SCRANTON – Elk Lake’s Jason Vermeulen won the long jump with a leap of 21-1 May 9 in the Robert Spagna Lackawanna Track Conference Championships at Memorial Stadium.

With Elk Lake resting many of its top distance runners, Vermeulen won the only title by a Susquehanna County athlete in the meet for teams from all three divisions of the conference.

Holy Cross won the Class AA boys’ titles and shared the Class AA girls’ championship with Lakeland.

The Montrose girls finished third with 94.5 points behind Holy Cross and Lakeland with 152.

Blue Ridge was sixth with 30 points, Susquehanna was seventh with 28, Elk Lake was ninth with 26 and Mountain View was 10th out of 12 teams with 17 points.

Montrose was also the top county team in the boys’ standings, finishing sixth with 57 points. Holy Cross won with 113.5 points.

Blue Ridge was seventh with 53 points, Elk Lake was ninth with 33, Mountain View was 12th with 19 and Susquehanna was last in the 13-team field with three.

The meet switched to separate scoring for Class AA and AAA for the first time even though the individual medals were still given out for each event as a whole.

Montrose finished first among Class AA teams in six events, getting 10 points for each first-place effort.

The Meteors were first in their classification in two girls’ relays, two girls’ individual events and two boys’ individual events.

The 1600 relay team that won in Class AA was third overall. Samantha Bennici, Allison Lewis, Myra Lattimore and Hanna Dieck formed that team.

Bennici was also part of the 3200 relay and ran the 800 for AA wins. The relay was fourth overall and Bennici was fifth overall in the 800.

Lewis won the 400 in AA and was fourth overall.

Makayla Dearborn, Emma Washo and Angela Russell joined Bennici on the winning relay.

Jeremy Dibble tied for second in the pole vault and Kurt Kimsey was fourth in the javelin overall while finishing first among AA athletes.

Sean Stanley of Blue Ridge was first in AA in the triple jump and fourth overall.

Mountain View’s Brett Crowley was first in AA in the 800 and fifth overall.

Elk Lake’s Taylor Watkins (javelin) and Megan Bush (shot put) earned bronze medals while taking second-place points in Class AA girls.

The Scranton Prep boys and Western Wayne girls won Class AAA team titles.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Mike Rapisardi had a big week as Montrose clinched the Lackawanna League Division 3 baseball title with a pair of wins.

Montrose downed Susquehanna, 9-0, May 7 then blasted second-place Lackawanna Trail, 12-1, in five innings Thursday to clinch the title.

The Meteors are 12-0 with two games remaining. The loss was the third by Lackawanna Trail.

Rapisardi went 6-for-7 in the two games with six runs scored and seven batted in. He also threw a three-hitter to get the win against Lackawanna Trail.

In softball, Sara Krupinski drove in three runs Thursday when Montrose defeated Lackawanna Trail, 6-1, to take over sole possession of first place in Division 3 of the Lackawanna League.

Katie Trecoske drove in two runs and Lacy Neely threw a five-hitter with five strikeouts for the Lady Meteors.

In boys’ tennis, Michael Roman and Bryan Shultz of Montrose each won a first-round match before being eliminated by a seeded opponent in the second round of the District 2 CLass AA singles tournament Thursday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.

Roman defeated Griffin Gerchman of Dunmore, 6-2, 7-5. He then lost to fourth-seed and eventual semifinalist Walker Temperton of Scranton Prep, 6-1, 6-1.

Shultz topped Branden Ott of Wilkes-Barre Meyers, 6-2, 6-1, before being eliminated by sixth-seeded Rob Azzarelli of Holy Cross, 6-2, 6-3.

In professional hockey, Aaron Gagnon scored twice Saturday night to lead the St. John's IceCaps to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the seventh and deciding game of their best-of-seven Calder Cup playoff series.

Gagnon broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal at 11:35 of the second period. He added an unassisted goal 53 seconds into the third period for a two-goal lead.

Colin McDonald scored on a power-play goal midway through the third period, but the Penguins were unable to produce the tying score.

Eric Tangradi assisted on both Penguins' goals, including Ryan Craig's tying goal in the second period.

Eddie Pasquale made 26 saves for St. John's, which advances to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Penguins trailed in the series, three games to one, before rallying to win Game Five at home and Game Six on the road.

COLLEGE CORNER

Blue Ridge graduate Jared Conklin finished first in the hammer throw, second in the shot put and fourth in the discus for Keystone College earlier this month at the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The Giants finished fourth out of nine teams in the meet.

Conklin won the hammer throw with a school record of 158 feet.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The District 2 doubles tennis tournament is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday’s action opens at Kirby Park at 9 a.m.

In boys’ volleyball, the first two rounds of the District 2 Class AA tournament will be held Monday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 22.

In baseball and softball, the Class AA tournament is set to open Monday, May 21. The Class A tournament begins Tuesday, May 22.

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.

JOHNSON GIVES HENDRICK 200TH WIN

DARLINGTON, S.C.- Jimmie Johnson gave Rick Hendrick his 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, as he ran away from the rest of the field on a green-white-checkered-flag restart in Saturday night’s Southern 500.

Johnson took the lead from Kyle Busch on lap 325 of the 367-lap race, and never relinguished it again, despite another caution that came out on lap 362, after Kurt Busch whacked the outside wall.

Even though he had the fastest car, fuel was an issue with Johnson and his 48-team.

“What a day,” said Johnson. “We knew we would be close on fuel. I just had to pace myself and hope that it lasted.

“We caught some cautions that helped. I could try to save fuel going down the straightaway, by not using a lot of gas, not much brake, and just fly through the corner.The car handled so well, it allowed me to save more fuel.”

