Susquehanna sophomore Ivy Christenson and Blue Ridge senior Jake Hinkley posted fifth-place finishes Saturday in the Lackawanna County Commissioners’ Cross Country Invitational at McDade Park in Scranton.

Chistenson finished the 3-mile course in 21:03 to take fifth in a field of 114 girls’ runners from 15 full and eight partial teams.

Hinkley’s time of 17:17 put him fifth among the 149 boys from 21 full and three partial teams.

Alexandra Plant of Wyoming Valley West won the girls’ race in 19:29.

Catherine Lombardo and freshman Tara Johnson finished 2-3 to lead Pittston Area to the team title with 74 points, 34 less than Pleasant Valley.

Susquehanna was 10th, losing to ninth-place Mid Valley on a tiebreaker after each scored 236 points.

Two sophomores and two freshmen led the way for the Lady Sabers.

Mikayla Hargett was 26th, followed by freshmen Alyssa Sweeney in 49th and Donnajo Decker in 78th.

Blue Ridge and Forest City had runners, but not a full team, in the event.

Lauren Whitney of Blue Ridge was 33rd.

Rico Galassi of Holy Cross won the boys’ race in 16:21, ahead of the Lake-Lehman combination of freshman Dominic Hockenbury and Kieran Sutton.

North Pocono edged Wyoming Valley West, 96-98, for the team title, with the help of Mike Brenkosh and Brady Dial in 12th and 14th place.

Hinkley led Blue Ridge to a sixth-place finish.

Bill Rupakus was 39th, Teejay Loomis 46th, Chris Carelson 69th and Ed Gorick 73rd. All five seniors finished in the top half of the field.

Brandon Soden was 15th and Justin Acone 29th for Susquehanna, which was 17th in the team standings.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Montrose and Susquehanna each suffered 10-point losses to Wyoming Valley Conference opponents in non-league football games Friday night.

Tunkhannock topped host Montrose, 28-18, while Nanticoke shut out visiting Susquehanna, 10-0.

The Meteors produced their most competitive effort since defeating Lackawanna Trail, 22-13, Sept. 11, 2009.

The 18 points was the most scored and the 10-point margin was the smallest during a losing streak that has now reached 31 games. The only time Montrose allowed fewer than 28 points during the streak was in a 21-8 loss to Honesdale in 2010 less than half way into the streak.

John Lawson carried 19 times for 117 yards and three touchdowns for Montrose.

Brian Beauchemin threw for two touchdowns and ran for another for Tunkhannock, which won its first game of the season after winning just once a year ago.

Beauchemin found Brett Strange for a 51-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead after one quarter. He ran 16 yards for a second-quarter touchdown and 14-0 halftime lead.

Montrose, which had reached the Tunkhannock 20 on a drive late in the first half, cut the deficit to 14-6 in the final minute of the third quarter.

The Meteors took over at the Tigers 26 following a blocked punt and Lawson scored on a 10-yard run.

Beuachemin hit P.J. Dietz with a play-action pass for a 60-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Tunkhannock intercepted a Montrose pass and quickly pushed the lead to 28-6, still in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Lawson tried to bring the Meteors back. He broke a long run to set up one of his short touchdown runs and the other came after a short Tunkhannock punt.

The two touchdowns cut the gap to 10 with 4:04 left, but the Meteors were stopped on a two-point conversion attempt that would have brought them within a score and another conversion of forcing overtime.

Tunkhannock recovered an on-side kick.

Montrose got the ball back but the game ended with the Meteors at the Tigers 37.

Dylan Heeman hit nine of 21 passes for 106 yards. William Ely caught six of the passes for 73 yards.

Susquehanna (1-2) lost by shutout for the second time in three games while Nanticoke (2-1) produced its second straight shutout.

Pat Hempel’s interception put the ball at the Susquehanna 23 and set up the only Nanticoke touchdown.

Maurice Wood ran seven yards for a score with 4:37 left in the second quarter for a 7-0 halftime lead.

The Sabers moved inside the Trojans 20 three times but could not score.

Tyler Mecks picked off a pass at the goal line and Brandon Meck recovered a fumble at the 12.

Nanticoke’s defense came up with seven sacks in addition to the three turnovers.

Alec Norton kicked a 25-yard field goal with 3:33 left to close the scoring.

Cole Mallery carried nine times for 56 yards but the Sabers managed just 13 yards rushing on their other 23 attempts, in part because of the sacks.

