Leading off today: Canandaigua, ranked No. 2 in the state, will not be returning to the NYSPHSAA Division 2 hockey championship game next month.

   Sophomore Jason Harasimowicz broke a tie with a power-play goal with 4:15 left as eighth-seeded Batavia Notre Dame (4-18) defeat top-seeded Canandaigua (21-2), 4-3, in the Section 5 Class B quarterfinals.

   Freshman goalie Tom Dehr made 35 saves in the victory, and senior Chris Cavanaugh produced two goals and an assist.

   More Saturday highlights: Boys & Girls senior Nadonnia Rodriques clobbered the state record in the indoor 400 meters going :52.83 at the Hall of Fame Classic at the Armory. The previous state record was :53.45(converted from 440 yards) by Andrea Thomas of Bronx Walton in 1985.

   Buffalo Nichols defeated Shenendehowa, 67-54, in the final of the Lockport Kiwanis Tournament as Meghan Dougherty scored 20 points. Dougherty made six of Nichols' 11 three-pointers against Shen, ranked fourth in the state in Class AA.

   Molloy soccer player dies in crash: An Archbishop Molloy student was killed and her club-soccer teammate seriously injured in a Florida traffic accident Friday, The Daily News reported.

   Kaitlyn Grogan, 18, of Bayside, and Brittany Gruber, 17, of West Islip, were struck by a car as they tried to run across busy Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa about 10 p.m. Friday. Grogan was pronounced dead at the scene.

   A senior at Archbishop Molloy, Grogan wanted to be a doctor, her father said.

   "She thought soccer may interfere with it, but she wasn't sure," Terrence Grogan said. "She would've made a hell of a doc."

   Gruber, her teammate on the FC New York United Tigers was taken to a local hospital in serious condition with head injuries. The driver was not charged.

   Referee controversy: I had to verify I was reading USA Today rather than The Onion:

   The Kansas State High School Activities Association's executive board will decide next month whether St. Mary's Academy can stay on its list of approved schools that members can compete against.

   St. Mary's, a small religious school, refused to allow Michelle Campbell to referee a boys basketball game at its gym on Feb. 2. According to Gary Campbell, the association's executive director, the reason given was that as a woman, she could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy's beliefs.

   Far be it for me to step on someone's religious beliefs, but don't these folks understand that even Jesus was reared by a woman? I presume Mary had some authority over her son for a number of years, so a 32-minute basketball game pretty much pales in comparison.

   Auburn officials cautious: The Auburn school board continues to study renovations at Holland Stadium, including adding artificial turf as part of a proposed $15.68 million capital project that voters may consider this spring.

   But officials are carefully studying possible health issues related to the crumb rubber fill that would sit just below the surface because of the possible presence of chemicals and materials some believe to be carcinogenic.

   “Obviously we won't include anything hazardous in our specs,” Auburn Board of Education President David Lansford told The Citizen recently.

   More than a few people wonder how to determine if the materials used in synthetic turf are safe. It's an issue that's gaining a great deal more attention than even a year ago as numerous school districts and other organizations consider adding artificial-surface playing fields.

   Philip W. Wise, a principal with the Rochester-based SWBR Architects, has been investigating on behalf of the Auburn board. He is looking at manufacturers and requesting testing data. Beyond that, he will be speaking to a toxicologist to see if the chemicals place students at risk.

   "Crumb rubber has been questioned by different entities, by different owners on exactly what is in it and that is a question that we need more information on because we're not sure whether crumb rubber from one processor is the same crumb rubber from a different processor," he told the paper.

   Rochesterians Against the Misuse of Pesticides collected samples of synthetic turf from five manufacturers last year and tested for hazards. RAMP President Judy Braiman said all five samples contained a plasticizer banned in California and other carcinogens. Three samples contained levels of arsenic above the existing state limit, and the study also found chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, thallium and zinc.

   The state legislature introduced a bill last year calling for a moratorium on synthetic turf projects containing crumb rubber fill until the Department of Health studies the material. The bill is currently in committee and might not reach a vote.

   "I certainly know of the hundreds of professional and college games that are played on artificial turf, and I'm a little skeptical over this legislation,” Sen. Michael F. Nozzolio, R-Fayette, told the paper. "We certainly haven't heard of any claims by any of these athletes that have been participating. I'm just not ready to jump on board with this legislation."

   Auburn board member Joseph Leogrande worries about the long-term impact of a new surface for reasons beyond health and safety.

   "It's always been the cost," said Leogrande. "Down the road, in 10 years, we're going to have to replace it with no state aid. It will be a full shot, like one or two million dollars. Combined with the toxicity and the very expensive surface, I think we can put the money somewhere in the school for education. That's what we're here for."

   Implications of Indiana mess: There was some good work this morning by The Daily News, which examined the potential fallout if Indiana ends up firing men's basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson this week.

   Devin Ebanks, sixth-team all-state for Bishop Loughlin in 2006 and attending prep school in Connecticut since, may want out of his commitment to the Hoosiers despite having signed a letter of intent in November.

   "I don't know yet," the 6-foot-8 Ebanks told the paper. "Me and my mother haven't made any decisions yet. We're going to wait and see what happens."

   The NCAA released a report last week detailing five "major" recruiting violations by Sampson since arriving at Indiana in March 2006.

   Extra points: In boys basketball, No. 3 Abraham Lincoln and No. 9 St. Raymond have a Class AA matchup today at Long Island University. . . . I don't normally spend a lot of time on the Web sites of individual schools, but FriarSports.com did a nice job recently with the story of St. Anthony's senior point guard Chris Jimenez, who has come back to play after being hit by a car over the summer.

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