SCRANTON - Allison Lewis, Myra Lattimore and Meghan Gilhool were each part of both winning events Thursday night when Montrose won the Class AA girls’ championship at the 57th annual Jordan Relays at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

Lewis, Lattimore and Gilhool were part of wins in the 1200 sprint medley and the closing 4x400. Madelyn Pasteka joined them in the sprint medley and Samantha Bennici ran the anchor in the 4x400.

Gilhool opened and Lattimore closed the sprint medley with 400-meter legs. Lewis and Pasteka ran the 200-meter legs in between.

“We knew that Elk Lake, Holy Cross and Lakeland have exceptional programs and they were going to be the frontrunners,” Montrose coach Sean Castellani said. “We thought we had an outside shot to come from behind and be one of the darkhorses.”

Montrose also finished second in three events and fourth in the other. The second-place finishes came in the 4x100, 4x800 and the distance medley (800-400-400-1600).

Bennici and Angela Russell were each part of two second-place efforts while Allison Lewis and Lattimore added a second-place finish to their two wins. Pasteka, Hannah Dieck, Nicki Lewis, Rebecca Timm, Emma Washo and Kaylee Russell also ran on second-place relays.

Nicki Lewis, Dieck, Timm and Pasteka were part of the fourth-place 1600 sprint medley (200-200-400-800).

“We went outside right before we came down here and put some finishing touches on our handoffs,” Castellani said, “especially on the medleys, which are not particularly common for our girls to run.”

Montrose outscored Lakeland, 49-39, for the team title.

Elk Lake was third of 11 teams with 33 points. Blue Ridge was seventh with 16 points, Mountain View was 10th with five and Susquehanna 11th with four.

Jenny VanEtten and Maria Trowbridge were on both of Elk Lake’s winning relay teams, the distance medley and the 4x800.

Kirsten Hollister, Rachel Manzek, Lainey Bedell and Elizabeth Trowbridge also ran on one of the winners.

The Class AAA girls’ title went to Abington Heights, coached by Susquehanna native Frank Passetti, for the sixth straight year.

“It is our girls’ favorite event of the year,” Passetti said. “It’s kind of a relaxed atmosphere where they get to do events that they do not normally do.”

Holy Cross (AA) and Valley View (AAA) won the boys’ titles with 56 of a possible 60 points each.

Blue Ridge was fourth out of 12 teams with 25 points. Elk Lake was sixth with 15, Montrose was eighth with 12 and Susquehanna and Mountain View were tied for 11th with three.

The best Susquehanna County boys’ race was turned in by the Elk Lake distance medley team of Will Bennett, Luke Jones, Eddie Cumens and Matt Cuomo, which finished second more than 11 seconds ahead of third-place Lakeland.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Earlier in the week, Elk Lake finished up its Lackawanna Track Conference Division 3 girls’ championship.

Final LTC standings for divisions involving county teams:

Division 2 boys: Scranton 5-0-1, Holy Cross 4-1-1, Dunmore 4-2, Montrose 4-2, Riverside 2-4, Western Wayne 1-5, West Scranton 0-6.

Division 3 boys: Mid Valley 6-0, Blue Ridge 5-1, Elk Lake 4-2, Lackawanna Trail 3-3, Mountain View 2-4, Carbondale 1-5, Susquehanna 0-6.

Division 2 girls: Western Wayne 6-0, Holy Cross 5-1, Montrose 4-2, Dunmore 3-3, West Scranton 2-4, Riverside 1-5, Scranton 0-6.

Division 3 girls: Elk Lake 6-0, Mid Valley 5-1, Lackawanna Trail 4-2, Blue Ridge 3-3, Carbondale 2-4, Mountain View 1-5, Susquehanna 0-6.

Passetti’s Abington Heights girls team won its sixth straight Division 1 title.

In boys’ tennis, the Lackawanna League season was also completed.

The final standings:

Division 2: Scranton Prep 11-0, Valley View 8-3, Montrose 6-5, Mid Valley 3-8, Western Wayne 1-10.

Division 3: Holy Cross 7-2, Dunmore 5-4, Riverside 0-9.

In professional hockey, the St. John’s IceCaps took a 3-1 series lead over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup playoffs.

The teams split the first two games in Newfoundland.

The IceCaps then won consecutive overtime games Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre.

COLLEGE CORNER

Baptist Bible College catcher Karin Mowry was named Colonial States Athletic Conference softball Co-Player of the Year, sharing the award with Caitlyn Veverka of Centenary College.

The junior from Elk Lake entered the final week of the regular season ranked in the top 30 nationally in three NCAA Division III statistical categories.

Mowry was seventh in batting average, 17th in on-base percentage and 30th in fewest strikeouts.

Mowry started all 43 games to help the Lady Defenders go 22-21. She finished with a .497 batting average, leading the team in that category along with runs (53), hits (71), walks (11), stolen bases (22) and on-base percentage (.538).

