Cornwall's Aisling Cuffe placed fourth in the girls race Saturday at the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals in San Diego, capping a spectacular season.
Cuffe, who was 12th a year ago, finished in 17 minutes, 21.4 seconds. Senior Megan Goethals of Rochester (Mich.) High outleaned Chelsey Sveinsson of Dallas (Texas) Greenhill High at the finish to win the race. Both were timed in 17:07 over five kilometers in the closest race in the 31-year history of the event.
Cuffe, a junior, was coming off victories by 43 seconds at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, 40 seconds at the Federation championships and then 46 seconds in the Foot Locker Regionals two weeks ago at Sunken Meadow State Park.
Among other New Yorkers, junior Colleen Schmidt of Holy Trinity was 27th in 18:18, and sophomore Lauren Mullins of Johnson City placed 32nd in 18:30.
Lukas Verzbicas of Carl Sandburg High in Orland Hills, Ill., became the first sophomore to win the boys race, finishing in 15:08 to easily outpace the field. Verzbicas took the lead near the midway point and pulled away to a 15-second margin at the tape.
Ward Melville senior Quinn Raseman was 19th in 15:45.
Boys basketball: Early-season drama at Lincoln
Four-time defending PSAL champion Abraham Lincoln surrendered a late lead and saw its 30-game home winning streak against league competition snapped over the weekend with an 83-81 setback to Paul Robeson on Jamel Noel’s layup just ahead of the buzzer.
The real drama had to do with who wasn’t on the court for the Railsplitters for the final two minutes after putting up 33 points in the first 30 minutes. Lincoln held a 70-63 lead with 4:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The parents of junior guard Shaquille Stokes, a transfer from St. Patrick's in New Jersey last year, had a spat with Lincoln coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton over their son’s benching in crunch time, The New York Post reported.
"People need to show (my son) respect, like we show them," Chervantes Stokes, the player's mother, told the newspaper. "We’ve moved once and we’ll move again."
More boys basketball
* Sophomore David Perkins, a major reason Fallsburg is off to a 2-0 start in boys basketball after going 0-20 last season, was arraigned Thursday on charges including one count of second-degree murder, The Times Herald-Record reported.
Perkins, a 16-year-old point guard, averaged 9.5 points in Fallsburg's first two games. He is charged with the murder count, first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon stemming from a June 23 incident, the paper reported.
"The guys are working hard in practice," coach Pete Dworetsky said, "and looking forward to playing Sullivan West on Monday. Other than that, I really don't have much to say about what happened."
* Defending boys state Class C champion Avon is without 6-foot-5 senior center Corey Upright, likely out for the year following an Achilles injury suffered last month. The Braves were expected to build around Upright, who averaged four points and five rebounds as the sixth man a year ago. Upright was third-team all-state as a junior pitcher/shortstop last spring.
* Taran Buie, who was a second-team all-state guard for Bishop Maginn last season as a junior but transferred to State College, Pa., High over the summer, scored 24 points in his senior debut.
He also collected 12 rebounds and five assists Friday in a 66-36 victory over Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter for the Little Lions, were missing two starters and three other players whose football season has not ended yet. Buie made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points during a 22-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters in front of a crowd that included Penn State star Talor Battle, his half-brother. Buie has committed to play for the Nittany Lions next year.
* Palmyra-Macedon coach Chip Tatro, closing in on 400 wins, will retire in March at the conclusion of his 29th season.
* Forest Hills 6-foot-7 junior swingman Maurice Harkless has committed to UConn. Harkless averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore.
Girls basketball: St. Michael's loses in Hawaii
* Jennifer O'Neill put up 26 points, but No. 6 St. Michael's Academy fell to Long Beach (Calif.) Poly 69-47 in Honolulu in a Iolani Classic final between squads ranked nationally by USA Today.
* Cicero-North Syracuse rode 6-foot-3 sophomore Breanna Stewart to a 62-42 victory over Pittsford Sutherland in the I-90 Shootout in Cicero. Stewart picked up 25 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Stewart played for the USA Basketball women’s U-16 national team that won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship this summer in Mexico City. She averaged 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds for Team USA.
* St. Francis Prep senior point guard Joanna Verouhis will have knee surgery and miss the remainder of the season after helping the Terriers to a 4-0 start. She missed all of last season with a torn ACL that required surgery.
Football: Two more commitments
New York is up to 18 commitments to BCS schools following the news that Lockport running back David Fluellen has selected the University of Toldeo.
The 6-foot, 200-pound senior rushed for 1,638 yards and 19 TDs in nine games for Lancaster this fall. He finished his career with 4,274 yards and 50 TDs.
Fluellen's first offer this summer was from the University of Buffalo. It's unknown if the Turner Gill-to-Kansas speculation, which became reality over the weekend, affected his thinking. Harrison kicker John Molloy is the only current New Yorker senior committed to Buffalo, which will have to replace Gill as coach.
Soccer: 13 selected as All-Americans
Senior midfielders Wes Finch and Alex Bramall, who helped Newburgh Free Academy to the NYSPHSAA Class AA championship last month, have been selected all-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Finch collected nine goals and 11 assists for Newburgh, which went 19-1-2 and became the first Section 9 team to win a game in the boys Class AA bracket, reeling off four straight wins to grab the title in Oneonta. Bramall finished with 17 goals and 11 assists.
Four other New York boys made the All-America list: Brentwood defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste, and forwards Stephen Baker of McQuaid, Gino Corasaniti of Cicero-North Syracuse and Cody Farrier of Arlington. All are seniors.
The seven female recipients of the award include senior forwards Carly Beyar and Crystal Dunn, who helped Rockville Centre South Side earn its 15th NYSPHSAA championship last month.
The others are junior goalie Tatiana Saunders of Rye, senior midfielders Molly Popolizio of Shenendehowa and Kylie Strom of Union-Endicott, sophomore forward Lia Bellizzi of Rye and senior forward Brittany Kinmond of Spencerport.
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.
