Leading off today: More than 100 Tuckahoe parents and players packed Monday's school board meeting with concerns that the football program is being neglected to the point that the sport's future there is in jeopardy,
News 12 Westchester reported.
Players said they have been borrowing essential equipment such as mouthpieces and footballs. They also said they only have two coaches at the moment.
According to the report, school board members said they don't have the budget to buy the necessary equipment. Parents suggested some unspecified politics driven by a contingent of people in town are the culprit.
Tuckahoe (2006 and 2010) is the only Class D team from the East half of the bracket to have won NYSPHSAA championships in the past 11 seasons.
Turning pro: While the debate about basketball players' inability to jump directly from high school to the NBA rages on, the distance running world has lost a major scholastic talent to a pro contract for the second year in a row.
Dyestat reports that reigning Nike Cross Nationals champion Alexa Efraimson, 17, has signed a contract with Nike, which will cost her the final season of high school eligibility in the state of Washington and end the possibility of competing for a college.
Efraimson, who holds the U.S. high school record in the 1,600 meters, said she wanted to maintain the continuity of training with coach Mike Hickey, her mentor since junior high, and focusing on her individual development, which is not always easy with at-times hectic high school schedules.
"When you find the right method, and if it's working, then it's a good formula," Efraimson said.
Like Mary Cain, who left Bronxville early, Efraimson plans to enroll in college while continuing her training and picking select meets to race. Hickey has consulted with Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar, who trains Cain, so its possible the two young stars could get together for some workouts.
"I love BorderClash and NXN and all those invitationals, but I've had my opportunity to run those races and win those races and now it's someone else's turn," Efraimson said.
On the move: Kevin Devaney Jr. of MSG Varsity tweeted Monday that Elijah Hughes, fifth-team all-state in basketball for Beacon as a sophomore, apparently will be enrolling at Somers JFK this fall. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 17 points a game last winter.
Progress: The annual update of the New York state high school football record book compiled by Paul Hutzler is now complete and can be seen on our RoadToSyracuse.com reference page. Among the highlights this year are the addition of the list of unbeaten/unscored upon varsities over