THE WEEK AHEAD

The District 2 Class AA boys’ tennis singles tournament begins Thursday at 9 a.m. at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.

After three rounds of play Thursday, the tournament will conclude with semifinal and final action Friday.

In softball, Montrose is at Lackawanna Trail Thursday in a meeting of the teams that entered the week tied for first place in Division 3 of the Lackawanna League.

In baseball, unbeaten leader Montrose is at second-place Lackawanna Trail Thursday in a Lackawanna Division 3 game.

In track and field, the District 2 Class AA championships are scheduled for Tuesday, May 15 at 3 p.m. at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

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.

KESELOWSKI WINS ALABAMA JUBILEE

TALLADEGA, Ala.—Brad Keselowski outran Kyle Busch in a green-white-checkered finish at Talladega to win Sunday’s Sprint Cup Aaron’s 499, in a race that saw 19 cars sidelined due to wrecks.

“Patience was the key,” said Keselowski. “But we ran hard. Those are the keys to winning here. It was a perfect finish. I went high in turn-3 on the last lap, then came down, and broke up the draft between Kyle and myself.”

Kyle Busch had pushed Keselowski past Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle to take the lead, on the restart of the green-white-checkered, but as the pair entered turn-3, Busch lost the draft and fell back.

Brad Keselowski celebrates after Sunday's Talladega win.

“It was a race between the 2-car and myself,” said Busch. “When we went into the last turn, we got disoriented from Brad and it was all over.”

Matt Kenseth led the most laps, but had to settle for third.

“I think we just let one get away from us today,” said Kenseth. “We got a fast restart, and got too far out front. It was a poor job on my part.”

Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Burton were the remaining top-10 finishers.

The race was practically free of accidents for the first 300 laps of the 499-lap race, then three separate “big ones” took out polesitter Jeff Gordon, Dave Blaney, Martin Truex, Juan Montoya, Aric Almirola, A J Allmendinger, Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Michael Waltrip, Paul Menard, Joey Logano, and others.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Jeff Gordon, after being knocked into the wall during lap 142. “It’s not fun hitting the wall like that. It’s comical the way our luck is going. We need to address the racing here.”

Jimmy Johnson had an oil pump go out in his engine, and wound up with a DNF.

Carl Edwards also had engine problems and did not finish.

Top-12 leaders after 10 of 36: 1. Biffle-378, 2. Kenseth-371, 3. Earnhardt-369, 4. Hamlin-351, 5. Harvick-333, 6. Truex-332, 7. Stewart-328, 8. Johnson-324, 9. Kyle Busch-308, 10. Bowyer-302, 11. Edwards-300, 12. Keselowski-299.

LOGANO SLIPS BY BUSCH

Joey Logano swept past Kyle Busch coming out of the final turn to win Saturday’s Nationwide race at Talladega.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Whitt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, James Buescher, Justin Allgaier, Kenny Wallace, and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top-10 finishers.

The race was red-flagged for a nine-car wreck that interrupted the first attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish on Lap 117. Eric McClure got the worst of the collision, taking a jarring hit against the SAFER barrier on the inside of the backstretch.

He was airlifted to Birmingham Medical Center, with non-life threatening injuries.

Top-10 points leaders after 8 of 33: 1. R. Stenhouse Jr. - 325; 2. E. Sadler - 320; 3. A. Dillon - 290; 4. S. Hornish Jr. - 265; 5. C. Whitt - 248; 6. M. Annett - 241; 7. J. Allgaier - 228; 8. T. Malsam - 202; M. 9. Bliss - 201; 10. J. Nemechek - 189.

TALLADEGA GAVE CHILDRESS HIS FIRST BREAK

Richard Childress will be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, which is located on the grounds of Talladega Superspeedway, this week.

It’s fitting that this should be the place where Childress is honored, because it is where he gained one of the big breaks of his life.

“Life is built on breaks,” Childress said. “I’ve had a lot of good breaks in life. Without getting some good breaks and taking advantage of them, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Talladega opened on September 13, 1969 at a cost of $4 million. The first race at the new track was unlike any other. Drivers complained that speeds were too fast, and most of NASCAR’s regular drivers refused to run that first event,

They abandoned the track because of tire problems, and went home, which caused Bill France to hire substitute drivers.

One of those drivers that received $7,000 to stay and race was Richard Childress.

“We were bad off,” Childress said. “We were just making it race to race. Three or four of us teams would have the same crew. Whoever was in front would come in first. … It was a struggle just to get to the races and get back financially.

“I don’t think anyone has those challenges today like we had back then.”

There was a time when Childress wasn’t sure he would earn a living. He remembers in the mid-1970s that he was at the track thinking about throwing in the towel on his racing career.

“It was a bad rainy, sloppy day and we were just making no money and struggling and owed some money and we were at North Wilkesboro,” Childress said. “When we finally got to run the race, we ran real good and I said, ‘Nope, I’m going to keep going.’”

