The Montrose boys and Elk Lake girls had the best combined winning percentages among Susquehanna County school districts during the 2011-12 school year.
Montrose won 60.6 percent of its games during the school year for the best overall winning percentage.
For purposes of the comparison, the Susquehanna County Transcript counted league contests in other sports and all regular-season games in football because those are what count for playoff qualification.
Elk Lake was the only other school to have a winning overall record for boys and girls sports combined. Elk Lake teams won 52.7 percent of their games.
Montrose teams were 120-78-1 overall while Elk Lake teams were 108-97-1.
Mountain View was 67-108 for a 38.3 winning percentage, followed by: Blue Ridge, 63-103-2, 38.1; Forest City, 57-106, 35.0; and Susquehanna, 38-111, 25.5.
Montrose went 58-36-1 in boys’ sports, including Lackawanna League divisional titles in golf and baseball.
Blue Ridge and Elk Lake had the second- and third-best winning percentage, while Forest City had a divisional championship team and both Mountain View and Susquehanna had district champions.
The Blue Ridge boys’ teams went 46-51-2 for a 47.5 winning percentage.
Elk Lake teams were 44-60-1 (42.4).
Mountain View was 35-59 (37.2) and won the District 2 Class A soccer championship.
Forest City was 25-63 (28.4) and won the Lackawanna Division 3 soccer title.
Susquehanna was 18-62 (22.5) and won the District 2 Class A basketball championship.
Elk Lake and Montrose were both well over the 50-percent mark in girls’ sports.
The Elk Lake girls went 64-37 (63.4). The Lady Warriors were unbeaten champions in Lackawanna League cross country and Lackawanna Division 3 track and field. They also won the Lackawanna Division 3 tennis title.
The Montrose girls were 62-42 (59.6) in league play. The basketball team was unbeaten in Lackawanna Division 3, won the District 2 Class AA title and went all the way to the state semifinals. The Lady Meteors also won Lackawanna Division 3 in softball.
Forest City girls were 32-43 (42.7).
Mountain View was 32-49 (39.5) with an unbeaten Lackawanna Division 2 title and a District 2 Class A championship.
Susquehanna teams went 20-49 (29.0) with a Lackawanna Division 2 championship in volleyball.
Blue Ridge teams were 17-52 (24.6).
WEEK IN REVIEW
Juan Cedeno, a 28-year-old, left-handed relief pitcher, was the only Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee selected June 27 when the International League team was named for the July 11 Triple-A All-Star Game against the Pacific Coast League.
Cedeno, who played Independent League baseball last year, is back in organized baseball for the first time in four years. He was 2-0 with three saves and a 2.23 earned run average in 30 games through Wednesday. In 36 1/3 innings, Cedeno allowed 35 hits and 12 walks while striking out 36.
The Binghamton Mets learned Thursday that they had three players selected for the Eastern League All-Star Game, which is also scheduled for July 11. The game will be played in Reading.
Infielder Eric Campbell, starting pitcher Zack Wheeler and third baseman Jefry Marte were the selections.
“This recognition is well-deserved for these guys,” Binghamton manager Pedro Lopez said in a story on the team’s Web site.
Campbell, 25, made his first professional all-star game. An eighth-round pick out of Boston College in 2008, he is in his third season with Binghamton. At the time of the selection, Campbell was third in the league with a .325 batting average in 57 games. He led the league with a .433 on-base percentage.
Wheeler, 22, is 7-3 with a 2.29 ERA in his first season at Class AA. He ranked third in the Eastern League in ERA. He also made the California League All-Star team last season.
Marte, a 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic, hit .326 over the first 36 games. He played in the All-Star Futures Game last summer.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Wheeler was also selected to play for the United States team in the All-Star Futures Game Sunday in Kansas City.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com and followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
KESELOWSKI CRUISES AT KENTUCKY
SPARTA, Ken. - Brad Keselowski had just enough fuel, and raced to a series-leading third victory of the year, in a back up car. He grabbed the lead with 55 laps remaining and finished nearly five seconds ahead of Kasey Kahne.
He was driving his backup car after slamming the right side of his top car into the wall after a collision with Juan Pablo Montoya during practice earlier on Friday.
“It wasn't the newest car we got, but it runs,” Keselowski said.
“I tell you what, they put together a back-up car from last year in 100-degree heat in an hour's time -- not even an hour. It was like 40 minutes. I wish I had a stopwatch for that. Got it on the racetrack and got to run our laps for practice to make the adjustments we needed to be fast today. And that's what bada--es do, and that's what got us to victory lane today, and I'm proud of these guys for it. I'm proud of them. Da-n proud of them. I think that sums it up.”
Kasey Kahne moved into the second spot with 20 laps remaining in the 267-lap race, but was never a threat to Keselowski.
“I just hoped he'd run out of gas,” Kahne said, grinning. “No way I was catching him. We had stopped (for a fill-up) and I was hoping he'd shut down.”
Denny Hamlin appeared to have the fastest car, but in order to finish, he had to conserve fuel.
