SCRANTON – Allison Lewis picked the ideal setting to break the one-minute barrier for the first time.

Lewis ran the 400-meter dash in 59.56 seconds to win the title by more than two seconds May 13 at the District 2 Class AA Track and Field Championships.

Myra Lattimore joined Lewis is winning both individual and relay gold medals.

Lattimore won the 200 meters and was part of both the 400- and 1600-meter relay teams. Lewis joined her on the 1600 relay team.

Madelyne Pasteka added appearances on both winning relays along with a state-qualifying effort while finishing second in the high jump.

Lattimore, Lewis and Pasteka led the way as the Lady Meteors compiled 85 team points to tie Lakeland for second place behind first-place Holy Redeemer.

Elk Lake’s Megan Bush and Montrose’s Brandon Russell and John Lawson also won titles while Elk Lake’s Luke Jones and Kenzie Jones and its girls' 3200 relay team also qualified for the state championships.

All district champions and those who met a lofty predetermined qualifying standard in their event advanced to Friday and Saturday’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships at Shippensburg University. The top six athletes in each event earned medals and the top eight finishers gained points for their teams.

Lewis was not certain she reached a goal that she has long been chasing.

“I’ve been trying for that all year,” said Lewis, who was seeded first in the event based on a regular-season best time of 1:00.10. “That was really exciting for me.

“I didn’t know until they announced it. It felt fast, but you never know.”

Lattimore was seeded second, then reached the final with the third-best time in qualifying. She also put together her best effort in the district final, finishing in 26.63 to win by 0.44 seconds.

Hannah Dieck and Meghan Gilhool joined Lattimore and Pasteka on the 400 relay team that won in 51.52 seconds.

Lewis and Samantha Bennici joined them for a winning time of 4:10.91 in the 1600 relay.

Bush won the shot put with a distance of 36-10 ½.

The two boys’ titles by Susquehanna County athletes came when Montrose’s Russell and Lawson each repeated championships.

Russell cleared 13 feet in the pole vault.

Lawson won the javelin with a throw of 165-7.

Luke Jones faced a familiar opponent in the boys’ 3200-meter run.

Rico Galassi of Holy Cross and Jones finished 1-2 in the state last fall in Class A boys’ cross country.

Galassi lowered his own meet record this time while winning in 9:15.78.

Jones ran a 9:35.03, almost 13 seconds under the state qualifying time that was met by a total of four runners in the event.

District 2’s strength in distance running was also on display on the girls’ side.

Sophomore Kenzie Jones met the state standard while placing fourth in the girls’ 3200 in 11:34.37.

Elk Lake also advanced its 3200 relay team of Kellie Grosvenor, Katie VanEtten, Kirsten Hollister and Elizabeth Trowbridge with a time of 9:58.32.

Pasteka cleared 5-2 in the high jump while finishing second and making the state meet.

Elk Lake finished sixth in the girls’ team standings with 46 points. Blue Ridge was 11th with 26 ½. Susquehanna was 14th with 14.

Blue Ridge’s Lindsey Rupakus was second in the 300 hurdles.

Susquehanna’s Sarah Serfilippi and Blue Ridge’s Dakota Radakovich were second and third in the discus.

Montrose’s Rebecca Timm was third in the 300 hurdles and pole vault while Bennici was third in the 800 and part of the 3200-relay team that was also third with help from Emma Griffiths, Michaela Pike and Angela Russell.

Susquehanna’s Melissa Kukowski, in the 100 hurdles, and Elk Lake’s Taylor Watkins, in the javelin, were also third.

Blue Ridge’s Rupakus, Logan Ellis, Lindsey Burdick and Katherine Kempa teamed for third place in the 1600 relay. Elk Lake was fourth with a team of Grosvenor, VanEtten, Rachel Manzek and Hollister.

Pasteka also was fifth and Dieck sixth for Montrose in the long jump. Gilhool was sixth in the javelin, Dieck was seventh in the triple jump and Griffiths was eighth in the 300 hurdles.

Radakovich was sixth in the shot put, while Blue Ridge teammate Burdick tied for sixth in the 400. The 400 relay team of Rupakus, Burdick, Brianna Brewer and Kempa was eighth.

Elk Lake’s Rachel Manzek was sixth in the 300 hurdles and Megan Stevens was eighth in the shot put.

Lakeland outscored Dunmore, 106 ½-83, for the boys’ team title.

Montrose was fifth with 50 points, Blue Ridge 10th with 34, Elk Lake 12th with 32, Susquehanna 16th with eight and Mountain View 18th with two.

Lawson added a second-place finish in the discus to his title in the javelin.

Blue Ridge’s Chris Carlsen was second to Lawson in the javelin.

