SCRANTON – Susquehanna County girls swept the top three spots in the 200-meter dash May 9 when the Lackawanna Track Conference gathered for its 12th annual Robert Spagna Championships at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

Susquehanna senior Skyla Wilson was the meet's premier performer with three gold medals and a bronze, including leading the way in the 200 where she was followed to the finish line by Montrose's Chalice Guyette and Elk Lake's Lydia Ofalt.

Wilson won the 200 in 26.18 seconds, claimed both hurdles titles and was third in the 100-meter dash.

Guyette was second in both the 100 and 200 and was part of a third-place finish in the 400 relay.

Ofalt added a fourth-place finish in the 400 and a fifth in the 100.

Sarah Korty joined the sprinters among the top performances.

The Forest City Regional School District student, competing as part of a cooperative sponsorship, scored all 14 of the points for the Carbondale girls' team by placing second in the shot put and third in the discus.

Montrose was the county's top team, finishing second in the Class 2A boys standings and fourth in Class 2A girls.

Maverick Tims led the Meteors with the county's top boys' finish, taking second place by clearing 11 feet in the pole vault and also adding a sixth-place finish in the javelin.

Lakeland won the boys' team championship, 44-40, over Montrose. Both teams won regular-season division titles in the LTC, with the Chiefs taking Division 3 and the Meteors winning Division 4.

Montrose was seven points ahead of third-place Dunmore.

Elk Lake was 10th with four points and Susquehanna was 11th with three. Blue Ridge and Mountain View did not score in either the boys' or girls' events.

The top eight in each event produced team points while the top three earned medals.

Tims and teammate Mike Henry were the only county boys' medalist, but Montrose showed off depth with a total of seven boys figuring in the scoring.

Henry was third in the 400 and was part of the sixth-place 1600 relay.

Brennan Gilhool was fourth in the 100 and 200 and ran on the 1600 relay.

Evan Snyder, who was also eighth in the triple jump and high jump, and Henry Rogers completed the relay lineup.

Colin Spellman, in the 3200, and Liam Mead, in the 1600, added sixth-place finishes.

Peyton Jones was sixth in the 3200 to lead Elk Lake, which also got an eighth-place finish from Cody Oswald in the 200.

Susquehanna's Jakub Tomczyk tied for fifth in the high jump.

Western Wayne ran away with the girls' team title, 63 2/3-46, over Dunmore.

Lakeland (39), Montrose (37) and Susquehanna (36) were tightly packed in third through fifth place.

Elk Lake was seventh with 26 points.

Guyette led Montrose, including joining Anna Loomis, Caroline Stack and Mckenzie Newhart on the bronze-medal relay team. Loomis was also seventh in the 400.

Radvile Vaiculyte was fourth in the high jump while Hannah Perkins was fifth in both the 800 and 1600.

Wilson accounted for all of Susquehanna's scoring. She won the 100 hurdles in 14.81 and the 300 hurdles in 44.65.

Ofalt was joined by two Elk Lake teammates in the scoring.

Makayla Cole was fourth in the javelin and eighth in the shot put. Shyanne Bennett was fourth in the 3200.

WEEK IN REVIEW

County athletes won seven of 17 Class 2A girls' events May 7 in the Phil Tochelli Lackawanna Track Conference Jr. High Championship Meet at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

Montrose's McKenzie White won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and anchored the winning 1600 relay team.

Carbondale's Rachel Korty, part of the cooperative sponsorship with Forest City, set a meet record while winning the 800 in 2:34.12 and also won the 1600.

Mountain View's Rebecca Plomchak won the 400.

Paige Brewer, Stephanie Summerville and Cecelia Adams joined White on the relay team.

Elk Lake won the 3200 relay with the team of Molly McGlynn, Krista Jones, Makayla Wagner and Ashlyn Berry.

The Montrose girls finished fourth and the Elk Lake boys were seventh for the best county team finishes in the Class 2A standings.

In boys' volleyball, Blue Ridge swept Western Wayne in three games May 7 for its fifth straight win and a shot at first place.

The Raiders lost to eventual Lackawanna League champion Abington Heights in four games the next day.

Blue Ridge closed out the regular season with a three-game sweep of Forest City Thursday to finish in a tie for second place.

The final standings: Abington Heights 11-1, Blue Ridge 9-3, Forest City 9-3, Mountain View 6-6, Western Wayne 4-8, Susquehanna 3-9, Elk Lake 0-12.

In softball, Maddie Guinane threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts while going 3-for-3 May 7 when Montrose shut out Elk Lake, 5-0, to remain undefeated in Lackawanna League Division 4 play.

In boys' tennis, Montrose's Billy Hotaling and Steven Vetri were each eliminated in their first matches of the District 2 Class 2A singles tournament May 8 at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.

