Leading off today: West Genesee defeated Fayetteville-Manlius 4-3 on Wednesday, snapping a national-record
329-match winning streak in girls tennis that began in 1993.
"We celebrated a bit in our own way, we didn't want to do it in front of their crowd," Wildcats coach Joe Mannara told Syracuse.com. "The girls need to enjoy it too for themselves and they also stopped for ice cream."
F-M had lost only twice since 1984, but coach Phil Rudolph began the new season knowing he didn't have his usual overpowering lineup.
"I said from the beginning of the year that we were going to get some losses," Rudolph said. "The girls weren't down at all."
Rudolph's record as coach is 421-7 in 30 seasons.
"The only person happier than Joe Mannara, other than him, might be me," Rudolph said jokingly. "Let him have some pressure for a while. Congrats to West Genesee, they're a great team and they deserve it."
Ex-hoops star arrested: The player who led Watervliet to a NYSPHSAA Class B championship in boys basketball in 2013 is one of three suspects in connection with a home-invasion burglary during which a 53-year-old Colonie woman was injured, The Times Union reported.
Jordan Gleason, 19, was arrested Tuesday at Sullivan County Community College, where he is a student, the paper reported. Gleason displayed a gun during the incident, Colonie police said, but it was not found when he was arrested.
The paper reported Gleason is charged with first-degree burglary, a felony. He was arraigned in Colonie Town Court and sent to Albany County jail without bail.
Armani Parker, 18, of Watervliet, was arrested Aug. 26 and charged with a felony for the same incident. The third suspect has not yet been identified.
Gleason, also an outstanding football player, was a basketball standout at Watervliet, averaging 22.9 points as a senior in the championship season to win first-team all-state honors. He was second-team all-state as a junior and made the fifth team as a sophomore.
Gleason signed to play at Sacred Heart University but left the school early in his freshman year.
Following up, part I: The Tuckahoe school board met in special session Wednesday and accepted the resignation of Rod Mergardt, the interim director of physical education, athletics and health, by a 5-0 vote.
The board also appointed Ernie Morris as the modified football coach.
As of Thursday morning I haven't seen any reporting on the developments and how they are (or aren't) related to the recent turmoil over treatment of the football team.
Following up, part II: In the aftermath of the disclosure a day earlier that
Cicero-North Syracuse football coach Joe Sindoni will be suspended for Saturday's opener vs. Fayetteville-Manlius, Syracuse.com reported Wednesday that Marcellus coach Joe Fiacchi served a similar penalty the previous year over a preseason practice violation.
Even though the Marcellus infraction also occurred in August, Fiacchi did not serve his suspension until Week 5 because the school's coach and administrators did not initially know there may have been a problem.
Following up, part III: The football game between Fort Hamilton and Staten Island Curtis will go on as scheduled