Austin White completed five of 13 passes for 94 yards.

Mallery also caught three passes for 63 yards and intercepted a pass.

In boys’ cross country, Elk Lake defeated fellow unbeatens Abington Heights, Valley View and host North Pocono in a cluster meet to improve to 5-0 and finish the week as one of only two unbeatens in the Lackawanna League.

The three teams the Warriors beat were a combined 12-0 this season after North Pocono went 22-0 to win the title last year while Abington Heights was 19-3.

In girls’ volleyball, Susquehanna improved to 4-1 and a tie for second in the Lackawanna League by defeating Montrose and Elk Lake.

The Lady Sabers downed Montrose, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19, and Elk Lake, 25-27, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13.

In professional baseball, Montrose graduate Rich Thompson came off the bench in three games for the Tampa Bay Rays and stole bases in two of them – against the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees.

Thompson, who did not have a plate appearance last week, is 5-for-7 stealing bases in 16 games this season and 6-for-8 in 22 games during his Major League career.

In professional football, Montrose graduate Chris Snee was part of an offensive line that provided the protection for Eli Manning to pass for 510 yards in 51 attempts without being sacked in a 41-34 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

COLLEGE CORNER

Grant Shelp is a sophomore midfielder/defender on the Lock Haven University men’s soccer team.

Shelp had four shots, including one on goal, while coming off the bench in three of four games for the Bald Eagles.

Lock Haven is 2-1-1 on the NCAA Division II level.

Shelp played four games with the team in the 2010 season, but did not play last year.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Montrose continues pursuit of its first football win Friday night at Honesdale in a meeting of 0-3 teams.

Susquehanna (1-2) is home Saturday against Riverside (2-1).

Both games are between Lackawanna Football Conference teams from different divisions.

Our predictions on last week’s game were 12-4 (75.0 percent), bringing our season mark to 34-13 (72.3 percent).

This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: HONESDALE 20, Montrose 3; Riverside 31, SUSQUEHANNA 20; Lakeland 23, CARBONDALE 9; Lackawanna Trail 31, WESTERN WAYNE 20; OLD FORGE 19, Dunmore 10; MID VALLEY 42, Holy Cross 0; SCRANTON 28, Scranton Prep 20; West Scranton 36, NORTH POCONO 6; Wallenpaupack 30, CRESTWOOD 27; VALLEY VIEW 45, East Stroudsburg North 21; DELAWARE VALLEY 42, Abington Heights 15.

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

KESELOWSKI WINS, LEADS ROUND ONE

JOLIET, Ill. - Jimmy Johnson led the most laps, but at the end, it was Brad Keselowski that had the most speed, and went on to win the first of 10 Chase races, Sunday at Chicago.

Earlier in the race, Johnson’s black No. 48 appeared to be the dominant car, but after the last round of pit stops, Keselowski passed Johnson and never looked back. His margin of victory over Johnson, who finished second, was over 3-seconds. Keselowski’s win moved him into the Chase lead.

Brad Keselowski, winner of Sunday's Chicago Cup race (Furnished by NASCAR)

“I don’t know if the 48 car slowed down, or we picked up speed, but we just took off there at the end,” said Keselowski. “Today, this feels like a heavyweight title fight, and we just won the first round.”

Until late in the race, Johnson appeared headed to another win, but Keselowski passed him and it was, “Bye, Bye, Jimmy.”

“On the earlier runs Brad and I were about even on speed, “said Johnson. “But on that last run, he was just better.”

Johnson’s teammate Kasey Kahne was third.

“We weren’t as good as Brad or Jimmy, but we had a good car,” said Kahne. “If we can find a little more speed in the next few races we’ll be in great shape.”

Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex, and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10.

Denny Hamlin gave up some Chase points because his team didn’t fill the gas tank on his No. 11, and he ran out of fuel on the last lap. He dropped to fourth in points.

Jeff Gordon’s championship hopes may have ended on lap 188 of the 267-lap race, when his throttle stuck going into turn-2, and he hit the outside wall. His team made repairs, but he was unable to finish.

Gordon now trails the leader by 49 points. The Chase might be over for him.

“We were having a top-5 day when it just stuck,” said Gordon. “To have something like this happen in the first race of the Chase doesn’t make it easy for us.”

Matt Kenseth also had problems. His team had to replace a front shock on his No. 17 and he finished 18th. He dropped three Chase spots and is 26 points back. His next nine races will have to be flawless, if he expects to win another championship.