LOOKING BACK

Susquehanna's sweep of the Lackawanna League Division 4 basketball titles led to the school sweeping the division's Coach of the Year awards when NEPABasketball.com named its all-star teams for the 2017-18 season.

Lawrence Tompkins was named division boys' Coach of the Year, Errol Mannick was named girls' Coach of the Year and several Sabers players were recognized.

Susquehanna's Mason Deakin was selected as the boys' Player of the Year in the division. Susquehanna also had one boy and two girls earn first-team, all-star honors and had one boy and one girl receive honorable mention.

Forest City's MacKenzie Hartman was the girls' Player of the Year.

Susquehanna's Bryce Baldwin, Elk Lake's Rierdan Reyan, Mountain View's Kyle Streich and Montrose's Jacob Peck were all first-team boys' all-stars.

Montrose's Gilhool, Forest City's Dakota Knehr-Cook, Blue Ridge's Sam Cosmello, Mountain View's Mikey Schermerhorn and Susquehanna's Eric Lee made up the five-person honorable mention list, which essentially served as the second team.

Taylor Huyck and Mackenzie Steele from Susquehanna made the girls' first team along with Erika Freely and Sydney Newhart from Mountain View and Annalise Ely from Montrose.

The honorable mention list included Susquehanna's Bethany Maby, Montrose's Harper Andre, Blue Ridge's Abby Hartman and Elk Lake's Eliza Bosscher.

COLLEGE CORNER

Mansfield University's Hunter Watkins won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's javelin championship May 5 with a throw of 64.16 meters, the 12th-longest in the country.

The sophomore from Elk Lake was second in the conference last season.

Watkins went on to finish sixth at the ECAC/IC4A Championships.

Chris Carlsen, a senior from Blue Ridge, placed 11th in the event.

Kenzie Jones, a junior from Elk Lake, finished third in the women's 5000-meter run and 3000 steeplechase.

Allison Lewis, a West Chester University senior from Montrose, placed third in the 800.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Blue Ridge and Forest City will meet in a District 2 Class 2A boys' volleyball quarterfinal Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre.

Mountain View was scheduled to face Crestwood in an eighth-seed tiebreaker Monday to determine which team played Holy Redeemer in the second match of Wednesday's doubleheader.

The Blue Ridge-Forest City winner advances into the Tuesday, May 22 semifinal where state-ranked Holy Redeemer, the defending champion, is the likely opponent.

In boys' tennis, the District 2 Class 2A doubles tournament is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.

Wednesday's action begins at 9 a.m. and proceeds until the four semifinalist teams have been determined.

In softball, the District 2 Class 2A tournament is scheduled to begin with first-round games Monday, May 21.

The District 2 Class 3A first round and District 2-11 Class A quarterfinals are both scheduled for Tuesday, May 22.

In baseball, the District 2 Class 3A first round and District 2-11 Class A quarterfinals are set for Monday, May 21. The District 2 Class 2A first round is planned for the next day.

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.

HARVICK GETS FIFTH WIN

Kevin Harvick Gets Fifth Win (Furnished by NASCAR)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.--Kevin Harvick started on the pole in Sunday's 267-lap Cup Series race, but had to play catch up near the end to claim his fifth victory of the season.

He started sixth on the race's last caution of lap 259 and was able to find speed in the top lane with five laps left and passed Martin Truex Jr. on the outside in Turn-4 with two-to-go.

In winning his second straight race and his fifth in 12 starts this season, Harvick beat Truex to the finish line by .390 seconds. The victory was his third at Kansas Speedway, tying him for most ever at the 1.5-mile track.

"I think, as you look at the last couple of laps, it wasn't working for me on the bottom, and I was able to make up some ground on the top; and really, I thought, if it came down to it I could pass him (Truex) on the bottom because my car went through one and two on the bottom or I could drive through the middle of three and four, but I just had to pick which lane. He wasn't going to choose, and he never chose the high lane, and we were able to drive right by," Harvick said.

Martin Truex Jr. nearly pulled off an incredible comeback but fell short of scoring his third-straight victory at Kansas Speedway.

Following the last caution and holding down first place, Truex did not pit for fresh rubber. He fired off a great restart to maintain the lead but was unable to hold off Harvick in the closing laps.
"I thought we were going to be alright there," Truex said. "Like three or four to go, my car just got real tight and chattered the right front off of turn four, and I was like, 'Oh boy, that's not good.' We had been so tight all night and I didn't know where to go once he was getting there. If I go to the top, he's just going to catch me on the bottom. I might as well run where I feel I can run the fastest, and I did and it just wasn't enough. It's been a fun night, we definitely overachieved, so that's always good."

Joey Logano was third, followed by Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, and Kyle Busch.

Ryan Blaney, who was involved in an accident late in the race, won Stage One, but wound up finishing 37th.

