Leading off today: Three-time player of the year Julia Scott of Albertus Magnus heads up the list of large-school all-state selections in girls basketball announced today by the New York State Sportswriters Association.
Scott repeated as the Class AAA player of the year after having previously earned the honor in Class AA as a sophomore in 2024.
Annabella Day of North Tonawanda (Class AA) and Ella Trinkaus of Utica Notre Dame (A) also earned 2026 POY recognition. Trinkaus also made the first team a year ago.
Christ the King's Olivia Vukosa joined Scott as a repeat first-team selection in the largest classification, and Alex Leonard of Albany Academy repeated in Class A.
The complete all-state team for the large-school classifications can be found here.
The NYSSWA is finishing work on the all-state teams in Classes B, C, and D. A release date has not yet been set.
NYSPHSAA announces 2026 Hall of Fame class
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association will induct six newcomers into its hall of fame on July 29 as part of the annual Central Committee meetings.
The honorees are:
• Julie Stimik Bergman, a longtime Section 4 administrator and past president (2020-22) of the NYSPHSAA. Previous to her roles in school administration, she coached basketball, softball, and soccer at the modified, JV, and varsity levels from 1992-2006.
• Fred Fusaro, who went 192-95 with 22 consecutive playoff appearances and six Suffolk County championships while coaching Sachem football from 1971-2002. He was named Suffolk County Coach of the Year 15 times, and the award is now named in his honor.
• Dan Gillespie, the winningest high school boys soccer coach in state history with a 773-203-45 mark at Maple Hill since 1974. His teams have earned three NYSPHSAA, 24 Section 2, and 27 league championships. He also coached Maple Hill boys basketball from 1995-2008, going 174-101 with a pair of league titles, and has amassed another 12 sectional championships in boys track and field.
• Paul McClintock, the head diving referee at the NYSPHSAA boys state championships for a quarter of century and a swimming official since 1984. He has been the official rules interpreter for Section I since 1997, and in the same capacity with the NYSPHSAA since 2018.
• Walter Munze, one of the longest-tenured lacrosse officials in New York, having served in numerous organizations since 1977, including 50 years in varsity lacrosse and 20 years in soccer. He has officiated in 12 NYSPHSAA boys lacrosse state tournaments and been the official NYSPHSAA rules interpreter for three decades. Previously, he launched the lacrosse programs at Syracuse CBA and East Syracuse Minoa.
• Carla Tagliente, who scored 159 goals (including 51 in a single season) while leading Marathon to three state field hockey championships from 1994-96, and posted 1,692 career points in basketball. She played for the U.S. National Team following her field hockey career at the University of Maryland.
Queensbury's streak comes to an end
Queensbury's
13-year winning streak in Foothills Council girls lacrosse ended last Monday with a 12-6 loss to Schuylerville.
Avery Cumm recorded five goals and one assist for the winners.
Queensbury's last league loss had come on April 23, 2012.
Parents suing Section 3 school
The parents of two boys kidnapped as part of hazing by the boys lacrosse team are suing the Westhill school district for negligence,
Syracuse.com reported.
The suit filed Tuesday seeks punitive damages against the district for failing to protect their freshman sons. The families contend the school district knew or should have known the team targeted underclassmen with hazing over a number of years.
On April 24, 2025, older students on the team told five younger players they were going to get food together after watching a lacrosse game, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said last year.
Instead of driving home, the two boys were taken to a wooded location, Fitzpatrick said. Upon arrival, other teens dressed in black jumped out of the woods with what looked like a handgun and a knife, he said.
Fitzpatrick described it as "hazing on steroids," the website reported, and 11 team members faced criminal charges. All turned themselves in and were issued appearance tickets for unlawful imprisonment, a misdemeanor.
Calif. transgender athlete controversy flares up again
A transgender competitor at a California girls track meet captured
three first-place finishes at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 preliminaries while protesters outside demanded biological males be barred from competing against girls.
AB Hernandez, a senior from Jurupa Valley, won the triple jump by more than 32 inches with a leap of 42 feet, 4 inches, and also took first place in the long jump at 20-4.25. Hernandez tied for top honors in the high jump at 5-2.
Outside the stadium, demonstrators held a "Save Girls' Sports" rally led by former NCAA athlete Sophia Lorey. The U.S. Department of Justice is suing California over its transgender athlete rules.
Hernandez has been a focal point of protests after a successful 2025 track season and participation on the school's girls volleyball team.
Extra points
• Longtime assistant
Kevin Randall will succeed Carm Petrera as the girls basketball coach at Bishop Ludden-Grimes. The team went 16-5 this past winter following the consolidation of the two Section 3 schools.
Randall, 39, previously also worked as an assistant boys coach at Grimes.
• Adirondack senior Cora Hinsdill, a four-time Section 3 and state champion, will continue her nordic skiing career at Division I Montana State in the fall.
