Wednesday, April 5, 2017: Stony Brook's Etienne already comfortably over 7 feet

   Leading off today: Jyles Etienne took his game to new heights last weekend, making for one of the state's best track and field stories you'll hear all season. Considering we're talking about New York, you know it has to be impressive.

   Milesplit.com chronicled the full story about the Stony Brook School high jumper, but here's the Readers Digest version:

   In mid-March, Etienne jumped 6-8.75 for an easy win at the Hersey Indoor Nationals on Staten Island. The mark wasn't anything special but it did get the native of the Bahamas into the trials for the Caribbean's biggest championships, the Carifta Games.

   Returning to his homeland last weekend, Etienne sailed over the bar at 6-7.25 and 6-9.25 on his first attempts -- good enough to qualify for the mid-April Carifta Games -- and then cleared 6-11.5 on his third attempt.

   The bar was moved to 7-0.25, and the senior was successful on his second attempt. Having already bagged a PR and clinched his spot in the big meet, anything else that he accomplished Saturday would be a bonus.

   After two misses at 7-1.75, Etienne summoned the strength to clear the bar at 7-1.75 -- only to see a red flag raised by the event judge, who ruled that Etienne had exceeded the 60-second time limit allowed to commence the jump once he was called to jump.

   Etienne's coach logged a protest and he was allowed to continue competing pending a decision, but Etienne ended up calling it a day after one miss at 7-3.25. And then came the good news: After conferring, the appeals committee ruled in favor of Etienne, giving him an official 7-1.75 showing to put in the books for seeding purposes in Curacao a week from Saturday.

   That puts the defending state outdoor champion third among U.S. high school performers this year and -- strange as it may seem for a foreign citizen who was competing out of the country -- No. 3 on the all-time New York list.

   With Smithtown East star Dan Claxton already a 7-footer during the indoor season, Long Island high jump fans could be in for quite the season.

   The end of a N.J. power: St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J., will close its doors in June, closing the book on one of the nation's most legendary basketball programs.

   "It is with enormous regret that we announce today that in our negotiations with the archdiocese there were too many things that we were unable to do with increasing student enrollment, having some money long-term and satisfying some of our debt to the archdiocese," said Bob Hurley Sr., the school's president and basketball team's Hall of Fame coach.

   St. Anthony opened in 1952, and Hurley took over as head basketball coach in 1972. He built the Friars into the most prolific program in New Jersey with 28 state championships and 13 state Tournament of Champions crowns.

   Hurley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. More than 200 of his players went on to play in college, with more than 150 doing so on scholarship.

   Girls lacrosse: Tuesday's girls lacrosse game between Lancaster and Hamburg was just about everything you might expect from a clash between five-time defending Section 6 champions.

   Lancaster came away with a 14-13 win, led by six goals from sophomore Jordan Rokitka. Emma O'Neil had six goals for the Hamburg.

   "We're a little sick of practicing," Lancaster coach Julie Buccieri told The Buffalo News. "It's the first time we were playing another team, and it was a good test."

   A 'Unified' Section 3: Section 3's Unified basketball program, a collaboration between the New York State Public High School Athletic Association and Special Olympics New York got off the ground this week.

   Six schools have started practice for the season, which will run through May 22.

   "There is no greater joy than participating in a team sport and representing your school district and community," Section 3 Executive Director John Rathbun said in an announcement. "The students will get to wear their school uniforms, have the same warm-ups, hear their names announced during the lineups and then play in front of their friends and families. The whole idea is to offer the mainstream experience of interscholastic athletics."

   Alumni news: Zed Williams, every bit as exciting in college as he was as a Section 6 star, was absent from No. 14 Virginia's 20-7 men's lacrosse win over Cleveland State on Tuesday, as he returned home for his father's funeral.

   "We all love Zed and we're thinking about him," Cavs teammate Joe French said. "The biggest thing about losing a guy like Zed is he's our catalyst and everybody in the country has to respect him. He's a calming presence and makes the guys around him better.

   Williams, who was moved from midfield to attack this spring, is second on the team with 41 points. He graduated from Silver Creek in 2013 with 444 career goals and 729 points, both NYSPHSAA records.