New York: Fayetteville-Manlius girls run national title streak to four

Nationally top-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius won its fourth straight Nike Cross Nationals girls cross country championship on Saturday in Portland, Ore., by easily fending off No. 3 Saratoga Springs at the sixth annual event.

F-M topped Saratoga by a 74-147 margin, with Fort Collins, Colo., third at 161 and Santa Clara, Calif., Saugus fourth at 191. Among other New York schools, Queensbury (284) was seventh and Shenendehowa (285) eighth in the 22-team field.

With Saratoga having captured the title in 2004 and Hilton winning in 2005, New York schools have topped the girls field all six years the event has been held.

Senior Katie Sischo (18:14) paced the Hornets with a 21st-place showing, followed by sophomore Molly Malone in 24th as F-M ran very aggressively through the first mile and grouped its five scorers within 17 seconds of each other at the finish line. The performance was so dominating that Hannah Luber, F-M's top finisher at the prestigious Manhattan Invitational in October, was the team's sixth finisher in the season-ending event.

In the boys race, Texas powerhouse Boerne Champion scored 195 points to emerge from a wild slugfest over South Spokane, Wash., Joel Ferris, which put up 201 points. Woodlands, Texas, (207) and Loyola, Ill., (208) were next as eight teams posted 247 or fewer points.

Fayetteville-Manlius placed 10th after Brendan Farrell lost a shoe a minute into the race, and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake was 19th.

How does a defending state championship team shoot 29-for-47 from the field (61.7 percent) and still lose its season opener by 13 points?

Welcome to Class A basketball, Bishop Kearney.

Jamesville-DeWitt, the two-time defending NYSPHSAA Class A champion, scored an 89-76 victory over the weekend versus the Rochester area’s Kings, who won state Class B honors a year ago. Jamesville-DeWitt point guard Lamar Kearse led all scorers with 27 points, sinking three of the Red Rams’ 13 three-pointers.

J-D scored 32 points in the second quarter to build a 52-32 lead

Roderick Gray was Kearney's leading scorer with 24 points, and Blair Roberts added 23.

It’s certainly too early to rush to judgment, but few observers in New York would be shocked if both teams advance to Glens Falls for the state tournament semifinals in March.

* Bishop Loughlin senior forward Jayvaughn Pinkston has made an oral commitment to play for Villanova next season. Pinkston, who averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game as a junior, chose the Wildcats over Tennessee and several Big East suitors. He seemed destined for Tennessee but canceled an announcement at about the same time it became apparent Tobias Harris of Half Hollow Hills West would be signing with the Vols.

* Rising Bishop Ford prospect Kamari Murphy has left the school, reportedly to enroll at four-time defending PSAL champion Abraham Lincoln. Ford coach John Infortunio disclosed the development to The Daily News late last week, though Lincoln coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton said he was unsure of Murphy's status and referred questions to AD Renan Ebeid Gomez.

* You cannot make spaghetti sauce without tomatoes, win the lottery without buying a ticket or get away with listing your bookie as a dependent on your tax return. And you most assuredly cannot map out a nationally televised high school basketball schedule without including any New York schools.

But ESPN managed to do exactly that. The 14-game schedule of televised contests on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU begins Dec. 11 with Duncanville vs. Lincoln in an all-Texas contest.

The schedule contains schools from 17 states, but none will be from New York – the state that gave the basketball world Connie Hawkins, Lew Alcindor, Christian Laettner, Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Pat Riley, Julius Erving and Bob Cousy, to name a few.

File photo by Kevin Yen

Dan Scalo, Monroe-Woodbury

Monroe-Woodbury senior QB Dan Scalo was selected the Gatorade New York Football Player of the Year after leading the Crusaders to their sixth straight sectional Class AA championship.

Scalo recovered from offseason shoulder surgery to lead Section 9 with 1,569 rushing yards and ran for 20 touchdowns. He threw for 1,148 yards and 13 more TDs.

Although quarterback is the glamour position on the field, he’s just the fourth signal-caller to earn the honor among New York players. Malik Campbell of Buffalo Turner-Carroll (1995), and brothers Greg (2004) and Mike (2006) Paulus of Syracuse CBA were the others, with Greg Paulus going on to earn national player of the year recognition.

There’s no way of seeing the announcement out of Hofstra University on Thursday as anything other than a disaster for New York football players.

The Empire State only produces an average of about two dozen Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) scholarship players per year, and the decision by Hofstra’s administration to scrap its football program due to financial considerations is a substantial blow for athletes competing at the next level.

Hofstra, a Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) school, recruited numerous New Yorkers in recent years. Those players with remaining eligibility as well as future college prospects not quite good enough to play major-college football, will have fewer options beginning next fall.

Last February’s recruiting class included eight New Yorkers, with Gatorade Player of the Year Miguel Maysonet of Riverhead among them. There were another 15 players on the roster this fall who have two or three seasons of eligibility remaining. All now are essentially free agents. They’ll be able to transfer to any FCS, Division II or Division III school without having to sit out a season.

* Peru’s Larry Ewald, 52, the most successful football coach in Section VII history, has retired after compiling a 187-53 record in 22 seasons. He won a NYSPHSAA championship in Class B in 2001.

* Saranac Lake football coach Mark Farmer has said he will not return to the sideline next season. He will remain as athletic director.

* Fairport football coach Mike Ierlan has resigned with a 31-40 record in eight seasons. "I'm not sick, not getting fired," Ierlan told the Democrat and Chronicle. "There was nothing else, plain and simple. Something has to give. I can't have my No. 1 team, and that's my family, be the second team right now."

* Charles G. Finney School will move from independent status to the Livingston County football league next fall, which should make scheduling considerably easier.