NYSSWA: New York State Sportswriters Association

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Leading off today: It's now official that the Pearl River reign of supremacy in Section 1 girls cross country is absurd. The confirmation comes in the form of a nice lead by Harold Gutmann of The Journal News, who noted the following after yesterday's meet:

"As junior Tara Clinton helped the Pirates claim their 29th straight sectional title at Bowdoin Park — the longest in Section 1 history in any sport — she was being watched by her mother Marybeth Clinton (formerly Marybeth Mahoney), who ran for Pearl River when the streak started.

"Still, this was not your normal dominant year for the Pirates, who lost six of their top seven runners from last season. Instead, it took a remarkable improvement in the past six weeks.

"I told people, without batting an eye, that this was without a doubt going to be the worst team we've had in 29 years," coach Dan Doherty said. "The way they ran today, this is the best team we've had since 2000, when we were fourth in the Federation meet."

You might as well engrave trophies No. 30 through 32 right now. Pirates freshmen Chelsea Kushner and Kerry Guerin and eighth-grader Kelli VanHouten swept the top three spots, and freshman Erica Guerin was fifth in Class B for the state's No. 5 team.

Class AA football highlights: Brian Beaury ripped the football away from Guilderland QB Andrew Smith and rambled 91 yards untouched for a touchdown with :15.9 remaining to clinch LaSalle's 28-17 victory in Section 2 action. Junior Marquis Terrell of No. 12 LaSalle had scored on a 2-yard run with 3:33 remaining to complete a rally from a 17-0 deficit.

No. 11 Orchard Park pounded Lancaster, 35-0, for its fourth straight Section 6 championship and 10th overall. Junior Jeffrey Tundo ran 26 times for 188 yards and three TDs, and QB Kyle Hoppy was 10-for-12 for 121 yards and a TD.

Class A football highlights: Anthony Fitts carried 26 times for 219 yards and three touchdowns as Aquinas defeated East Irondequoit Eastridge, 28-7, for the Section 5 Class A football championship.

Aquinas is ranked No. 1 by the New York State Sportswriters Association and Eastridge is eighth. The Little Irish (10-0) advance to play Sweet Home Friday in the state quarterfinals at PAETEC Park in Rochester.

In Section 3, Robert Grimm rushed 41 times for 243 yards to highlight No. 7 Carthage's 21-14 win over New Hartford.

Class B football highlights: No. 8 Depew stuffed a goal-line run by East Aurora QB Scott Drosendahl on the game's final play to win its first Section 6 championship, 21-14. Drosendahl was 6-for-11 on the final, 16-play drive. Matt Strychalski ran for 153 yards and a touchdown for the winners.

Chenango Forks extended its run of Section 4 championships to seven with a 21-7 victory over Chenango Valley before an estimated 6,000 fans. Joe Aston ran for 130 first-half yards, included 63 on Forks' fourth play from scrimmage for a TD.

Class C football highlights: Cleveland Hill drove 77 yards in six plays and downed Falconer, 16-14, on Peter Westbrooks' 7-yard run and Rhakeem Wiggins' conversion run with 1:10 to go. Falconer had just taken the lead on a nine-play, 66-yard drive capped by Austin Spencer's 19-yard run.

No. 4 Cambridge rallied from a 14-0 deficit at the half to edge No. 13 Schuylerville, 21-20, and collect its fifth Section 2 championship since 2000. Cambridge QB Shea Bromirski scored on a 4-yard-run with 3:43 to play and freshman kicker Matt Best converted the extra point.

Brothers Ian and Mike Humphrey scored touchdowns and the Le Roy defense forced three turnovers to edge No. 9 Pembroke, 14-9, for the No. 3 Oatkan Knights' 13th Section 5 championship. Ian Humphrey ran 23 times for a game-high 88 yards.

No. 8 Tupper Lake broke a 14-14 tie with three third-quarter TDs, two on Logan Klossner runs covering 1 and

78 yards, to eliminate AuSable Valley, 42-22. Steve Doolan was 7-for-8 for 241 yards and three TD throws to Tom Coady. Coady had five catches for 245 yards.

Class D football highlights: No. 14 Ticonderoga made a goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter and then drove 99 yards for the decisive TD in a 14-7 victory over Moriah. Matt Streeter hit Jake Taylor for a 51-yard gain to convert a third-down situation and Evan Glading for a first down on 4th-and-5 at the Moriah 38 to keep the drive alive. Fullback Josh Huestis scored on a 14-yard run with 2:36 left.

No. 1 Onondaga drove for two long TDs in the fourth quarter of a 28-21 victory over No. 8 Dolgeville in the Section 3 final. Latavius Murray ran 36 times for 148 yards, picking up 95 during the two scoring drives to rally from a 21-14 deficit.

Tom Compasso's 3-yard touchdown run with 7:12 left completed Eldred's 20-16 win over Chester. Nick Simonelli recovered a muffed punt in the closing moments to close out the verdict and complete the rally from a 13-0 deficit.

Nail-biter: Senior Monica Mueller scored with a mere :02 left to carry New Lebanon to a 1-0 win over Northville (15-4-1) for the Sectio 2 Class D girls soccer crown.

In boys Class B title-game action, Nick Pfeiffer had the hat trick and Andy Tiedt extended his state record with his 61st goal of the season as No. 2 Akron beat Buffalo City Honors, 4-0. Pfeiffer has 23 goals this season.

In Class AA, Warwick ousted No. 15 Roosevelt in Section 9 Class AA semifinal action, 2-1, as Connor Blaine converted his shootout penalty kick for a 5-4 margin.

