Monday, May 2, 2016: The clock is ticking on Bob Beamon's H.S. record

   Leading off today: It's becoming apparent that New York could witness one of its best outdoor track and field seasons in quite a while if the weather holds up through the remainder of the season. Results Thursday and Friday at the Penn Relays hinted at the possibility and Saturday's action confirmed we have some top-end talent in a variety of events.

   The big attention-getter on the final day of action at Franklin Field in Philadelphia was Rayvon Grey's victory in the long jump with a leap made it abundantly clear he's capable of setting a mark that might stand for decades.

   The Beacon senior won with a jump of 25 feet, 2.5 inches -- exactly an inch behind the state record Bob Beamon set way back in 1965. Grey has already gone over 26 feet indoors this year.

   Grey's performance was the second-longest in Penn Relays history. Teammate Terrel Davis also competed and finished seventh at 22-9.75.

   "It was spectacular. I was mighty impressed with him," Beacon coach Jim Henry told the Poughkeepsie Journal. "I've seen better from Rayvon on the landing; he didn't have as much extension. But we both know it's there. (Beamon's) record is not broken yet, but it's in danger."

   The high jump results also jumped off the page because of the efforts of two Long Island standouts. Jyles Etienne of the Stony Brook School took second place at 6-9 and reigning state indoor champ Daniel Claxton of Smithtown East placed fourth at 6-7.75, a pair of marks outstanding for so early in the season.

   On the track, Huntington ace Infinite Tucker placed fourth in :53.24. His winning time at the outdoor state meet last June was only :52.29, so Tucker also looks to be well ahead of schedule in 2016.

   Other notes from the final day of action at Penn:

    • The racewalk winners were A.J. Gruttadauro (Brockport) in the boys 10K and Lauren Harris (Sachem East) in the girls 5K. I'm not quite sure what to make of the fact that Gruttadauro was the only male finisher lasted and the entire nine-racer field in the girls race came from New York schools.

    • Tom Conboy or Saratoga placed fifth in the pole vault at 13-11.25.

    • In the boys Championship of America 3,200-meter relay, all four West Islip legs broke 1:59 en route to eighth place in 7:49.52. The of the top five finishers were Jamaican squads, with St. Jago winning in a scary 7:33.71. (You know you're flying when your leadoff leg goes 1:54.56 ... and he;s the slow poke of the quartet).

    • In the large-school 400 final, the Cardinal Hayes relay placed fifth in :42.96.

   Saturday boys lacrosse: The 129th edition of the rivalry ended with Garden City (6-5) defeating Manhasset 9-7 with the help of four goals from Finn Gibbons and two goals and two assists from J.P. Basile.

   Manhasset, top-ranked in the state in Class B, holds a 70-59 lead in the all-time series.

   "You look forward to this game and getting a chance to put on a white jersey and play against Manhasset," Gibbons said.

   St. Anthony's down Yorktown 9-6. The Friars broke to a 4-0 lead and then Penn-bound junior Terrence Mooney scored a pair of third-quarter goals after seeing the advantage sliced in half.

   St. Anthony's is ranked second in Class A and Yorktown ninth in Class B.

   Milestone: Suffern baseball coach Ron Gamma picked up career victory No. 500 last week. Joe Attard drive home four runs in a 9-4 win over Clarkstown South.

   Everything's bigger in Texas: Officials of a school district in Katy, Texas, are expected to propose construction of a $62 million stadium later this spring and a district north of Dallas is considering spending more than $50 million on its football facility, The Associated Press reported last week.

   "The size dictated the cost, no question," said Tim Carroll, spokesman for the Allen school district, which recently built an 18,000-seat, $60 million stadium 25 miles outside Dallas. "Some say we build things with no concern for expense, with columns made of marble, but that's not the case."

   The rationale for such large, expensive facilities often is that they are shared by teams from multiple sports and multiple schools within the district and that the life of the facility can stretch 30 or more years with proper upkeep.

   Allen's football program has 9,800 season ticket-holders; there are only 7,000 seats in a stadium that opened last year outside Los Angeles at a cost of $17.5 million.

   By the time the Katy stadium opens, the district projects it will have eight high schools playing football and soccer in the 12,000-seat building. Katy voters in 2014 approved the stadium as part of a $748 million bond that will pay for new schools for a district of 74,000 students that's growing by 2,000 students a year.

   Extra points: The NYSSWA all-state team in girls basketball will be announced here Tuesday morning.