Elk Lake’s Matt Woolcock was second in the triple jump.

Bill Rupakus, Chris Carlsen, Jacob James and Jake Hinkley formed Blue Ridge’s 3200 relay team that finished second.

Jacob Blom added a third-place finish in the long jump for Montrose. Chris Arnold, in the 800, and Troy Ely, in the high jump, were fifth. The 400 relay team and discus thrower Brenton Warner were seventh. Brett Shelp (discus) and Evan Castrogiavanni (javelin) were eighth.

Blue Ridge got sixth-place finishes from Zach Edwards (pole vault), Rupakus (800) and Brett Hepler (triple jump), a seventh-place finish from Carlsen (triple jump) and eighth-place finishes from James (400) and Hinkley (3200).

Eddie Cumens was fourth for Elk Lake in the 800. Jason Vermuelen was fifth in the long jump, Woolcock was sixth in the high jump, Dalton Sherman was seventh in the 3200 and Hunter Watkins was seventh in the 300 hurdles.

Sal Pelicci took fourth in the pole vault and Troy Maby was sixth in the 110 hurdles for Susquehanna.

Mountain View got its points from James Goodenough of Mountain View with a seventh-place finish in the 400.

District 2 held its Class AAA championships the next day and the Abington Heights girls’ team, coached by Susquehanna graduate Frank Passetti won its fifth title in seven years.

WEEK IN REVIEW

The Mountain View baseball and Montrose softball teams claimed Lackawanna League Division 4 titles and high seeds in the District 2 Class AA tournaments.

Mountain View was seeded second of 14 teams in Class AA baseball to receive a bye into Tuesday’s quarterfinals where it was scheduled to host Nanticoke. Montrose was also scheduled to play in Tuesday’s baseball quarterfinals after beating visiting Elk Lake, 8-6, Friday. The Meteors are seeded fifth.

Forest City landed the fifth seed in Class A and was scheduled to play at fourth-seeded Blue Ridge in Monday’s quarterfinals. Susquehanna was the only District 2 team to decline participation in the open baseball tournament.

The final Lackawanna League Division 4 baseball standings were: Mountain View 11-1, Lackawanna Trail 10-2, Montrose 9-3, Blue Ridge 6-6, Elk Lake 3-9, Forest City 2-10 and Susquehanna 1-11.

Montrose played in the District 2 softball opener Sunday, hosting a first-round Class AA game Sunday as the second seed in the 16-team bracket.

Annie Hester’s fourth-inning home run helped the Lady Meteors pull out a 3-2 victory over Carbondale.

The rest of the district tournament was scheduled to continue Monday and Tuesday.

Mountain View was seeded eighth and Elk Lake 11th in Class AA. Susquehanna was seeded third, Blue Ridge fourth and Forest City sixth in Class A.

The final Lackawanna League Division 4 softball standings were: Montrose 10-2, Lackawanna Trail 9-3, Mountain View 8-4, Elk Lake 7-5, Susquehanna 4-8, Blue Ridge 3-9 and Forest City 1-11.

In boys’ volleyball, Susquehanna won a playoff with Lackawanna Trail, 20-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-20, to earn the eighth and final seed in the District 2 Class AA Tournament.

The victory sent the Sabers to top-seeded North Pocono for the quarterfinals where they fell to the Trojans, 25-6, 25-12, 25-10.

The Sabers finished tied for third in the Lackawanna League.

The final standings were: Western Wayne 14-0, Abington Heights 12-2, Susquehanna 8-6, Lackawanna Trail 8-6, Mountain View 6-8, Elk Lake 4-10, Forest City 4-10, Blue Ridge 0-14.

In boys’ tennis, both Montrose doubles teams won opening-round matches in the District 2 Class AA tournament before falling to high-seeded opponents from Wyoming Seminary in the second round.

Austin Smith and Hunter Williams defeated Berwick’s Dominic Scicchitano and Nick Oliver, 6-2, 6-4. Smith and Williams were then defeated by top-seed and eventual runner-up Henry Cornell and Matt Cartwright, 6-0, 6-1.

Bryan Shultz and Justin Parrish defeated Mid Valley’s Zack Spears and Zack Deblasio, 6-2, 6-2. Shultz and Parrish lost, 6-0, 6-0, to Chris Kim and William Xu, the third-seeded team that went on to reach the semifinals.

In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fell behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven Calder Cup Playoffs series against the Providence Bruins then fought off elimination twice by winning 3-1 Friday and 4-0 Saturday. They lost the first of their three straight home games, 2-1, in overtime Wednesday before extending the series twice.

Defenseman Joey Mormina assisted all three goals and Brad Thiessen made 31 saves Friday.