Webster Thomas goalie Brian Deuel made a career-high 12 saves as the Titans edged McQuaid, 3-2, in the Section 5 Class AA final. Thomas will play Fairport for the right to play in the state quarterfinals. McQuaid had downed the Titans in OT for the '05 championship, and Thomas routed the Knights for the championship last fall, 6-2.

Not again: Well, it's a new school year, which means its time for another state athletic association to act giddy and possibly unconstitutionally. Last year it was Wisconsin and Louisiana. This year it's the Illinois High School Association trying to tell newspapers how it may use photographs taken by their staffers.

The Illinois Press Association filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Illinois High School Association to seek a temporary restraining order and to overturn new restictions on access to games and the use of photos taken at those events.

The IHSA has contracted with Visual Image Photography Inc. for "exclusive and unlimited access to IHSA tournament locations and photo opportunities," according to the suit. Newspapers seeking media credentials are required to sign an agreement limiting their own access and the "secondary use" of photos not printed in the traditional newspaper.

IHSA Executive Director Martin Hickman has defined "secondary use" as any use other than with a traditional newspaper story, which the IPA labeled as prior restraint of the media’s free press rights. Many newspapers use unpublished photos in online galleries. Additional IHSA rules limit Internet broadcasts and the use of video clips.

School associations in Wisconsin and Louisiana relented last year after outcry over last-minute restrictions they had attempted to enforce. The NYSPHSAA briefly attempted to make photographers sign agreements with similar heavy-handed restrictions at the 2005 basketball tournament in Glens Falls and Troy but quickly relented.

More cross country: East Aurora's top five girls averaged 19:17.34 for five kilometers at Elma Meadows, beating the 1984 performance of Clarence (20:00:06) to dominate the Section 6 cross country championships. Catherine Lusardi won in 18:36.1. The East Aurora boys were also winners, taking their third Class B championship in four years.

In Thursday action, Ithaca won its 13th straight Section 4 boys championship by placing six runners in the top nine to dominate Class AA with just 29 points. Ithaca also qualified five girls for the state meet, but Corning ran off with the Class AA championship, 21-34.

Extra points: Horseheads girls volleyball won its fourth straight Section 4 championship and 22nd overall with a sweep of Union-Endicott.

1/10/25: Four L.I. districts still battling mascot rule

1/8/25: All-state football: Classes B, C, D and 8-man

12/20/24: Canastota's Laidlaw chalks up 900th win

12/17/24: William Floyd assistant dies in car crash

12/11/24: AD at Sec. 2 powerhouse will step down

12/9/24: Girls soccer all-state selections announced

12/8/24: Recapping the weekend NYSPHSAA football finals

12/7/24: Which mascots replaced Indians, Warriors?

12/6/24: Publics vs. privates issue resurfaces

12/5/24: NYSPHSAA makes rare mid-year class change

12/2/24: Short-handed Conn. team forfeits playoff game

12/1/24: Massapequa hockey player dies during game

11/27/24: Column: Crisis in Sec. 5 small-school football

11/24/24: PSAL cracks down, imposes hoops forfeits

11/22/24: Bayport-Blue Point football extends streaks

11/19/24: Some thoughts following the playoffs weekend

11/15/24: Plainedge football pulls off last-play win

11/8/24: Court restores Syracuse ITC to grid playoffs

11/6/24: West Islip girls soccer advances on PKs

11/5/24: Newburgh forfeits sectional football opener

11/2/24: Top-ranked 'D' football team's season over

10/31/24: Herricks' Walia wins state tennis singles title

10/28/24: S-WR senior making the grade in 2 sports

10/27/24: Copiague football ends its record losing streak

10/26/24: Herkimer gridders claw way back to .500

10/25/24: Girls lacrosse schedule proposal nixed

10/22/24: NYSPHSAA Exec Committee meeting preview

10/19/24: Albany CBA wins Sec. 2 football showdown

10/18/24: Baldwinsville cracks 'USAT' eSports rankings

10/16/24: Wisc. hits schools hard for paperwork glitch

10/14/24: Bethlehem girls, Macchia win Eastern States

10/13/24: Iona Prep slips past Hayes in 'AA" showdown

10/11/24: La. QB throws for 817 yards in overtime loss

10/10/24: Report: N.Y. girls to join transgender protest

10/7/24: More eight-man teams left stranded in Week 5

10/5/24: 18 ranked N.Y. football teams fall in Friday action

10/4/24: Longest U.S. football futility streak continues

10/3/24: Syracuse.com's twist on fantasy football

9/30/24: M-E edges Waverly in battle of No. 1 teams

9/27/24: Report: Sec. 3 athletes flock to NIL Club

9/25/24: Ex-Kellenberg QB sets off an NIL drama

9/23/24: NYSPHSAA warns about potential NIL isssue

9/21/24: South Park's Nunes shatters N.Y. rushing record

9/20/24: Storytelling in H.S. sports is alive and well

9/19/24: Longtime SWR coach Paul Koretzki, 84, dies

9/17/24: Western N.Y. teams embracing Guardian Caps

9/15/24: N.J. shows us N.Y. football has a ways to go

9/14/24: Another UPrep game, another fan incident

9/13/24: Ohio wrestles with aftermath of shootings

9/11/24: Mass. school forfeits over male opponent

9/10/24: Regents table vote on expanding mixed competition

9/9/24: Shot clock experiment will change lacrosse

9/7/24: Garden City sets L.I. football record

9/6/24: Lawsuit takes aim at N.C.'s NIL ban

9/5/24: New York's Week 0 football intrigue

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