hoped for. We're all excited to be back together.”

Team co-owner Eddie Wood said he too is happy to have Bayne back behind the wheel of his family's race car.

“It's taken a long time to get to this announcement, but it's good to be back together,” Wood said. “We all wanted to do what was best for Ford Motor Company and its young drivers, and to be sure everybody had a place to race.”

Bayne, one of the younger drivers in the Sprint Cup Series, was made even more aware of the team's history and heritage and its long-standing relationship with Ford Motor Company when he watched a video on the team's history at the company Christmas party.

“There's no question at all that since the beginning, the Woods and Ford were going to stick with each other,” he said. “The Woods are such a great racing family, and it's amazing that they're the only one of the original teams that has survived since the beginning.”

Beginning next week, the team will be back at Daytona International Speedway for Preseason Thunder testing and trying to figure a way to adapt to a new rules package and defend their 500 victory.

“It's going to be very different at Daytona,” Bayne continued, referring to a rule change that will block off air to the car's radiator and thereby limit the two-car tandem racing that Bayne so quickly adapted to. “It'll be like starting all over again, but that's OK. We'll just go try to do it again.”

RUSTY WALLACE RACING CLOSES SHOP

Rusty Wallace Racing has shut down its racing shop as it continues to look for sponsorship for it’s two car operation.

Drivers Steve Wallace and Michael Annett were expected to compete in the Nationwide Series this season, but now both must find new rides.

“This was a tough decision to make, but it was the prudent one from a number of perspectives,” Wallace said in a statement. “While we had several great partners on board for 2012, we just didn't feel like we had enough sponsorship in place to accomplish all of our goals.

“A lot of teams would have run with the level of funding we have now, but we want to ensure that our team has the resources necessary to compete and to improve our operations. I promised myself and my family long ago that if the team wasn't funded to a level with which we were comfortable, we just wouldn't run it. I've worked way too hard to put part of my life savings into a race team.”

The organization will keep some of its business staff in place to look for sponsorship programs for Steve and for future seasons.

ALMIROLA GETTING ANOTHER CHANCE

Aric Almirola is one of the few drivers that has gotten another chance in the NASCAR Cup series.

This season he will be sitting behind the wheel of perhaps the most recognizable car in NASCAR history; Richard Petty’s No. 43.

Almirola comes to the No. 43 after finishing fourth in the Nationwide Series in the No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Obviously, it's going be my first year running full time in Cup, so there will be some growing pains,” Almirola said. “I realize that I've got a lot of learning to do. I don't expect to just go out there and win six races and run for the championship, but I do expect to be competitive. I do expect to run really good on a regular basis.”

Joe Gibbs gave Almirola a one-shot run in 2007, and later that season he was chosen to partner with Mark Martin on the short-lived Bobby Ginn operation. Teresa Earnhardt added him to her DEI roster in 2008, and when she 'merged' with Chip Ganassi for 2009, Almirola kept the ride for the first seven races. James Finch then picked him up for a few races in 2010; Petty ran him in that year's last five races.

Almirola is the first driver to come out of NASCAR's diversity program and make the top series. His grandparents came to the United States from Cuba in 1966 on the Freedom Flights. They gave the Cuban government everything, including the wedding ring of Almirola's grandmother, to chase the American dream.

“When I was younger, I didn't really appreciate it,” Almirola said of his heritage. “I didn't really think it meant anything, but the older I've gotten, and to now pay my own bills and now that I'm married and possibly thinking about having a family, I understand a lot better what they went through when they gave up everything they had … to create a better life, not only for themselves but for their family.”

Petty’s No. 43 has made 451 starts without a victory. Since Richard Petty won his last race in 1984, the No. 43 has been to Victory Lane only three times in 855 starts with nine drivers.

It would not only benefit Petty and Almirola, but all of the NASCAR-nation if Almirola could get it back in victory lane.

PRESEASON TESTING SET

NASCAR Preseason Thunder, the annual three-day NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test session at Daytona International Speedway in advance of the season-opening Daytona 500, will be held on Jan. 12-14.

All NASCAR Preseason Thunder test sessions begin at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m., weather permitting. Each includes a lunch break from noon until 1 p.m. Race fans can also rev up their new year at the NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest - the companion event to the January test sessions. Along with watching NASCAR Preseason Thunder track activity from the Sprint FANZONE, fans can enjoy two Fan Fest driver sessions - from 5-9 p.m., on Thursday, Jan. 12 and from 5-7 p.m., on Friday, Jan. 13.

Racing Trivia Question: Richard Petty has 200 career Cup wins, the most of any driver. Who is number two?

Last Week’s Question: Which year did Kurt Busch win the Sprint Cup championship? Answer. It was 2004.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.

Elk Lake and Blue Ridge were tied three times in the second quarter and three more times in the third quarter of the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament championship game.

Rob Heft’s 3-pointer finally put the Warriors ahead for good.

With Heft scoring seven of his 19 points, Elk Lake broke away for a 53-44 victory and the tournament championship.

The Warriors scored the game’s last seven points, including four by Heft, who was selected as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“We had never won this tournament before, so we really wanted to get this one,” Heft said.

The back-to-back tournament wins improved Elk Lake’s record to 3-3. Heft averaged a team-high 16.7 points per game in the first month of the season to gain honors as the latest Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month.

Heft had all 10 of his points in the second half of the first round of the tournament when Elk Lake rallied for a 53-39 victory over Susquehanna. The Warriors rallied again in the second half against Blue Ridge when they found room for Heft to hit two of three 3-pointers and finish 3-for-7 from long distance.

“We just try to execute our plays and look for what’s best in our set offense,” Heft said.

That can mean an open look for Heft, a 5-foot-10 junior guard.

“He loves the game and he loves his team,” Elk Lake coach John Warnero said. “He’s one of the most relentless workers at perfecting his game.”

Heft has been playing AAU basketball for 21 Hoops since seventh grade. He also stays involved in basketball in the summer working as a counselor at Camp St. Andrew.

“He does everything you want from a coaching standpoint,” Warnero said. “He does above and beyond what you ask him to do.

“He’s always looking for little things to improve his game.”

Heft made the Elk Lake varsity as a sub in his freshman season and moved into the starting lineup last season. In his sophomore year, he also joined the track and field team where he competed in the high jump and 400 meters.

Rob is the son of Robert and Jamie Heft of Montrose.