Thiessen made 30 saves in the shutout Saturday and defenseman Brian Domoulin had a goal and two assists.

COLLEGE CORNER

Brooke Darling was the top pitcher statistically at Columbia University, which finished 8-12 in the Ivy League and 22-26 overall.

The sophomore from Elk Lake was 10-11 with a 2.61 earned run average in 24 appearances, including 20 as a starter.

Darling had 12 complete games and two shutouts. In 128 2/3 innings, she gave up 144 hits and 34 walks while striking out 58.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Montrose graduate Rich Thompson will make his first regional appearance of the season when the Durham Bulls outfielder is in Moosic to face the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Thursday through Sunday at PNC Field.

The Bulls and RailRiders played at 6:35 Thursday night, 7:05 Friday and Saturday, then 1:05 Sunday afternoon.

Thompson went into Sunday ranked ninth in the International League in stolen bases with 10 in 12 attempts. Through 36 games, Thompson was batting .221 with four doubles, a triple and 20 runs scored.

In professional hockey, a seventh game, if necessary, between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Providence Bruins would be Wednesday night in Rhode Island. The Penguins needed a win Monday night to force the seventh game in the quarterfinal series.

In high school softball, the District 2 Class A semifinals are set for Thursday with the Forest City/Susquehanna winner playing at Old Forge in one game.

The Class AA tournament has quarterfinals scheduled Wednesday, semifinals Friday and finals May 28.

In high school baseball, teams are progressing toward the Monday, May 27 championship quadrupleheader at PNC Field in Moosic. The Class A final that day will be 10 a.m. with the Class AA game at 1 p.m.

Semifinals are scheduled for Thursday.

In track and field, the PIAA Championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.

The 200, which includes Lattimore, has one round of qualifying Friday before semifinals and finals Saturday.

The 3200, with Luke and Kenzie Jones, is the only track event that features just one race. It starts action Saturday at 9 a.m.

Luke Jones is seeded fifth, the highest among Susquehanna County athletes.

All the other track events, including the relays and Lewis running in the 400, have qualifying Friday to determine Saturday’s eight finalists.

Field events are split into four different sessions.

The Class AA boys javelin, including Lawson, starts at 9 a.m. Friday.

The Friday afternoon session, beginning at 12:30 p.m., includes Russell in the pole vault and Pasteka in the high jump.

Pasteka is seeded tied for eighth.

Bush competes in the shot put Saturday afternoon, beginning at 12:30.

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

JOHNSON TAKES FIFTH ALL-STAR RACE

Jimmie Johnson celebrating his All-Star win

CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Jimmie Johnson held off Joey Logano to win the Sprint All-Star Race, Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was his record breaking fourth victory in 12 starts in the annual non-points race. Johnson’s win allowed him to break a tie for the all-time, all-star race wins lead with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt.

“It's incredible, especially in the way we had to go about it tonight,” said Johnson. “I didn't do us any favors qualifying yesterday. With this average that we had through the first four segments, I was really fearful I wouldn't have a shot at a front-row starting spot for the final segment.”

The last 10-lap segment started out with Kasey Kahne as the leader, followed by Johnson. Once Johnson got around Kahne and grabbed the clean air that helped Jamie McMurray win the preliminary Showdown event, he pulled away for an almost two-second victory over Joey Logano.

Kyle and Kurt Busch were sitting pretty for the final segment. They had the fastest cars and had split wins in the first four segments of the five-segment race. But in the end, the two drivers went home disappointed.

“Yeah, it was really good, said third-place finisher, Kyle. “Obviously I felt like we had a really, really fast race car. We ran up front most of the night and had really good runs through the segments there, we had two of them, and average wise we were right there with Kurt. He beat us out a little bit. Ultimately it came down to pit road where my guys always prove their worth. Unfortunately tonight we didn't have the best of stops and come out third and that was the race right there.”

“It was entertaining to say the least,” said Kahne, who finished fourth. “I thought all my guys did a great job calling the race, keeping that average finish up. I thought we were a fifth to sixth place car in the beginning of the race and we just needed to get track position and I felt like if we got our track position we could run decent. I think we averaged fifth and then we came down pit road, beat one car out which put us in the second row, and in the back of my mind before the race started I felt like I needed to be in the second row with 10 to go to at least have a shot at this thing. The 48 was really, really fast. Once he got that clean air he was gone.”

Kurt had to settle for fifth.

“Our four-segment average guaranteed us coming down pit road first for the final stop, but it didn't guarantee us leaving pit road first,” said Busch. “We were one tick slow on our pit stop and one tick off on the chassis adjustment. That was the difference. You have to be perfect to win this race. We weren’t. It was an A- overall performance.”

