The recently completed 2012-13 high school sports season was a successful one for the programs at Montrose, Elk Lake and Mountain View.

Montrose and Elk Lake’s teams combined to produce winning records in Lackawanna League play.

The Mountain View girls’ programs combined to have a winning school year while the boys’ soccer team reached the ultimate in high school sports by winning a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship.

Montrose had the highest cumulative Lackawanna League winning streak for its sports programs among Susquehanna County schools.

At Montrose, the girls’ teams had the best combined record in the county, going 57-32-1 for a combined .639 winning percentage while taking all three available winter and spring divisional titles, with championships in basketball, softball and track.

Montrose boys’ teams were 51-50 (.505) to give the school an overall record of 108-82-1 (.568). The Meteors won a boys’ track title.

Elk Lake had the best combined boys’ record at 47-44 (.516), including a division title in basketball. Its girls’ teams were 47-42-1 (.528) for a combined mark of 91-86-1 (.514).

The Mountain View girls’ teams were 32-25-1 (.560) with a soccer championship. The boys’ teams were 38-47-1 (.448) with titles in soccer and basketball. Overall, Mountain View teams were 70-72-1 (.493).

Susquehanna finished with the fourth-best combined Lackawanna record among county schools, followed by Forest City and Blue Ridge.

Susquehanna girls’ teams were 29-35 (.453) and the boys’ teams were 20-53 (.274) for a combined record of 49-88 (.358).

Forest City had records of 18-42 (.300) for boys, 19-34 (.358) for girls and 37-76 (.327) overall.

Blue Ridge was 29-61-1 (.324) for boys, 12-52 (.188) for girls and 41-113-1 (.268) overall.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Montrose graduate Rich Thompson went on the disabled list June 7, the day after he stole four bases for the International League’s Durham Bulls. Thompson, a lead-off hitting center fielder, was hitting .249 and ranked fourth in the league with 22 stolen bases when he went on the DL with a foot injury.

Thompson was officially placed on the seven-day disabled list, but his season could be in jeopardy. The Tampa Bay Times reported last week that Thompson had a fractured foot and was likely out for the season.

The Binghamton Mets continued to separate themselves from the rest of the Eastern League Eastern Division, stretching their lead during a six-game winning streak that allowed them to win nine out of 10 games.

The last two wins in the streak were the latest over the Trenton Thunder in a matchup between the Class AA teams of the New York Mets and New York Yankees. The B-Mets went 4-1 against Trenton in the last two weeks.

The winning streak ended Friday night in a 6-3 loss to Bowie, which also ended a 23-game hitting streak by Mets third baseman Josh Rodriguez.

Rodriguez went 0-for-2 with two walks. He is hitting .317 on the season.

Cesar Puello of the Mets was named EL Player of the Week for the period ending June 9. He helped the Mets take over the division lead by hitting .500 (12-for-24) with two doubles, five home runs, 13 RBI and two stolen bases.

The International League’s two eastern Pennsylvania teams, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, announced Thursday that they would play for the IronRail Trophy in their 16-game season series.

“Rivalries are a huge part of the endearing joy that sports bring us year after year,” RailRiders president/general manager Rob Crain said in a press release.

The RailRiders are the top affiliate of the New York Yankees, while the IronPigs are the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, which had placed its players in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before the Yankees.

Lehigh Valley jumped ahead in the series by winning the first two meetings Thursday and Friday in Allentown.

Carlos Zambrano, who made the All-Star Game three times and finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three times while winning 132 games in his Major League career, worked the first five innings for the IronPigs in Thursday’s 4-2 win.

In high school softball, Valley View gave District 2 its latest PIAA state title with a 5-0 win over Fort LeBoeuf Friday at Penn State.

Valley View had to rally for its 6-3 win over Nazareth Academy in the semifinals, after giving up two runs in the top of the first. The Cougars ran into no such trouble in the final, scoring four runs without a hit in the first inning after opening the game with three straight walks, a hit batter, then a Fort LeBoeuf error.

Gina Chieffallo threw a five-hit shutout with two walks and 11 strikeouts.

Leadoff hitter Blayse Cholish scored twice for Valley View.

Valley View lost just twice in the last three seasons – in the 2012 state final and the 2011 state semifinal. The Cougars are the seventh state champion from District 2 since 2000.

Blue Ridge joins Valley View and Nanticoke with two of those titles. The Lady Raiders won in 2004 and 2006. Valley View also won in 2000. Nanticoke won in 2003 and 2010. Bishop O’Hara won in 2001.

In high school baseball, Abington Heights and Old Forge were eliminated in the PIAA semifinals.

Defending state Class AAA champion West York scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Abington Heights, 5-4, June 11.

On the same day, Old Forge put together its only run in the bottom of the seventh while falling short in a comeback attempt in a 2-1 loss to Canton in Class A.

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.

THE “BIF” WINS AT MICHIGAN

Greg Biffle, winner at Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Greg Biffle took the lead near the end of Sunday’s 200-lap Sprint Cup race, then coasted to victory after his pursuer, Jimmie Johnson slapped the outside wall on lap 197.

“I was really worried about him (Johnson),” said Biffle. “I knew that he had been gaining on me and that it would be close. But I felt like we had the advantage of the cleaner air by being out front. But if he had been able to keep coming, I don’t know.”

Biffle had a good car throughout the race, but not a dominant one until the last pit stop on lap 167. After his crew made adjustments, he went to the front, and was never challenged.

