Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019: Tuohy nearly goes sub-nine in record-setting run

   Competing against a field of professional runners during the Dr. Sander Invitational at The Armory on Saturday, Tuohy placed third in a time that broke the national school girl record for 3,000 meters. Her 9:01.81 eclipsed the mark of 9:04.61 by Mary Cain in 2014.

   All that kept it from being a perfect winter afternoon in her first race against the pros was the near-miss on going sub-nine.

   "Sooo close," she said to coach Brian Diglio.

   Still, Tuohy was more than five seconds faster than any U.S. collegian has run so far this indoor season. Amanda Eccleston, a University of Michigan graduate, won in 8:56.68.

   "I had a great time out there," Tuohy said. "It's so much easier to race girls better than me."

    • Liverpool's Jenna Schulz broke a 1992 school record in winning the 3,000 at the Utica Challenge on Friday. Schulz turned in a time of 9:47.59 to break the mark of 9:56 by Jen Rhines, who went on to compete in three Olympics.

   Mendon hangs on: Senior co-captain Alana Fursman finished with 17 points and eight rebounds as No. 1 Pittsford Mendon edged No. 2 Jamesville-DeWitt 43-40 in a clash of the state's top Class A girls basketball teams.

   The Rams, defending Federation Class A champions, held Mendon to four fourth-quarter points but couldn't quite make it all the way back from 11 points down.

   "We were trying to slow it down and waste time, while still scoring, which was a little bit hard to do," Vikings sophomore Lexi Green said after finishing with 13 points.

   J-D sophomore guard Momo LaClair finished with 14 points.

   Mendon's only loss this season was to Class AA Penfield.

   No. 1 boys team loses: York earned a 73-62 win over Class D No. 1 Prattsburgh, giving the Golden Knights a victory over the Vikings for the third straight season.

   Junior Riley Stella led all scorers with 18 points for the Knights, who trailed 17-15 after a quarter but eventually pulled away to an 18-point lead. York went on a 16-0 tear in the second quarter behind seven points from junior Lucas Maggio.

   "We just had to keep going and not let up,” said junior Josh Davis. "We got the lead and didn't want to give it up. We just kept pushing the ball."

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   More boys basketball: McQuaid, ranked 14th in Class AA, used a 17-0 run en route to a 20-point lead in the first half and held on for a 68-65 triumph against Rochester East, ranked seventh in Class A.

   East actually took the lead in the fourth quarter before McQuaid went on an 11-0 run.

   Juniors Kobe Long (24 points) and Jermaine Taggart combined for 46 points in the victory, with Long knocking down five 3-pointers.

   "We really came together down the stretch," Knights coach Jack Leasure said. "That's what big games are, high school, college, pro. You just keep playing and when you're playing against a good team, they're going to make runs so you have to play through that."

   Gmaers converge on Molloy College: Syosset came away with the victory over Bay Shore and Sachem North on Saturday as online gamers converged for the Molloy College eSports Overwatch Community Invitational.

   “That was probably the most fun I've ever had doing video game," Syosset sophomore Burleigh Horan told Newsday. "Video games is my biggest hobby and my heart's never raced that fast in a competitive environment.”

   Competitive video gaming has grown into a lucrative industry world-wide. Molloy College, which calls the Madison Theatre on its campus home, is among the colleges having invested in the activity, and it has been growing steadily in the high school ranks across the country. Eleven Long Island teams compete in the High School Esports League, a nationwide league that features 14 games and more than 600 teams.

   The New York Public High School Athletic Association is expected to present an update from its ad hoc committee on eSports when the Executive Committee meets Friday in Saratoga Springs.

   NYSPHSAA Executive Director Robert Zayas has said that the adoption of eSports by the organization may happen down the road.

   Zayas met with more than two dozen administrators from across the state on Tuesday. Afterward, they attended the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference eSports state championships.

   "I'm just interested in the appeal," he told the paper. "What's the appeal for kids to play and what's the appeal for people to watch other people play video games? I'm not a gamer, I've never been involved in that. ... I think we're years away from even sanctioning it as a state championship or anything like that."