Rick Hendrick hugs Jimmie Johnson after his Darlington win.

Denny Hamlin ran second, the same as in Friday night’s Nationwide race.

“Our finish is because of the crew chief making good calls and the pit crew making good pit stops,” said Hamlin. “That kept us in the ballgame, kept our track position up front.

“We were planning on taking two (tires)on that last stop, but I slid through the box, so we had to take four tires, and at that point we were fifth or sixth, then we just had to battle back.”

Tony Stewart was third, followed by, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose, and Joey Loganao.

After the race, Ryan Newman parked his car near Kurt Busch's and exchanged words with Busch. Several of Newman's crew members tried to confront crewmembers on Busch's team, and the driver himself, but NASCAR officials restrained them.

“The 39 (Newman's) guys were mad because Kurt burned out of our pit stall, and I don't know if they were still there working or whatnot,” said Nick Harrison, Busch's crew chief. “Their gas man came down there raising hell and wanting to fight Kurt.”

The hard feelings stemmed from the aftermath of the wreck during the last caution, when Busch brought his car to pit road for repairs.

“It's crazy, pit road,” said Tony Gibson, Newman's crew chief. “Things happen, and everybody's emotions run high. It's a hot night. Everybody settles down and talks about it. We're all good. We can't control drivers. Nothing against the team, or any of those guys. They didn't do anything wrong.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 17th.

Danica Patrick was 31st, five laps down.

Jeff Gordon continues to struggle. He finished 34th, and is probably out of this year’s Chase.

Top-12 leaders after 11 of 36: 1. Biffle-411, 2. Kenseth-409, 3. Earnhardt-397, 4. Hamlin-394, 5. Johnson-372, 6. Truex-372, 7. Stewart-369, 8. Harvick-361, 9. Kyle Busch-349, 10. Edwards-337, 11. Bowyer-335, 12. Keselowski-328.

LOGANO GETS SECOND STRAIGHT NATIONWIDE WIN

Joey Logano pulled away from his teammate Denny Hamlin on a green-white-checkered finish at Darlington for his second consecutive Nationwide win.

Hamlin, who led the most laps, had complained of an engine problem during the final two laps, finished .256 seconds behind Logano in the runner-up position. Brad Keselowski ran third, followed by Sam Hornish Jr. and rookie Austin Dillon.

Ricky Stenhouse, Brian Scott, Kurt Busch, James Buescher, and Cole Whitt rounded out the top-10.

Danica Patrick finished 12th and Travis Pastrana 17th, both on the lead lap in their Darlington debuts.

Top-10 points leaders after 9 of 33: 1. R. Stenhouse Jr.-364, 2. E. Sadler-341, 3. A. Dillon-329, 4. S. Hornish Jr.-305, 5. C. Whitt-282, 6. M. Annett-271, 7. J. Allgaier-260, 8. M. Bliss-230, 9. J. Nemechek-222, 10. D. Patrick-219.

CARROLL SHELBY IS GONE

One of the toughest and most race-savvy men in motorsports is gone. Carroll Shelby died Friday, May 10, 2012, at the age of 89..

But the legacy he left us is huge.

He fathered the Cobra sports car and all the various Shelby Mustangs and Shelby Dodges, and was the commanding general of the Ford Mustang.

Shelby was diagnosed with heart problems when he was seven, had a heart transplant in 1990, but continued to race and design cars.

He was a giant in the racing field, and what he brought to the sport will be utilized and carried forward by future generations.

Meanwhile Dodge finds itself in a very shaky spot. The only teams currently running the Dodge name is the two-car Penske Racing. Brad Keselowski, winner of two Cup races and driver of the No. 2 Penske Dodge, will be in a Ford next season.

With such apparent success, why is Penske ditching Dodge for Ford?

A further twist in the story is that Penske Racing has said it would still be interested in the business of building Dodge engines, despite the move to Ford

I’d have to say Penske is being offered some major incentives.

There’s no doubt that Ford has made Penske an offer they can’t refuse.

If Penske goes ahead with the deal, just where will that put Dodge next year?

The ideal move for Dodge fans would be for them to pair up with Richard Petty Motorsports. At one time the red and blue Dodges and Plymouths driven by Richard Petty dominated the sport.

But then again, money talks, and Ford spoke the loudest when it mattered to RPM.

Despite valiant efforts by Petty, their two teams are not performing well in Fords. And on top of that, sponsorship continues to be a problem for them.

Another difficulty to be overcome would be that of engine building. There aren’t many Dodge engine builders out there. It’s hard for me to conceive that Ford would approve of Penske running their brand cars and building Dodge engines for another team..

None of the other big names, Richard Childress, Michael Waltrip, or Hendrick Motorsports has any interest in switching.

So, where does that leave the Dodge brand?

I don’t know, but Dodge needs to be in NASCAR, if nothing else than for their presence and name recognition.

It’s my guess they will hook up with one or two of the small under funded Cup teams.

If not, they may just drop off the roster until something else develops, and they can align themselves with a proper team.

Weekend Racing: The Trucks and Cup teams will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The trucks run a regular race, but for the Cup teams, it is the Annual Sprint All-Star Race, a non-points event. The Nationwide teams will be at the seven-eighths-mile Newton, Iowa track.

Fri., May 18, Camping World Trucks North Carolina Lottery 200, race 5 of 22; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: SPEED.

Sat., May 19, Sprint Cup All-Star Race, Starting time: 7 pm ET; TV: SPEED.

Sun., May 20, Nationwide Iowa Spring 250, race 10 of 33; Starting time: 1:30 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Racing Trivia Question: What is Ryan Newman’s favorite charity?

Last Week's Question: What was NASCAR’s top car series called before it was named Winston Cup? It was called Grand National.

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