Chase leaders after 1 of 10 races: 1. Keselowski-2056, 2. Johnson-2053, 3. Stewart-2048, 4. Hamlin-2041, 5. Kahne-2041, 6. Bowyer-2041, 7. Earnhardt-2039, 8. Biffle-2037, 9. Truex-2035, 10. Harvick-2032, 11. Kenseth-2030, 12. Gordon-2009.

STENHOUSE GETS FIFTH WIN OF SEASON

Ricky Stenhouse won Saturday’s Dollar General 300 Nationwide race at Chicagoland Speedway and in doing so, took the series lead from Elliott Sadler.

The victory was Stenhouse’s fifth of the season and the seventh of his career. He crossed the finish line 2.402 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch, who fell one spot short of posting his first victory in the Nationwide car he owns.

“The last four races, I think, we’ve finished second, first, second and first, so I think we’ve got good momentum,” Stenhouse said. “But in this business, in this sport, anything can change at any time. You’ve got to keep your guard up, and you’ve got to keep not making mistakes.”

Austin Dillon ran third, followed by Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Sam Hornish, Michael Annett, Elliott Sadler, Joey Logano, and Brian Scott.

The racing action aside, the real drama surrounded the Richard Childress Racing teams of Austin Dillon and Sadler. Though he has been in or near the championship lead for the entire season, Sadler announced recently that he will leave RCR at the end of the season.

Sadler fell from the top spot in the standings after holding it for a total of 21 weeks in two different stretches this season, including the last 14. With seven races left, Stenhouse leads Sadler by nine points.

Top-10 leaders after 26 of 33: 1. Stenhouse-982, 2. Sadler-973, 3. A. Dillon-948, 4. Hornish-925, 5. Allgaier-875, 6. Annett-837, 7. Whitt-767, 8. Bliss-722, 9. Nemechek-634, 10. Scott-633.

ROOKIE WINS IOWA TRUCK RACE

Rookie driver, Ryan Blaney withstood a series of late race restarts to win Saturday night’s truck race at Iowa Speedway. At 18, Blaney became the youngest winner in the series history.

Blaney, making just his third truck series start, held off a final charge by Ty Dillon, who snared the points lead with a runner-up finish. The youngster, who drove a Brad Keselowski-owned truck celebrated in Victory Lane with his father, Sprint Cup series driver Dave Blaney.

“This is pretty incredible,” said the younger Blaney. “. . . It's unbelievable -- hopefully, we can get us a few more here.”

Todd Bodine, Johnny Sauter, Cale Gale, Nelson Piquet, Drew Herring, Jeff Choquette, Matt Crafton, and Michael Paludo were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Top-10 points leaders after 15 of 22: 1. T. Dillon-561, 2. Peters-553, 3. Buescher-550, 4. Kligerman-530, 5. Crafton-518, 6. Coulter-515, 7. Lofton-511, 8. Piquet-492, 9. White-448, 10. Hornaday-447.

PETTY STAYING WITH FORD

There have been rumors that Richard Petty would switch from Ford, their current car manufacturer, to Chevrolet.

But that isn’t true, said Petty.

At least for now.

Petty is busy lining up his team for 2013 (and, hopefully, beyond), but he is moving in waters that remain uncertain, and with the possibility of future change.

Discussions about Richard Petty Motorsports' future continue, but the landscape as it currently is painted appears to keep the RPM cars in the Ford camp for the next season, although Petty has been talking with more than a few other possible partners.

“It looks like there is not going to be a lot of change there for next year, but there's no concrete stuff yet,” Petty said Friday. “We're figuring on staying in exactly the same place, with the same operation from a manufacturing standpoint. We don't see a change unless somebody else comes up with something.”

In addition, Petty said he expects to have his same two drivers, Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola back next season.

Weekend Racing: The Trucks and Nationwide teams are at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway, while the Sprint Cup cars travel to the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Speedway.

Fri., Sept. 21, Camping World Trucks Kentucky 200, race 16 of 22; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: SPEED.

Sat., Sept. 22, Nationwide Dollar General 300, race 27 of 33; Starting time: 3:30 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Sun, Sept. 23, Sprint Cup Sylvania 300, race 28 of 36; Starting time: 1 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Racing Trivia Question: What is the maximum number of trucks that start a Camping World Truck Series race?

Last Week's Question: Where is the last Cup race of the season held? Answer. Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

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