“We had a great race car,” said Johnson, who finished 28th. “And we had great strategy throughout the race. The little problem I had there at the end cost us a great day.”

Kevin Harvick finished second, but was never a threat to the winner.

“I think everyone on the team did a great job and are satisfied with today,” said Harvick. “We made adjustments on our first pit stop and the car just kept getting better and better. We just couldn’t get it to the front in time.”

Martin Truex ran a good race and came home third.

“The car ran funny all day,” said Truex. “Our old tires were as good as the new ones. We tried a lot of different things, but whatever changes we made, the car stayed the same.”

Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, and Jeff Burton were the remaining top-10.

Biffle’s teammate and polesitter Carl Edwards saw his chances for a win slip away after his team called for a green flag pit stop during lap 162. A caution came out as soon as he returned to the track, which meant he had to go to the rear of the field when green flag racing resumed.

The engine in Dale Earnhardt Jr’s. car went sour, and he wound up with a DNF, finishing 37th.

Kurt Busch was one of the early leaders, but brushed the wall during lap 29, and finished 39th.

Earnhardt’s teammate Jeff Gordon was involved in an early wreck, and was out after only 52 laps.

Top-10 leaders after 15 of 36: 1. Johnson-538, 2. Edwards-507, 3. Bowyer-489, 4. Harvick-476, 5. Kenseth-456, 6. Kyle Busch-452, 7. Earnhardt-447, 8. Biffle-443, 9. Keselowski-430, 10. Stewart-417.

SMITH GETS NATIONWIDE WIN

Regan Smith held off Kyle Larson and the rain to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Michigan.

He outlasted Larson in the final 14 laps to take the checkered flag just minutes before rain began to fall on the track.

Parker Kligerman gambled rain would end the race short of the scheduled 125 laps but lost the lead when he had to pit with 13 to go. That opened the door for Smith, who kept his No. 7 Chevy ahead of the hard charging Larson in the final 10 laps.

Paul Menard finished third, followed by Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne, Brad Sweet, Chris Buescher, Elliott Sadler, Nelson Piquet, and Brian Scott.

Top-10 leaders after 13 of 33: 1. Smith-495, 2. Hornish-437, 3. Allgaier-436, 4. A. Dillon-428, 5. Sadler-424, 6. Scott-415, 7. Bayne-407, 8. Kligerman-407, 9. Larson-403, 10. Vickers-395.

BIG MONEY TALKS IN NASCAR

For those race fans who believe money is not the major factor in NASCAR racing, they need to rethink their beliefs.

A glaring example of this came last week, while Brad Keselowski was visiting Ford Motor Company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.

In a USA Today article, Keselowski accused Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing of luring some of their employees away with big money contracts.

“Hendrick and Gibbs have this nasty little habit of going to other teams and outbidding other people and taking those employees and stealing our information, and, when that happens, that puts walls up between the camps because you are giving up more than one piece of information,” said Keselowski. “You are giving up two companies' information and trying to protect yourself against that, it forces you to put up walls. It doesn't necessarily lend itself to working together.”

Keselowski cited two incidents where he claimed Hendrick and Gibbs lured away Ford team employees with big offers.

“Gibbs stole the Roush aero director and took all the information,” continued Keselowski. “And Hendricks took three employees from our Chase-winning team last year.”

Rick Hendrick didn’t agree, and issued a different version of Keselowski’s story.

“The comments Brad reportedly made were misinformed. The truth is that we hired one tire changer, who was a backup for Penske and whose contract was up. We also brought over one mechanic from their Nationwide program and, when the Penske engine shop was closing, added a few of those people.

“What Brad left out was that his organization also hired one of our tire changers. All of this was above board and is part of doing business in a competitive environment. I take no issue with any of it, and I expect Roger [Penske] would say the same. Brad misrepresents the facts and spends a lot of time making insinuations and accusations about other teams when he should be focused on his own program and competing at a high level. I hope he figures that out and begins representing himself and the sport with more class.”

It appears Keselowski may have stuck his foot in his mouth, but speed does cost money. Having the best workers guarantees better performance on the race track, which translates into more wins.

FORMER NASCAR DRIVER LEFFLER KILLED

NASCAR driver Jason Leffler died after an accident June 12, in a 410 Sprint Car race, at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J.

Leffler, who was from Long Beach, California, made 423 starts in NASCAR's three national series

The 37-year-old Leffler, a two-time winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series came onto the racing scene after winning three consecutive USAC racing championships from 1997-1999.

He went into NASCAR with Chip Ganassi, after finishing 17th in the 2000 Indianapolis 500. But it was a short stay. Leffler failed to qualify five times in the 36 Cup races for Ganassi, and was released. Although he did return to the Cup level, he only had 11 starts over the last four years.

His last NASCAR race was June 9, at Pocono.

A fund has been set up for his five-year-old son. Donations may be sent to: The Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Trust, c/o SunTrust Bank, 232 Williamson Road, Mooresville, NC 28117.

Weekend Racing: Two road course races are on tap for this weekend. The Nationwide

Series is at Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, while the Cup teams are at Sonoma, California.

Sat., June 22, Nationwide Series, race 14 of 33; Starting time: 5 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Sun. June 23, Sprint Cup, race 16 of 36; Starting time: 3 pm ET; TV: TNT.

Racing Trivia Question: How old is Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Last Week’s Question: Where is Kevin Harvick’s hometown? Answer. It is Bakersfield, California.

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