Leading off today: Binghamton senior Alexis Daniels broke the girls state shot put record during Thursday's Section 4 qualifier for the NYSPHSAA championships.
On her second of six throws, Daniels registered a mark of 50 feet, 7½ inches. Melissa Kurzdorfer of Lancaster held the previous mark of 49-9½ since 2010.
Daniels capped her day with a throw of 160-4 in the discus to win by more than 40 feet. She hadn't cracked the 47-foot barrier in the shot put this spring until the epic throw at Vestal.
"To be honest, I'm speechless," she told the Press & Sun-Bulletin. "My goal this year was to break the state record but I think I was thinking too hard, I wasn't really thinking technique. Today was just a really wonderful day. I was thinking of technique and I just threw it."
State tennis tournament: Two-time defending champion Matt Gamble was one of two Webster Schroeder standouts to advance to the semifinals of the NYSPHSAA championships at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing on Thursday.
Schroeder's Jon Speicher, who plays frequently in USTA events, is in the state semifinals for the first time.
"It's been a lot of fun, I've never played in (a state) high school tournament before, and it's fun to be with them as a team," Speicher told the Democrat and Chronicle.
The Schroeder teammates could meet in the final.
"We're taking it day by day, we both know it's a possibility but we won't think about it until we get there," Speicher said.
Excessive? Senior left-hander Chris Hamilton finished with a three-hitter as Schalmont beat Plattsburgh 5-2 in the NYSPHSAA Class B baseball tournament.
Hamilton, 5-1 with a 0.53 ERA, threw a season-high 138 pitches in the first-round game and was supported by junior shortstop Matt Rash's two-out, two-run double to right in the fifth inning.
When informed of his pitch total, Hamilton said jokingly, "Not bad. That's all right. I am pitching Saturday."
If Hamilton is able to laugh about throwing 138 pitches -- including 93 through four innings -- others are not.
Writing on the Radio 104.5 FM website, Brady Farkas offered up this thought: "Great win for Schalmont, but they got it the wrong way."
Farkas referenced a quote from renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews: "High school pitchers should not throw more than 90 pitches in a game and they should have to take at least five days rest before they pitch again anywhere. No way should they throw more than 100. The elbow isn't ready for that workload."
Community comes together for coach: At about 2 a.m. Monday, Ward Melville baseball coach Lou Petrucci and his wife, Ann Marie, were awakened by the smell of smoke and the sound of fire alarms in their Port Jefferson condo.
Petrucci looked out the first-floor bedroom and saw the upstairs was engulfed by the flames that destroyed multiple units in the complex. The Petruccis escaped with their two
