Leading off today: Virginia-bound senior Sylven Landesberg of Holy Cross in the CHSAA is the New York State Sportswriters Association boys basketball player of the year in Class AA, it was announced today.

   He heads up a large-school first team that includes fellow Catholic High School Athletic Association stars Kemba Walker of Rice and Ryan Pearson of Christ The King, as well as Kevin Jones of Mount Vernon and Lance Stephenson of Abraham Lincoln in the PSAL.

   The entire all-state team, comprised of 230 players in five classes, can be viewed here.

   The other players of the year are:

• Class A: Brandon Triche, Jamesville-DeWitt-3
• Class B: Mike Nelson, Collegiate-AIS
• Class C: Chris Secky, Maple Grove-6
• Class D: Ryan Creighton, Greenport-11

   C-NS shuts down turf field: The field at Cicero-North Syracuse's Bragman Stadium has been closed due to high levels of lead in the artificial turf fibers, The Post-Standard reported.

   District superintendent Jerome Melvin said he closed the AstroTurf field Monday after test results showed lead levels similar to two New Jersey fields that were closed last week after state health officials found high lead levels there. He sent a letter home to parents on yesterday and also posted it on the district Web site.

   Melvin said he is unsure how long the field will be closed. In the spring, the field is used by boys and girls lacrosse teams.

   The high lead levels were found only in AstroTurf fields with nylon fibers, according to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. About a dozen other Section 3 schools play on artificial turf, but Liverpool is the only other local high school with AstroTurf, according to

sectional football chairman Bob Campese. Liverpool's field has been closed since December due to problems with the substructure and drainage. (See: N.Y. list of fields)

   Melvin said the track surrounding the field has not been closed because it is not made of the same material, but the district has sent track samples out for testing.

   Two track records fall: A pair of Section 4 track and field records were broken yesterday at Vestal. Albert Johnson of Corning triple-jumped 48 feet, 9½ inches, easily cracking the 16-year-old mark of 48-1 by Ediru Okpewho of Vestal.

   Vestal sophomore Camille Ginyard cleared 11-2 1/4 in the girls pole vault to take sole possession of the mark (10-9) she already shared.

   A multitude of New York's best will be in Philadelphia to compete at the Penn Relays beginning tomorrow.

   Softball shorts: Williamsville South's 59-game winning streak in the ECIC dating to 2003 came to an end earlier this month at the hands of Hamburg. . . . Buffalo's Monsignor Martin Association champion will paricipate in the state CHSAA tournament for the first time this spring. The event is May 27 in new York City. . . . Buffalo Sacred Heart has lost all-league sophomore pitcher Erica Comisso to a torn ACL.

   Veteran Wilson coach Larry Lash, who compiled the NYSSWA rankings for many years before handing off the duties this spring, is being recognized by having the school's field named for him. Lash started softball at Wilson in 1975 and has piled up a 432-275 record with six sectional trophies and one state championship. The school district and the booster club are planning to dedicate the field on May 17.

   Extra points: BeRecruited.com, which claims to be the nation's largest free online network for athletes seeking to connect with college coaches, says it has surpassed 200,000 registered users, including 10,000 college coaches. The site says athletes from 14,900 U.S. schools have created profiles on the site.

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