Leading off today: Corning West senior Albert Johnson continued his outstanding senior year yesterday by winning the boys triple jump at the 114th Penn Relays in Philadelphia. He went 49 feet, 1/4 inch to become the first American in seven years to win the event at the nation's most storied outdoor track meet.

   "It was pretty exciting," coach Lou Fiorillo told The Corning Leader. "It was just great. He jumped 47-4 to get into the finals and he went 47-9, then 48-11 and then 49. He progressively got better."

   Second place went to Olu Olamigoke of Stafford (Va.) Mountain View at 48-2½. Competitors from Jamaica and the Bahamas had won the last six championships.

   As usual, there were a ton of outstanding relay times posted by New York schools. I expect to have a new set of track leaderboards posted on the site late Monday afternoon.

   Four homers in a game: I somehow managed to overlook this yesterday, or else I would have scrapped a scheduled day off from blogging to write something:

   Sean Kenny hit four home runs Friday afternoon as Chatham beat host Greenville, 19-3, in a Patroon Conference baseball game. Kenny finished 4-for-5 and drove in seven runs.

   The New York State Public High School Athletic Association says Brent Williams of Maple Grove hit five homers in a game in 2000, which would tie the U.S. record but is not included in the most recent National Federation record book.

   Hazing allegations in Wilson: Three Wilson High School baseball team members were arrested Friday following allegations that they were involved in hazing that included criminal sexual acts, authorities told The Buffalo News.

   State police said they are trying to determine whether the incidents were part of a larger pattern that has been going on for years. In addition, Lt. Rick Allen of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation said investigators are looking into whether coaches could or should have known about the alleged sexual acts. State troopers learned about the alleged hazing from the parents of one of the victims.

   The incidents under investigation took place on a team bus about a week ago, Allen said. Sources told the paper that varsity members of the baseball team are accused of targeting JV players. All three students, whose names were not released, were charged with third-degree aggravated sexual abuse, a felony. They were all released to the custody of their parents.

   Principal Daniel Johnson told parents Friday in a districtwide phone message that the baseball season had been suspended while the investigation continues, the paper said.

   More on turf fields: The Watertown Daily Times is the latest paper to follow up on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission investigation into whether turf fields throughout the country contain potentially harmful lead.

   The paper reported there is no indication the field at Watertown High School or approved fields at General Brown and Carthage do, or will, contain excessive amounts of lead. Officials at St. Lawrence University, Canton, however, say samples from their nylon turf field are being examined.

   "Our nylon fiber field was installed in 1999," said Lisa M. Cania, associate vice president for university relations. "Our facilities management folks are on top of this and are awaiting the results. But they have assured me that any lead that may be on the field is separated in an encapsulated form and can't be released into the atmosphere."

   The university is scheduled to replace the turf in 2009.

   General Brown Superintendent Stephan J. Vigliotti Sr. said the surface the district plans to install is FieldTurf, a polyethylene fiber, and not the nylon AstroTurf being condemned at Cicero-North Syracuse High School and two schools in New Jersey.

   Rinky dink: The closing of the New Roc City ice rink in New Rochelle is sending youth leagues scrambling for ice time, a situation that will have ripple effects on the 2008-09 high school season.

   Access to prime ice time may be a thing of the past since Hommocks Park Ice Rink in Mamaroneck, Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon and other area rinks are running at close to capacity.

   "There's only a finite number of rinks. ... If you have practices late at night, it's going to affect them in school. Mamaroneck is a competitor. You think they're going to give us good ice time?" Lex Ramondelli told The Journal News.

   Byram Hills also played home games at New Roc, and Rye Town/Harrison practiced there twice a week. Cappelli Enterprises is expected to start a $50 million conversion of New Roc into a a shopping center, company executive Joseph Apicella said.

   End of an era: The Hobart and William Smith Colleges Board of Trustees voted yesterday to drop Division I lacrosse at Hobart, sending the program back to Division III. They cited the "challenges inherent in recruiting talented student-athletes at the Division I level without athletic scholarships."

   Reclassifying programs usually have to wait two years to become eligible for postseason play, meaning Hobart could not return to the NCAA Division III tournament until 2011. The Statesmen made the move to Division I in 1993 after a long run of success at the lower level.

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