Brad Keselowski Cup winner at Kentucky
“We had a good run, but lost the lead with 70 to go,” he said. “It seemed we had to go into fuel save mode and our car started going back towards the end. But we knew we had to save fuel the entire last run. There was nothing I could do. As much as I wanted to keep the 2 (Keselowski) honest and run him hard, I had to run a certain pace, and that's all I was allowed to do if we were going to make it to the end.
“You try to spend all day working on your car, and you can't run it to its full potential. So that part of it is a little frustrating.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex, AJ Allmendinger, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10
Top-12 Chase contenders: with 9 to go: 1. Kenseth-633, 2. Earnhardt-622, 3. Johnson-610, 4. Biffle-608, 5. Hamlin-565, 6. Harvick-565, 7. Bowyer-557, 8. Truex-556, 9. Stewart-545, 10. Keselowski-537, 11. Edwards-503, 12. Kyle Busch-495.
DILLON WINS, TAKES LEAD
Richard Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon put a whooping on the other 42 drivers, as he led 192 of the 200 laps in the Kentucky Nationwide race, and won by 9.828-seconds over Kurt Busch.
It was Dillon’s first Nationwide win in his 22nd start.
The car he drove was a black No. 3, reminiscent of the car Dale Earnhardt Sr. drove for Childress until his death in the 2001 Daytona 500.
“Austin Dillon was in his own zip code,” said Busch. “Congratulations to him, Richard, and all the other guys on their team. It’s neat to see that kid develop. I thought we could battle with him.
“I thought he would be quicker than us for about 20 laps, and we could reel him in. It didn’t work that way. He had his car dialed in. There was nothing we could do.”
Kevin Harvick, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Sam Hornish, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse, Elliott Sadler, and James Buescher rounded out the top-10.
Top-10 points leaders after 15 of 33: 1. A. Dillon-554, 2. Sadler-552, 3. Stenhouse-531, 4. Hornish-521, 5. Allgaier-481, 6. Whitt-472, 7. Annett-455, 8. Bliss-391, 9. Patrick-369, 10. Scott-353.
PETERS IS NEW TRUCK LEADER
Top-10 truck points leaders after 8 of 22: 1. Peters-306, 2. Lofton-302, 3. T. Dillon-302, 4. Buescher-297, 5. Kligerman-272, 6. Crafton-264, 7. Coulter-256, 8. Hornaday-253, 9. Piquet-249, 10. Paludo-231.
KENSETH DOES HAVE A RIDE
Matt Kenseth will not be behind the wheel of a Roush Fenway Ford in 2013, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be sitting on the sidelines. Kenseth announced that he has a Sprint Cup ride in place for 2013 and beyond.
Kenseth said the decision to leave was made in a meeting last week with team owner Jack Roush. “There's a lot of stuff through the season that's probably led us to this point,” Kenseth said. “There isn't really a smoking gun, there really isn't an inside story about a firing or an argument or really any of that. At the end of the day, I had an opportunity to go try something else. The timing all worked out. I think everything happens for a reason. Things just kind of lined up to maybe try something else in 2013 and beyond that I'm kind of excited about.”
Kenseth's name has been linked to Joe Gibbs Racing, a Toyota team, and Penske Racing, which is moving from Dodge to Ford in 2013.
JGR team president J.D. Gibbs declined to discuss any possible negotiations with Kenseth. JGR not only has room for expansion to a fourth car, but Joey Logano's status as driver of the No. 20 is currently unresolved. Logano is in the final year of his contract.
Bud Denker, a Penske spokesman said the team is not talking to Kenseth and is content with AJ Allmendinger in the No. 22. “Our expectations are that AJ will be in the car and Todd (Gordon) will be the crew chief next year,” Denker said. “So we are not talking to Matt, that's confirmed.”
Meanwhile IndyCar owner, Michael Andretti told Sports Illustrated.com that he is hoping to start a NASCAR team.
“We were looking at NASCAR real close last year, too, but it fell apart,” Andretti said. “We were looking at it just as hard last year as this year and the year before.”
If Andretti is able to find the right sponsorship, he could team up with Dodge and base his team out of the old Evernham Motorsports shop in Statesville, N.C.
A Dodge source told SI.com that Andretti could probably team up with the engine manufacturer for $5 million to $6 million.
“I'm always looking at all options,” Andretti said. “I'd be stupid not to listen to Dodge or any other manufacturers. It doesn't matter that we are a Chevy IndyCar team.”
Weekend Racing: The Cup and nationwide teams are at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. The trucks do not race again until July 14.
Fri., July 6, Nationwide Subway 250, race 16 of 33; Starting time: 7 pm ET; TV: ESPN.
Sat., July 7, Sprint Cup Coke Zero 400, race 18 of 36; Starting time: 6:30 pm ET; TV: TNT.
Racing Trivia Question: How many Cup championships did Dale Jarrett win?
Last Week's Question: Where is Carl Edwards’ hometown? Answer. Columbia, Missouri.
You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.
