New York: Distance star Hatz is back on track

Alex Hatz seems to be back on track now, both literally and figuratively.

The Fayetteville-Manlius senior, who signed a letter of intent last week to attend the University of Wisconsin in the fall, continued his comeback from surgery in August by winning the scholastic mile at the Reebok Indoor Games in Boston on Saturday with a time of 4 minutes, 12.08 seconds.

It was the fastest time in the country this season by a high school miler.

Hatz, the 2009 New York State Public High School Athletic Association outdoor 1,600-meter champion, kicked home in 60 seconds for the final quarter mile and pulled away from Ammar Moussa (4:14.13) of Arcadia (Calif.) High in the final 200 yards.

Based on his performances as a junior, there was speculation that he could make a run at a sub-four mile this spring, but that went by the boards on Aug. 21 when Hatz underwent surgery at New York University Medical Center in Manhattan to correct a narrowing of a vessel serving one of his kidneys.

He made it back in time to run a couple of cross country meets in October, but coach Bill Aris opted to shut Hatz down so that the senior could concentrate on expanding his training base.

His crisp bell lap after going out on a steady 64-second pace through the three-quarters mark Saturday indicates Hatz has a chance outdoors at the 4:02.7 clocking by Matt Centrowitz of Power Memorial, which has stood as the state record in the mile since 1973. Hatz views the victory as the start of something rather than the culmination of his comeback.

Also at Northeastern University, Roslyn senior Emily Lipari kicked hard down the stretch of the girls mile for a victory in 4:46.77, another a national season best. Joanna Stevens of Blacksburg, Va., and Millrose champ Cory Ann McGee from Mississippi were second and third in 4:50.02 and 4:50.06, respectively.

Yes, Division II Chaminade once beat Ralph Sampson’s University of Virginia team, and Villanova earned an improbable NCAA title by defeating Patrick Ewing and Georgetown. Heck, LeMoyne College knocked off Syracuse last fall in the Orange’s final tuneup for a season that might see them reach No. 1 in the country.

But a previously winless team knocking off a state-ranked club at this stage of the season is virtually unheard of in basketball. Still, it actually happened last week.

Anthony Monescalchi scored 26 points, Kenny Fuqua added 21 and Jordan Skipper put together 18 points and 18 rebounds as Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk beat Lansingburgh, the state's No. 23 Class A boys basketball team, 75-67.

Host Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (1-15) outscored Lansingburgh (14-3) by 24-11 in the second quarter to take a 35-24 lead. When the teams met on Dec. 22 at Lansingburgh, the Knights rolled to a 60-16 victory.

* Williamsville South beat Sweet Home 65-61 in Buffalo-area action, but the game played second fiddle to the event surrounding it: "Shell Strong," a fundraiser inspired by 9-year-old Jacob Shell's battle with neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer.

Jacob Shell is the son of Matt Shell, football coach at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, the team that has dropped the last two NYSPHSAA finals to Sweet Home. Fans from both teams as well as coaches Al Monaco of WIlliamsville South and Paul Schintzius of Sweet Home wore "Shell Strong" T-shirts.

"This Jacob Shell event was the classiest thing that I may have been a part of for the last 20 years," Monaco told The Buffalo News. "It was so great of the people of Sweet Home to put this on. I can't say enough about them."

Junior Phil Stasiak had 19 points, Joe Licata scored his 18 on 3-pointers and Mark Coppola had 10 points and 15 assists in the victory.

* Mike McLeod scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as No. 5 Newburgh Free Academy beat No. 9 Poughkeepsie 82-69 in a battle of state-ranked teams at Mount Saint Mary College. Patrick Johnson added 19 points and eight rebounds, and Marcus Henderson had nine points, six assists and four steals.

* Chris Cardon won his 300th game as Irondequoit beat Rush-Henrietta 63-48. Josiah Heath finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for Irondequoit, which has established itself as a contender in Section V Class AA by getting off to a 13-2 start.

* Friday's 71-63 loss to Long Island Lutheran was the latest in a string of setbacks to highly regarded teams for Albany Academy (7-9). Eight of the Cadets' losses this season have been to state-ranked teams: New Rochelle, Shenendehowa and Bishop Maginn in Class AA; Jamesville-DeWitt, Cornwall, Nichols and Lutheran in A; and Class B Collegiate.

Sophomore star Tayshana "Chicken" Murphy has transferred out of Bishop Loughlin, Lions coach Rocco Romano told The New York Post. Her next stop could be powerful St. Michael Academy, the defending Federation large-school champion.

According to the paper, Murphy was involved in a fight at a boys basketball game Jan. 22 and did not play in Loughlin’s games against St. Peter's and Bishop Kearney, after which the transfer process began. It was not clear by the weekend whether she was being expelled from Loughlin.

The Lions are winless in the high-powered CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I after winning Division II last season behind Murphy, whose tuition at Loughlin reportedly was paid by NBA star Ron Artest.

Fielding merged fall and winter teams has worked out well enough for Oppenheim-Ephratah and St. Johnsville that the districts could be headed to a full athletic consolidation in the fall.

The Little Falls Times reported O-E Superintendent Dan Russom made the recommendation that his board of education consider a full athletic merger based on the potential financial savings and the increased opportunities for students.

"This merger has afforded us the opportunity to provide more options for our students, options they did not have last year," Russom said. "And our students, to their credit, have been wonderful. In all facets this merger has been a success."

The merger has allowed the two districts to field modified and JV teams in some sports in which there used to be only a varsity team. Russom said four O-E girls, who previously would not have had a chance to try the sport, joined the modified basketball team in St. Johnsville. Likewise, several St. Johnsville girls are now able to play modified volleyball.

* Steve Fisher will step down as the General Brown football coach when he retires after 43 years of teaching this spring. He leaves with a career record of 252-113-8, second only to Jerry Walczak (271) of Dolgeville in Section III victories. The Lions won a fourth sectional crown last fall and finished 10-1.

* The Shaker school board is expected to appoint Mary-Lynne McGee as girls lacrosse coach at its Feb. 22 meeting, The Times Union reported. She coached Suffern to a 226-23-7 record from 1984-97, producing 19 All-Americans.

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.