Finishing order: 1. Jimmie johnson, 2. Joey Logan, 3. Kyle Busch, 4. Kasey Kahne, 5. Kurt Busch, 6. Denny Hamlin, 7. Dale Earnhardt, 8. Jamie McMurray, 9. Matt Kenseth, 10. Carl Edwards, 11. Kevin Harvick, 12. Jeff Gordon, 13. Ryan Newman, 14. Tony Stewart, 15. Greg Biffle, 16. Ricky Stenhouse, 17. Marcos Ambrose, 18. Clint Bowyer, 19. David Ragan, 20. Danica Patrick, 21. Mark Martin, 22. Brad Keselowski.

KYLE BUSCH GETS FIFTH CHARLOTTE TRUCK WIN

Kyle Busch won Friday night’s truck race at Charlotte, despite a pit road penalty that sent him to the rear of the field, midway of the race.

During a pit stop, Busch’s gas man couldn’t get the gas nozzle out of Busch’s No. 51 truck before Busch had left his pit area, and he was forced to go to the tail end of the field on the restart.

Busch battled back and with about 12 laps remaining, was back on the lead.

Brendan Gaughan, Max Gresham, Matt Crafton, Ty Dillon, James Buescher, Miguel Paludo, John Townley, Ross Chastain, and Justin Lofton were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Top-10 points leaders after 5 of 22: 1. Crafton-202, 2. Jeb Burton-180, 3. T. Dillon-175, 4. Gaughan-171, 5. Buescher-171, 6. Sauter-165, 7. Blaney-160, 8. Armstrong-153, 9. Paludo-150, 10. D. Wallace-144.

TRICKLE COULDN’T STAND THE PAIN

Former NASCAR driver, Dick Trickle, who took his life last week, had been in a lot of pain.

Trickle’s brother, Chuck, told The Las Vegas Review-Journal that his brother was suffering from pain in his chest.

“He was very down,” Chuck Trickle told the newspaper. “He more or less said he didn’t know how much longer he could take the pain.”

According to the Lincoln County, NC Sheriff's office, Richard "Dick" Trickle, 71, died Thursday from an apparent self inflicted gun shot wound. Investigators say Trickle apparently went to a cemetery in Boger City, NC around noon on Thursday.

He used his phone to call the Lincoln County Communications Center and told the 911 operator to come to the cemetery and "there would be a dead body and it would be his." He then hung up the phone. Communications Center workers attempted to call Trickle back, but he did not answer.

When emergency crews arrived on the scene, they found Trickle's body lying near his pickup truck.

Trickle was a NASCAR legend who actually didn't start with the organization until he was 48-years-old. He won the Winston Cup Series' “Rookie of the Year” in 1989.

He was a Wisconsin-native who achieved much success on short tracks outside of NASCAR, made his Cup debut in 1970 but didn't race full time in the series until 19-years later He was considered one of the country’s best short-track drivers throughout his career.

“Dick’s passion in life was his racing,” the obituary said. “He touched many lives throughout his career, provided memories for many that will last a lifetime.

“Many thought when he retired he would continue as a car owner, but he was (a) driver at heart, he wanted to be behind the wheel and be in control of his destiny. We believe he felt himself no longer able to be behind that wheel of life or be the man he only knew how to be because of the pain and suffering.”

He retired from NASCAR racing in 2002.

“I'm in 100 percent shock, said former NASCAR champion, Rusty Wallace. “Dick Trickle was my mentor. When I was short track racing, I would call him every Monday morning and he would always help me with race setups and stuff.

“He and I had such a good time telling little stories, but he was the guy that taught me almost everything in the American Speed Association. And he was the guy that I battled right to the end for my 1983 ASA championship. I barely beat the guy that taught me everything. I'd not seen Dick as much as I'd like to of late. He was a legend.”

Weekend Racing: The Sprint and Nationwide teams are at Charlotte for the second week. For the Nationwide drivers it will be a regular race, but the Cup drivers will go 400 laps around the one and a half mile track, or 600 miles. In addition, it will be the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Fri., May 25, Nationwide Series race, 10 of 33; Starting time: 2:30 pm ET; TV: ABC.

Sat., May 26, 97th Indianapolis 500; Starting time: 12 Noon ET; TV: ABC.

Sat., May 26, Sprint Cup Coca Cola 600, race 12 of 36; Starting time: 6 pm ET; TV: FOX.

Racing Trivia Question: Michael Waltrip won his first Cup Series race in 2001. Which race was it?

Last Week’s Question: How many Cup championships did David Pearson win? Answer. He was a three-time series champion 1966, ’68, ’69.

You may e-mail the Racing Reporter at: hodges@race500.com.