Leading off today: Honeoye Falls-Lima's Alex Deir won the boys steeplechase yesterday at the Nike Outdoor Nationals track and field meet in Greensboro, N.C.

   Deir, a junior, covered the 2,000 meters in 5 minutes, 53.13 seconds, just over seventh-tenths of a second faster than defending champ Zachary Ornelas of Cedar Park, Texas. Deir won the NYSPHSAA meet Division I 3,000-meter steeplechase last week.

   "It was a lot different," he told the Democrat and Chronicle. "I really had no idea how many laps I was supposed to do. I heard the bell lap and I was in fourth place, back about 25 meters. I started kicking with a lap to go, keeping in mind that I just wanted to keep my spot. I didn't want anyone to pass me."

   Deir passed Ornelas off the final hurdle.

   In the girls 800, Cardozo's Claudia Francis won in 2:05.47 to top Hempstead's Charlene Lipsey (2:06.89). Defending champ Jillian Smith fell at start of second lap and did not finish.

   Marcellus senior Chris Stogsdill held off Alex Hatz of Fayetteville-Manlius en route to a 1-2 finish in the mile. Stogsdill registered 4:06.70 to edge Hatz (4:07.28) in 85-degree heat. The times were career bests for both.

   'Not guilty' verdict: A Brooklyn coach accused of attacking spectators with a metal baseball bat in April 2007 was been found not guilty Friday, WCBS-TV reported.

   A jury cleared Ernest Cruz, 36, of assault, menacing, harassment and weapons charges related to the 2007 incident at Fort Hamilton. Cruz had faced up to seven years in prison; he tolf The Daily News he hopes to resume coaching at Norman Thomas High in Manhattan.

   Cruz ccontended Fort Hamilton had pulled out bats and began punching and kicking him as he held back his own players from fighting.

   Two accused of May fire: Two teenagers have been accused of causing $35,000 in damage on May 3 by setting ablaze a Centereach High football field.

   Suffolk County Police arrested two teens, one currently a student at Newfield, on Friday. They are accused of starting a an early-morning that damaged one of the end zones of the artificial turf field.

   Amsterdam budget: There will not be a modified sports program next school year after a Greater Amsterdam School District’s Board of Education vote on Wednesday. The board needed to trim about $200,000 from the $55.4 million proposal that was rejected twice by voters to fit a contingency budget.

   Board member James Walrath told The Daily Gazette he supported the cut.

   "The community can pick that up,” Walrath said. "There is no reason the district has to pay for sports for middle school kids."

   Draft recap: Here's the rundown on 10 New York high school players selected this month in the baseball draft:

   Steven Ward (P, Ward Melville) to the Mets with the 72nd pick.

   Marcus Stroman (SS, Patchogue Medford) to the Nationals with the 532rd pick.

   Kyle Hoppy (CF, Orchard Park) to the Orioles with the 836th pick.

Spring tournament schedules NYSPHSAA boys lacrosse NYSPHSAA girls lacrosse NYSPHSAA baseball NYSPHSAA softball

   Camden Maron (C, Hicksville) to the Mets with the 1,034th pick.

   Kyle Hansen (P, St. Dominic's) to the Brewers with the 1,216th pick.

   Mariel Checo (P, Norman Thomas) to the Yankees with the 1,245th pick.

   Jimmy Brennan (RF, Suffern) to the Tigers with the 1,315th pick.

   Jimmy Baltz (OF, Vestal) to the Yankees with the 1,365th pick.

   Christian Segar (CF, McQuaid) to the Cubs with the 1,490th pick.

   Alibay Barkley (1B, George Washington) to the Angels with the 1,521th pick.

   By way of comparison, there were nine New York high schoolers selected a year ago and five in 2007.

   It's tough to draw conclusions on what the year-by-year numbers mean with respect to the quality of baseball being played in the state. Numbers are affected each year by players electing to go the college route, since pro teams have varying philosophies on whether to use later-round picks on players they know will be attending school in the fall.

   The definitive Lance Stephenson story: The Daily News did a wide-ranging and in-depth look at Lance Stephenson and the star guard's inability to hook on at a Division I college after a stellar high school career that included leading Abraham Lincoln to four straight PSAL championships.

   The paper reports that Memphis appears to be the only significant school interested in Stephenson, and sums up the situation thusly:

   "Some have cited Stephenson's on-court demeanor as a turn-off. Others were scared away by questions surrounding his eligibility, a pending sexual assault case and rumors of Stephenson's possible involvement with an agent. His father's constant presence caused some programs to cease courting the Coney Island star."

   The paper spoke to a number of observers, including a Big East assistant who said, "Lance is the most talented player in high school ball, maybe the most talented player in college ball ... right now. But all the (stuff) that comes with him ... is crazy."

   Florida lawsuit: A group of parents is suing the Florida High School Athletic Association in federal court in Jacksonville, alleging that a new scheduling rule designed to save money discriminates against girls.

   The parents are taking issue with football being exempt from a rule cutting the maximum number of varsity games by 20 percent. They contend it violates Title IX and seek to have the new policy scrapped.