If it's November and the sport is football, you know the NYSPHSAA final is in Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
If it's March and the sport is basketball, you know you're in Glens Falls.
And if boys volleyball is your sport?
"Where were we, Penfield? Oh, my god. It was in this area … I think," Jimmy Keyes said this summer during the Empire State Games in Buffalo.
For the record, the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake standout and his teammates were competing at Webster Schroeder High School near Rochester last fall in their season-ending event. Still, Keyes made the point of just how irrelevant his sport has been in recent years even while its popularity was spiking across New York.
Lacking enough sections playing the sport in the fall season, boys volleyball was relegated to "regional championship" status at the same time that sports such as football, soccer, cross country and swimming were conducting full-fledged New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
That all changes at the end of this season. With Sections I and IX making the decision early last year to move their official season for the sport to the fall, the volleyball committee had enough sections lined up to petition the NYSPHSAA to upgrade the status of the tournament. The first boys volleyball state championship will be held Nov. 20 at Cicero-North Syracuse in Section III.
"We've wanted that for a long time," Burnt Hills player Ketryk Wilder said. "It's big for us to be at the higher level. Just because we had a few less teams than other sports didn't mean there wasn't great competition. Now we're going to be gunning for it. It'll be great."
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (Burnt Hills) finished second in the 2008 Class A regionals, but the Spartans were overshadowed in their own school that season as the boys and girls cross country teams snared NYSPHSAA championships and the football team advanced to the final in Syracuse.
Last year, Baldwinsville's boys experienced some of the same feeling after winning Section III Class A to qualify for regionals while the football team was enjoying its best season in ages and playing in the state semifinals.
"We got overlooked a little because it wasn't a full state tournament," the Bees' Jarret Reaume recalled. "Now we're a little more equal and boys volleyball is up and upcoming."
Last season's regional champions were Section V's
Penfield (beating Hamburg in the final) in Class A and
Victor (over Eden) in Class B.
This fall, Hamburg Frontier is on an early run with tournament triumphs at Clarence and Eden to open the regular season.
CROSS COUNTRYLizzie Predmore kicked off her junior cross country season in style on Saturday. The
Shenendehowa (Clifton Park) distance ace won the Ed Springstead Invitational in Colonie in 17 minutes, 33.2 seconds over five kilometers to come within five seconds of the 2004 course record by Saratoga's Nicole Blood.
Predmore finished seven seconds ahead of Brittany Winslow (Queensbury) with Danielle Winslow (Queensbury) third, another eight seconds back. The Winslows placed third and second, respectively, last fall in the NYSPHSAA Class A meet, while Predmore was eighth in Class A.
Queensbury took team honors ahead of Holy Names and Shenendehowa.
Meanwhile, the
Fayetteville-Manlius (Manlius) girls successfully launched their 2010 season with a perfect day at the Chittenango Invitational. Junior Christie Rutledge won in 17:20.3, followed by teammates Jillian Fanning (17:32.6), Katie Sischo (17:42.6), Katie Brislin (17:51.4) and Heather Martin (18:52.4) in the Varsity One race.
In boys action, F-M coasted to first place with 17 points as Mark McGurrin 15:24.5 clocked to earn individual honors.
COACHING NEWS* Bill Jacoutot's retirement was short-lived, though he's moving into the college ranks beginning next month. Jacoutot surrendered his Spencerport wrestling coaching position when he retired from teaching in June 2009, but he'll join the staff at Brockport State next month as an assistant to Division III legend Don Murray.
Jacoutot coached 11 wrestlers to NYSPHSAA championships in 28 seasons, and his teams rolled up 353 wins, 21 Section V championships and seven New York State Sportswriters Association crowns.
"It was traumatic for me to leave Spencerport," Jacoutot, 58, told the Democrat and Chronicle. "Brockport has been a breath of fresh air."
* Pittsford's Maurice "Marty" Keating was selected the National High School Coaches Association national coach of the year for girls swimming. Keating, who began the Pittsford girls team 36 years ago, has won 15 Section 5 championships, including six straight from 2002-07.
* Sandy Mancuso-Lopez is back in charge of girls volleyball at
Kingston after being away the better part of a decade. She retired in 2001 with a 344-72 mark and six sectional championships in 20 seasons.
She's replacing former Kingston star player Jessica Roeber, who gave birth to twins in May and resigned after five seasons.
*
St. Catharine Academy (Bronx) may have the youngest varsity coach in the state with the news that Manhattan College freshman Alessandra Rosso, 18, has taken charge of the girls volleyball team. Rosso, who led the Crusaders to the last two CHSAA Bronx/Westchester and Archdiocesan titles, has taken over from her sister Melissa Rosso.
* Seven years after retiring, Dave McLaughlin is back as the boys cross country coach at
Brighton (Rochester). McLaughlin, who has been a meet official since 2003, coached boys and girls track and cross country at various levels for 30 years in his first tour of duty with the Barons.
* Midwood girls basketball coach Artie LaGreca has surrendered that position and taken over as the school's athletic director. His teams played in the PSAL quarterfinals nine straight years and reached the semifinals three times. He'll be replaced by assistant Mike Moore.
* Al Viani has taken over the storied
Our Lady of Lourdes (Poughkeepsie) girls basketball team. He's the father of three girls who played for state champions at Lourdes, which won 10 NYSPHSAA crowns from 1987 to 2004.
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.