Kyle Larson won Stage Two.
Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson continues to struggle on the track. During lap 63, he had a loose wheel and had to pit. During the pit stop he lost a lap. He did finish the race, two laps down in the 19th spot.

Matt Kenseth, who returned as the part time driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford had a rough night. In addition to having a poor-handling car, he experienced problems in the pits. Finally, he was involved in a lap 250 wreck, and was out of the race, finishing 35th.
Top-10 leaders after 12 of 36: 1. Kyle Busch-503, 2. Logano-491, 3. Harvick-484, 4. Keselowski-396, 5. Kurt Busch-393, 6. Bowyer-386, 7. Hamlin-380, 8. Truex-376, 9. Blaney-365, 10. Larson-356.
GRAGSON PICKS UP KANSAS TRUCK WIN

Results of the Kansas Truck Series race: 1. Noah Gragson, 2. Kyle Busch, 3. Stewart Friesen, 4. John Nemechek, 5. Johnny Sauter, 6. Matt Crafton, 7. Cody Coughlin, 8. Grant Enfinger, 9. Brandon Jones, 10. Justin Haley.

Top-10 leaders after 6 of 23: 1. Sauter-275, 2. Gragson-240, 3. Enfinger-214, 4. Moffitt-213, 5. Rhodes-213, 6. Crafton-205, 7. Friesen-178, 8. Haley-173, 9. Sargeant-168, 10. Snider-167.

NASCAR MIGHT BE ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

According to a report by Reuters wire service and reported on ESPN, the France family is exploring the possibility of selling NASCAR. Reuters said investment bank Goldman Sachs is working with NASCAR to find a potential buyer.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether or not the sale of NASCAR would be good for the sport?

NASCAR does not comment on its ownership structure, but according to court documents in various lawsuits, it is co-owned by Jim France, the one surviving son of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., and Lesa France Kennedy, the granddaughter of France Sr. and daughter of Bill France Jr.

"Our business is racing, that's what we're investing in," Jim France said after buying the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Series last month. "We've done it all of our lives, and we're going to continue to do it."

Possible bidders include Marcus Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc. Insiders say Smith wants to make his own legacy in sports, separate from his father Bruton. While the Smiths had interest in buying the Carolina Panthers football team, the $2 billion-plus price tag was too much for them to become majority owners. Comcast is also bound to come up, not only because of its sponsorship of the Xfinity Series, but because the idea of a media company buying a racing series for content is fresh in minds after Formula One was purchased by Liberty Media.

One potential hurdle in negotiations could be that the NASCAR charter agreement -- NASCAR's version of a franchise -- with the teams runs only through 2020. The teams have the option to extend it through 2024, the end of the current 10-year television deal that is worth an average of $820 million each year. Any buyer likely would need assurances from the teams that they would continue to participate, and team owners could see this as their opportunity to obtain a bigger percentage of the television money. Teams currently get 25 percent through the race purse while NASCAR keeps 10 percent and the racetracks take in 65 percent.

It hasn't helped that some of racing's most popular drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, have retired in recent years, and that a new wave of talent has yet to build a following.

Kevin Harvick acknowledged Friday that a potential sale, could prop up a sport that's been struggling with attendance and TV ratings.

"NASCAR is a business. There's always going to be transition of ownership and, you know, that's something that happens in every business," he said. "I think as you look at that, the opportunities that you have in those situations, people aren't buying companies to make them worse. I think there's always opportunity if there was a sale for something to get better."

On the other hand, rudderless leadership at the ownership level for several years now has put NASCAR and its officials (and the teams/drivers/sponsors) in scramble mode to try to get back on the right path. Fresh perspectives, perhaps a smaller schedule and new venues might be just what is needed to revitalize the sport.

Meanwhile, NASCAR and Camping World have expanded their agreement to provide Gander Outdoors naming rights to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Beginning in 2019, the national series will be rebranded as the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

Weekly Racing Joke: A woman is walking through the pit area before a Cup race with her baby. She becomes frustrated after Kurt Busch calls her baby ugly. She gives Busch a dirty look, and angrily walks away.  Clint Bowyer noticing that she is upset, asks, "What's wrong"? She tells him and Bowyer encourages the woman to go back and reprimand Busch, offering to hold her monkey for her.

Weekend Racing: The Cup and Truck teams are at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. If will be regular racing for the Trucks, but a non-points Exhibition race for the Cup Series.

Fri., May 18; Truck series race 7 of 23; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.

Sat., May 19; Cup Series All-Star race; Starting time: 6 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.

Racing Trivia Question: How many stages does NASCAR Cup Series races consist of?

Answer to last week's question. Which Cup team does Chris Buescher drive for? Answer. He drives the No. 37 Kroger Chevrolet.

Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR photojournalist and author. You may contact him by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.