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
