SCRANTON – Katie Bennett, Justine Johns, Keri Jones and Julie VanEtten combined to win the 4x800 relay for Elk Lake Thursday night in the 60th annual Jordan Relays at Memorial Stadium.

Elk Lake and Blue Ridge finished tied for second in the Class AA girls standings behind Lakeland.

Brooke Estadt, Madison Harding, Cassidy Jenkins and Corah Krantz worked together to win four of the six events and help Lakeland score 46 points.

Elk Lake and Blue Ridge had 33 points each. Holy Cross was fourth with 28 points, followed by Dunmore and Montrose tied for fifth with 27.

Grasyn Bushnell, Justine Johns, Kenzie Jones and Lydia Ofalt added a second-place finish for Elk Lake in the distance medley.

Blue Ridge was led by the combination of Amber Brecht, Isabella Cosmello, Lindsey Rupakus and Katherine Kempa, who finished in the top three in three events. They were second in the 4x100 relay and third in both the 1200 sprint medley and 4x400.

Kandace Smith, Brianna Brewer, Kim Klim and Casey Pardum were third in the 1600 sprint medley.

Montrose finished third in half of the six races.

Susquehanna’s best finish was Slone Chandler, Ivy Christenson, Kendra Colwell and Liz Delaney taking sixth in the 1200 sprint medley.

Mountain View was led by the seventh-place finish of Cailin Burney, Kayla Mecca, Stephanie Ostir and Alexia Presley in the 4x100 relay.

Montrose was third in the boys’ standings.

Lakeland scored 56 of a possible 60 points.

Riverside outscored Montrose, 40-29, for second. Elk Lake was sixth with 16.

Owen Brewer, Austin Cook, Brandon Curley and Zach Mead were second in the 4x800 relay to lead Montrose, which also got a third-place finish from Billy Hewes, Harley Mullins, Steven Shelp and Mike Stewart.

Elk Lake got all of its points in a pair of second-place finishes from Hunter Bedell, Eddie Cumens, Cody Oswald and Hunter Watkins in the distance medley and 4x400 relay.

Blue Ridge’s Craig Stanley, Zach Conrad, Steven Jesse and Hunter Conklin placed third in the 4x100 relay.

The top Mountain View finish was sixth place by Garrett Cameron, James Goodenough, Christian Hollister and Joshua Johnson.

WEEK IN REVIEW

The Montrose boys and Elk Lake girls completed unbeaten seasons in Division 4 of the Lackawanna Track Conference to win titles.

The final boys’ standings: Montrose 5-0, Blue Ridge 4-1, Elk Lake 3-2, Mountain View 2-3, Lackawanna Trail 1-4, Susquehanna 0-5.

The final girls’ standings: Elk Lake 5-0, Blue Ridge 4-1, Montrose 3-2, Susquehanna 1-4, Lackawanna Trail 0-5.

In boys’ tennis, Montrose placed last in Division AA of the Lackawanna League.

The final standings were: Scranton Prep 13-1, Valley View 11-3, Dunmore 7-7, Holy Cross 6-8, Honesdale 6-8, Mid Valley 4-10, Western Wayne 2-12, Riverside 1-13, Montrose 0-14.

In boys’ volleyball, Abington Heights defeated host Mountain View Thursday, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12 in a meeting to determine first place in the Lackawanna League.

Abington Heights improved to 9-1 while Mountain View fell to 8-2.

In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins completed a three-game sweep of their first-round Calder Cup series to advance to the final eight in the American Hockey League’s playoffs.

Conor Sheary had two goals and an assist while Matt Murray made 33 saves during a 5-2 win over the host Syracuse Crunch.

Scott Wilson, Derrick Pouliot and Andrew Ebbett each had a goal and an assist.

The Penguins outscored the Crunch, 14-3, in the series.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs 13 straight years and won the first-round series in 12 of those years.

COLLEGE CORNER

Kirsten Hollister, a sophomore from Elk Lake, is a member of the Keystone women’s track and field team.

Hollister, a sprinter and jumper, was a member of two indoor and one outdoor relay teams that set Keystone school records in her freshman season.

This season, Hollister added the pole vault and javelin to her list of events.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The District 2 Class AA Track and Field Championships are scheduled for Monday, May 11 at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

The top two boys’ finishers and top girls’ finisher in each event qualify for the state championships along with others who meet state standards.

In high school baseball, Lackawanna Trail is at Montrose Wednesday.

The two teams shared the Lackawanna League Division 4 lead with 6-0 records heading into Monday’s game, which was the first of two meetings between them in three days.

In boys’ tennis, the District 2 Class AA singles championship is Thursday and Friday.

The first three rounds of the tournament at Thursday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre to limit the field to four semifinalists.

In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins open a best-of-seven series with the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the Manchester Monarchs, Wednesday.

The teams play Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. in Manchester.

The series then moves to Wilkes-Barre for 7:05 p.m. games Saturday, then Monday, May 11, and, if necessary, Tuesday, May 12.

If the series continues, there will be games in Manchester May 15-16.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

IT’S ALL EARNHARDT AT TALLADEGA

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Greg Ives celebrate Earnhardt's Talladega win

TALLADEGA, Ala.—The fans at Talladega received the best possible news last Sunday afternoon. Their favorite driver was back in victory lane.

Talladega has been known as Earnhardt Country for over 25 years. First, it was Dale Sr. they cheered on, and when Junior started his career, they adopted him.

“That’s why I’ve been coming here for over 20-years said James Long, a fan from nearby Anniston, Alabama. “That boy drives just like his daddy. They are two of the best drivers we’ve ever had.”

