Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014: Italiano, Burda set pace on state XC course

   Leading off today: Tyler Italiano of Syosset and Bella Burda of Arlington posted the day's top times Saturday in the Section 10 Cross Country Invitational, which gave nearly 1,000 runners from around New York a taste of what the SUNY Canton course will look like for November's NYSPHSAA Championships.

   Italiano won the Division I boys race in 15:44.2. Burda won the Division I girls contest in 15:57.5.

   Liverpool's Ben Petrella (third place) and Connor Buck (fifth) paced their team to the title in the largest class by a 40-98 margin over Syosset. Jessica Lawson (18:13.9) ran a strong second to Burda, sparking Corning to a 52-64 margin over Guilderland for Division I team honors.

   "Jessica ran well for her first race of the season," Corning coach Ray Lawson told The Leader. "Burda is off to a strong start to her season, so it was a good test for Jessica.

   The other boys team titles went to Malone (Division II) and Beaver River (III). North Shore (II) and Plattsburgh Seton Catholic (III) took home the other girls trophies.

   "Things went very smoothly. All the input I have gotten is very positive," Potsdam coach April Martin, the Section 10 girls chairperson, told The Daily Times. "I worked on this course all summer and SUNY Canton was absolutely amazing. Anything that I asked to be done, they did it. And the cooperation I received from coaches all over the section and from the officials was wonderful."

   J-D girls stay unbeaten: Amber Hyatt scored a pair of goals in the second overtime to lift Jamesville-DeWitt to a 3-0 soccer victory over Syracuse CBA, boosting the Red Rams' record to 8-0.

   "Every time we play our rival CBA, we know its going to be a tough game," J-D coach Hayley Niles told Syracuse.com. "We definitely had possession of the ball, but weren't able to put it in the net until that second overtime. It was a real nailbitter."

   Hyatt connected for the first goal with 8:12 left in OT. She followed with her sixth goal of the season less than three minutes later. Sophia Dimkopolous added the third goal.

   Under review: Newburgh Free Academy faces the prospect of taking on rival Monroe-Woodbury next weekend without standout senior running back/safety Anthony Dubose, who was ejected in the Week 3 win over Washingtonville.

   Dubose was assessed a personal foul and ejected in the second quarter of the 41-21 win Friday for a big hit on Washingtonville receiver Jakob Woods, who was running into the heart of the defense. The ejection carries a one-game suspension.

   Take a look at this video from Hudson Valley Sports Report:

   The Times Herald-Record reported Newburgh AD Jason Semo has filed an appeal with Section 9. Dubose already missed the first two games of the year after Newburgh coach Bill Bianco suspended him for breaking team rules. He rushed for 127 yards on five carries against Washingtonville in his 2014 debut.

   "It wasn't helmet-to-helmet, we have it on tape," Bianco said. "It was like we taught him, shoulder-to-shoulder. It was a bang-bang play and Anthony is a big kid, but it wasn't helmet-to-helmet. If you make that call, you better make sure it's the right one."

   Said Semo: "If this was malicious, I wouldn't be saying anything. But it was shoulder-shoulder. It wasn't flagrant and I hope Section 9 does the right thing."

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   Semo's appeal will be based on a National Federation rule that does not specify an automatic ejection. Section 9 Executive Director Bob Thabet will hear Newburgh's protest.

   "I will look at the evidence, but it has to be really, really strong," Thabet told the paper. "In my 16 years, I've never overturned a referee's call."

   Scoreboard: The Week 3 list of scores from around the state has been posted. Here's how the ranked teams fared.

   We posted a roundup of some Saturday football highlights earlier today.

   More football: Hoosic Valley, which has never had a winning season since starting its program in 2006, is off to a 3-0 start following its 42-13 win over Pawling.

   The third win matched the school single-season mark set in 2008 as well as the cumulative win total from 2009-13, when the Indians went 3-37, The Times Union reports.

   Sidelined: Francis Kalombo Ngoy was crowned homecoming king at Oyster Bay. All in all, he would much rather be playing soccer this fall.

   Though just 17 years old, the senior who immigrated from Africa four years ago has seen his eligibility expire after performing well in both soccer, where he was one of the team's top scorers, and track and field last year.

   As is the case in many states, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association generally limits high school students to four seasons of eligibility once an athlete begins ninth grade. Kalombo Ngoy repeated ninth grade as he worked to learn English, Newsday reported.

   He's still spending his after-school time with the soccer team -- but as an assistant coach of sorts -- and plays from a travel team. "It's very different," he told the paper. "I'm grateful that the school gave me that job, it's good experience, but I miss playing with my teammates a lot."

   Oyster Bay is off to a 4-2 start this fall.

   Kalombo Ngoy has made great strides in his education and he's even enrolled in a college English course as he begins the process of looking for a school where he might be able to compete in both his sports after graduation from Oyster Bay.

   Earlier this year, Oyster Bay had another eligibility issue with an immigrant. Christopher Ottaunick is having to sit out the football season because he turned 19 before the start of the school year. When he was 11, Ottaunick, who was adopted from Siberia and spoke no English, was placed in the fourth grade, rather than sixth, so now at 19 years old, he is considered too old to play.