Jessie Winans, Afton
Photo by Randy Abrams
Four lads from Liverpool (the English city, not the Section III school) - John, Paul, George and Ringo - formed the original Fab Four and conquered the music world.
And now a softball player from tiny Afton Central School in Section IV has put together a Fab Four performance of her own.
Junior shortstop Jessie Winans has been selected a Class D all-star for the fourth consecutive season by the New York State Sportswriters and Coaches Organization for Girls Sports and the New York State Sportswriters Association.
Winans was also selected the Class D player of the year honor for the second straight year, the organizations announced this week.
"I can't stop smiling," she told The Press & Sun-Bulletin. "I am going to work hard for it again next season. It would be nice to win it three years in a row."
Winans hit a personal-best 13 home runs and batted .549 this spring for Afton, which capped a 26-3 season with its seventh New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship this month. She was also a second-team all-state pick as a seventh-grader in 2005 and was selected to the sixth team in basketball earlier this year.
Senior Olivia Galati of St. John the Baptist and sophomore Anna Arceneaux of Mechanicville also repeated as players of the year.
Galati, a pitcher, was selected the Gatorade state player of the year and was honored in Class AA. Arceneaux pitched and played second base in leading Mechanicville to the NYSPHSAA Class B championship.
The other players of the year: Floral Park pitcher Samantha Giovanniello in Class A, Poly Prep shortstop Stephanie Caso sharing the honor in B, and Rhinebeck pitcher Megan Michie, in C.
Pitchers Dani Koltz of Class B Chenango Valley and Heather Johnson of Class D Heuvelton were selected to the first team for the third time. Both are seniors.
The coaches of the year:
Class AA — Cathy Morano, Tottenville, and Brian Lynch, Brentwood.
Class A — Dan Dackman, Floral Park, and Mike Carlacci, Pearl River.
Class B — Don Arceneaux, Mechanicville, and Jonnah O’Donnell, Marlboro.
Class C — Steve Boucher, Rhinebeck.
Class D — Cindy Bostelman, Afton.
Football: Xaverian prospect picks Syracuse
Syracuse University received a verbal commitment from receiver/cornerback Mario Tull of Brooklyn Xaverian this week, The Post-Standard reported.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Tull will be a senior in the fall and is expected to fit in the following year at Syracuse as a strong safety or outside linebacker.
"They were the only school really interested in me," Tull told The Post-Standard. "I didn't want to let an opportunity like that go to a waste. I wanted to hold onto it, which is why I committed."
Tull said he plans to attend head coach Doug Marrone's camp next week. He was recruited by John Anselmo, the former Nassau Community College head coach who now handles the Orange defensive backs.
Girls Lacrosse: Canandaigua junior stars for Canada
Canada reached the semifinals in the FIL Women's World Cup lacrosse tournament in Czechoslovakia, dropping a 12-10 contest on Thursday. Abby Friend, a Canandaigua junior, had nine goals (second on the team) and an assist in Canada's 3-2 start leading up to the semifinals in the international event.
She scored a hat trick in a 16-11 loss to the Aussies in the first of four pool-play games to open the tournament.
Friend, whose older sister Amanda had seven goals and five assists through five games, departed the Canandaigua team on the eve of the NYSPHSAA semifinals in order to travel to Europe for pre-tournament workouts. She is eligible to compete for Canada based on her father's citizenship.
Track and Field: Gatorade award winners announced
Hamburg hurdler Will Cole and Suffern distance runner Shelby Greany are the winners of Gatorade's track athletes of the year away for New York.
Greany won the 2,000-meter steeplechase title in 6:36.90 at the recent New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships. She set the national record of 6:33.70 last month.
Cole won the intermediate hurdles at the state meet in :52.77.
Boys Basketball: 400-game winner retiring
Don Landrio, 61, announced his retirement after 23 seasons coaching at Gloversville, his alma mater.
"Educators and coaches always face the question of 'When is it time? Am I still effective?’” Landrio told The Daily Gazette "I didn’t want people to think I stayed around too long."
Landrio ends with 410 career victories, including 60 in four seasons at Canajoharie.
More news on coaches:
* Approval was granted last week for the launch of The University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men in Rochester in September 2010. The school is slated to enroll 150 junior-high boys for its first year and grow to 450 students in grades 7 through 12 by 2014.
The principal will be Joe Munno, formerly the football coach at Marshall and Aquinas. Munno is a retired Marshall principal.
* Saratoga Springs coach Rich Johns is one of 10 national finalists for the 2009 Starfish Award for the second consecutive year, the United State Tennis Association announced. The award honors coaches who institute a no-cut policy for their teams.
The USTA will select two national winners at its 39th annual Tennis Teachers Conference on Sept. 1. Ramapo coach Sue Bordainick was one of the two national recipients in 2008.
Odds and Ends
* New York coaches are studying the idea of an upstate-downstate all-star football game to replace the New York-New Jersey Governor's Bowl. The push began in October after the NY-NJ game died over New Jersey's unwillingness to play at West Point in alternating years.
* With the Empire State Games sent to the sidelines this summer by budget woes, there's a new top-notch boys lacrosse event on the schedule in July.
The New York Shootout, sponsored by Nike, will be held July 25 at Syracuse's Henninger High. It will bring together eight regional teams from around the state for a one-day event.
Teams will be from Buffalo (Section VI), Rochester (V), Syracuse (III), the Southern Tier (IV), Albany/St. Lawrence (II and X), Hudson Valley (I and IX), Nassau (VIII) and Suffolk (XI).
The announcement was made by Nike and NYSPHSAA boys lacrosse chairman Tom Hall.
* Cicero-North Syracuse basketball star Breanna Stewart was the youngest player selected to the U.S. Basketball Girls Under-16 team recently in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Stewart, 14, was one of the dozen players selected to represent the country at the FIBA Americas Tournament this summer in Mexico (subject to change because of swine flu concerns) with a berth in the 2010 Under-17 World Championships at stake. Thirty-four freshmen and sophomores were invited to the tryouts.
Stewart was a seventh-team selection in Class AA on the NYSSWA all-state team this year.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