When Earnhardt gained the lead for the first time during lap 12 of the 188-lap Sprint Cup race, all the fans were on their feet cheering and waving flags.

“You know when the crowd goes wild like that Earnhardt has taken over,” said one of Ryan Newman’s crewmembers.

Earnhardt, who led 6 times for 67 laps gained the lead for the last time after a round of pit stops on lap 162, and led for the remaining 26 laps. There was a series of cars that wrecked on the final lap, but it did not affect the leaders, and the race ended under green.

“Boys, we’ll celebrate tonight,” Earnhardt said. “I haven’t won here in a long time and I’m very emotional right now. There were a lot of people that helped me get here and I really appreciate it.”

Teammate Jimmie Johnson stayed right on his tail for the final laps, but never attempted a pass, and settle for the runner-up spot.

“I was waiting for some of the cars to spread out near the end, but it never happened,” said Johnson. “There were a lot of combinations I could have tried, but I think I took the best option.”

Polesitter Jeff Gordon was the early leader, but received a pit road penalty for speeding and finished 31st.

Michael Waltrip, who is running a limited Sprint Cup schedule in the No. 55, saw his chances of winning go south when he ran into a spinning Brian Scott during lap 19.

The big wreck, involving 15 cars occurred on lap 47. Some of the drivers included, Kyle Larson, Trevor Bayne, Landon Cassill, David Ragan, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Michael Annett, Kevin Harvick, and Danica Patrick.

The right front brake rotor broke on Austin Dillon’s No. 3 as he was entering pit road. The hot fluid ignited, causing Dillon to stop and make a hasty exit. He was not burned, but his car was put out of action.

The remaining top-10 finishers: 3. Paul Menard, 4. Ryan Blaney, 5. Martin Truex, 6. Sam Hornish, 7. Ryan Newman, 8. Kevin Harvick, 9. Denny Hamlin, 10. Josh Wise.

Top-16 Chase contenders after 10 of 26: 1. Harvick-394, 2. Johnson-342, 3. Logano-335, 4. Earnhardt-319, 5. Keselowsk-305, 6. Kenseth-292, 7. Hamlin-281, 8. Truex-354, 9. McMurray-297, 10. Kahne-288, 11. Menard-280, 12. Almirola-279, 13. Gordon-277, 14. Newman-271, 15. Patrick-253, 16. Bowyer-249. Note: Drivers with no wins, are ranked lower than drivers with wins. This is NASCAR’s unofficial points standing.

LOGANO HOLDS ON FOR TALLADEGA WIN

Joey Logano took the lead from Elliott Sadler after a restart with eight laps remaining in Saturday’s 113-lap Xfinity race and went on to his third series win in five starts.

“It was cool to win this thing, but it was just having the right people behind you, making the right moves, making the right block and getting that clean air. Then it’s all in the mirror,” Logano said.

Brian Scott finished .130-seconds behind Logano. Austin Dillon, J. J. Yeley, Joey Gase, Chris Buescher, Elliott Sadler, Ty Dillon, Regan Smith, and Aric Almirola were the remaining top-10 finishers.

About a third of the way into the race, there was an eight-car accident near the entrance to pit road. Two members of Aric Almirola’s crew were injured as Brendan Gaughan bounced off the pit wall. Both were treated at the infield care center.

Top-10 points leaders after 9 of 33: 1. T. Dillon-330, 2. C. Buescher-321, 3. Elliott-293, 4. Wallace-293, 5. Smith-287, 6. Scott-286, 7. Sadler-282, 8. Reed-255, 9. Suarez-254, 10. Gaughan-249.

PATRICK TO LOSE SPONSOR

GoDaddy is leaving NASCAR at the end of the 2015 season, as the company looks to diversify its marketing investment. While GoDaddy is not renewing its primary sponsorship of the Danica Patrick’s No.10 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, the company is negotiating to keep Patrick as a GoDaddy spokeswoman under a personal services agreement.

In recent years, Patrick has worked to promote GoDaddy's online services for small business owners and helped with campaigns to fight breast cancer and other programs.

“GoDaddy has been a great partner for us and for the sport overall,” said Tony Stewart, SHR co-owner. “There's a lot of season left on the calendar and it would be great to go out with a win ... that would really put the exclamation point on what has been a hugely successful relationship.”

The big question is what type company will want to step up and sponsor Patrick. While she would like to stay in her present situation with Stewart Haas Racing, that might not be possible.

A new sponsor might want her with a different team. If a company is going to shell out at least $20-million, then they are going to make the final decision as to which team she races for.

Danica Patrick might not be setting the track on fire, but she is a very noticeable racing personality, and that is what big-time sponsors look for in a driver. I think she will find a sponsor, but it might mean a team change.

Meanwhile Erik Jones will fill in for Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota in the Sprint Cup Series starting at Kansas Speedway on May 9. This will mark the 18-year-old Byron, Michigan native's first official Sprint Cup Series start.

“I'm pretty excited and grateful for the opportunity to drive the No. 18 and make my debut for Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Jones. “This is a really good opportunity for me. We are going to try to manage our expectations and if we can go out and get a top-15 run and gain some experience, that would be a great day for us.”

Weekend Racing: The Trucks and Sprint Cup teams are at the 1.5-mile Kansas City, Kansas track. The Xfinity Series does not race again until May 17.

Fri., May 8; Truck Series race 4 of 23; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.

Sat., May 9, Sprint Cup Series race 11 of 33; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.

Racing Trivia Question: Where is Martin Truex Jr.’s hometown?

Last Week’s Question: Talladega Speedway was originally known as Alabama International Motor Speedway. What year did it open? Answer. The first race was Sept. 14, 1969.

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