Leading off today: Anyone familiar with the program's success knows that West Genesee sets the proverbial bar pretty high in boys lacrosse. The Wildcats have won 15 NYSPHSAA championships in the sport since 1981, making them the winningest program in any sport in state history.
Players get started in the sport in Camillus at an early age, play it 12 months a year and develop exceptional skills. And sometimes that isn't enough for a prospect to make the varsity at the high school.
The Post-Standard's Donna Ditota uncovered just such a story this week as she reported on Sean Grogan, who didn't make the cut at West Genny this spring but shortly afterward tried out for and made the Irish National Team currently competing in the European Championships in Lahti, Finland.
Grogan, a 5-foot-11 and 150-pound defender/long-stick middie, traveled to the Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island three days after the West Genny tyrouts. Now 17, he was the youngest of approximately 25 young men competing for 11 spots to round out the 24-player roster.
"No matter where my man was," Grogan said, "I was going to get the ball from him the whole time."
The Irish coaching staff, which included Wildcats assistant Bob Deegan and former Cornell coach Richie Moran, liked the aggression and rewarded him with a spot on the roster alongside men as old as 37 years old.
DePoalo will keep job: The Schenectady school district is keeping football coach Carmen DePoalo despite his guilty plea in June to a harassment charge after a fist fight at a local restaurant, The Times Union reported.
District spokeswoman Karen Corona said DePoalo, who does not work for the schools, was retained but there would be no further comment because it is a personnel matter.
DePoalo pleaded guilty in Schenectady City Court to