Childress kept going and got his next big break during the 1981 season when Dale Earnhardt, the 1980 series champion, needed a ride.

At age 35, Childress hung up his driver uniform and became solely a team owner as he put Earnhardt in his car. Earnhardt finished ninth the first time out, posted six top-10s in 11 races and then ran the rest of the season before leaving to drive for Bud Moore.

Earnhardt came back in 1984, and the rest is history.

“If it hadn’t been for the boycott that day and Bill Sr. taking care of us like he did, I don’t know if I would have made it,” Childress said. “You never know. That was a lot of money back then, especially for someone who had no money.”

The first Talladega race was run without any major incidents because NASCAR ordered caution flags every 20-25-laps so teams could change tires before they failed. The finish was amazing with three cars side by side with the winner being Richard Brickhouse.

Weekend Racing: The Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams are at Darlington. The trucks do not race again until May 18.

Fri., May 11, Nationwide Darlington 200, race 9 of 33; Starting time: 6:30 pm ET; TV: ESPN2.

Sat., May 12, Sprint Cup Southern 500, race 11 of 33; Starting time: 6:30 pm ET; TV: FOX.

Racing Trivia Question: What was NASCAR’s top car series called before it was named Winston Cup?

Last Week's Question: What ancient site was the Talladega Superspeedway built on?

Answer. It was formerly a Creek Indian burial ground. Some claim that after the tribe was relocated by the U. S. Government to Oklahoma, as part of the “Trail of Tears” project in 1838, the local tribal chief or shaman put a curse on the valley, which is now where the speedway is located. Two years ago, the speedway brought in and old indian chief, who blessed the speedway, but he said he could not guarantee that his ancestral spirits were pacified. Apparently the spirits are still angry, because the track claimed 19 cars this past Sunday.

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

Mike Rapisardi broke into the Montrose starting baseball lineup last year as a junior.

Rapisardi spent the time since working on his game to assure that his senior season with the Meteors is a special one.

Mike Rapisardi

“I played all year long,” Rapisardi said. “I played Legion, fall baseball in Vestal (N.Y.) and the winter, I went to the Edge for batting practice.”

The senior third baseman/pitcher led the way as Montrose went 8-0 in Division 3 of the Lackawanna League and 11-0 overall in April. For his efforts, Rapisardi is the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month.

A team captain, Rapisardi raised his average from .353 last season to .571 for the first month of this season. He scored five runs and drove in 14 with five doubles and a triple.

On the mound, Rapisardi went 2-0 with a pair of complete games, including an eight-inning effort against Mountain View. He had a 1.84 earned run average and 24 strikeouts in 18 innings.

“We felt we were going to be doing exactly how we are doing it,” Rapisardi said. “We have a lot of older kids and we work hard every day in practice.”

Assuming the division lead has not been easy for the Meteors. In addition to the extra-inning win over Mountain View, Montrose picked up a one-run win and a pair of two-run victories.

This is Rapisardi’s fourth season on the baseball team.

Mike is the son of Neal and Shari Rapisardi from Brackney.

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – On Wednesday, May 2, the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) announced its women’s softball all-conference selections. Penn State Harrisburg found itself well represented on the South Division’s list of top performers. Junior Kara Boyd (Alexandria, PA/Juniata Valley), freshman Gabby Wolfe (New Milford, PA/Blue Ridge) and senior Emily Pae (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) were named all-conference first-team honorees.

Kara Boyd, Gabby Wolfe and Emily Pae

Boyd was the league’s Player of the Year last season and she followed it up with another strong outing in 2012. One of the Lions’ most consistent pitchers, the Alexandria native won a team-high seven games for the blue and white this spring, recording a 4.01 ERA along the way. She made 17 total appearances on the rubber, throwing ten complete games and striking out 89 batters. Boyd was just as stout at the plate this year, racking up a .397 batting average and 50 hits that included 11 doubles and five triples. She scored a team-high 36 runs, amassed 21 RBIs and stole 11 bases.

Not surprisingly, Wolfe received more votes than any freshman in the conference. The first-year player led the blue and white with a .415 batting average and 54 hits, including 14 doubles and a home run. She scored 32 runs and racked up 21 RBIs on the year in addition to stealing five bases and recording a .911 fielding percentage as an outfielder for Penn State Harrisburg. Wolfe also picked up three wins inside the circle, amassing a solid 3.31 ERA in eight total appearances to go along with her four complete games and 34 strikeouts.

Pae is one of the best hitters in program history and her 2012 campaign only helped to cement her status as the Lions’ offensive juggernaut. The Susquehanna grad amassed a batting average of .382 and notched 47 hits, including five doubles and a triple. She also scored 26 runs and racked up a team-high 24 RBIs. A catcher and outfielder, the Harrisburg native was stout defensively, recording a .964 fielding percentage and a team-high 162 put outs. Pae is currently the school’s all-time leader in hits, runs scored and RBIs.