Monday, March 4, 2013: Cain wins national championship in mile

   Leading off today: For a fleeting moment last fall, I wondered if Mary Cain might ever return to competing in track or cross country at the high school level for Bronxville. The superbly talented junior had just left the cross country team in midseason to train under the coaching of Alberto Salazar, and I wondered if perhaps she had a Plan B in mind in case the rather bold move didn't pan out.

   Well, let's just say there is no going back now.

   Having already performed most impressively in a handful of indoor track meets against open competition this winter, Cain, 16, became a national story Sunday by winning the women's mile at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.

   Though the winning time was a modest 5:05.68, she became the first high school student to earn a national indoor or outdoor title since Allyson Felix in 2003.

   “It’s a great track, and I know the time is really slow,” Cain said. “I was like, ‘Hey, I’m a kicker. If I have control of the race, keep it slow and then kick it out.’”    The strategy worked. She went hard with 200 meters to go and was able to fight off the rest of the field. Treniere Moser finished second at 5:06.55.

   Milestone: New York Mills topped Cincinnatus 60-35 on Sunday for the Section 3 boys Class D basketball championship at the Carrier Dome.

   The Marauders' seventh title on nine seasons also marked career win No. 500 for Mike Adey.

   “It's real special that we were the team that got his 500th win,” Cody Comenale said after scoring 20 points. “We'll remember it the rest of our lives.”

   Adey is 500-162 in 32 seasons at Rome Catholic, New Hartford and New York Mills. He'd shunned discussion of the milestone ahead of the game.

   “Now that it's here, I'm humbled," he said. "It means I'm old. It means I've had great players. It means I've had great assistant coaches. All the assistants I've had, including my son (Brian).”

   Moylan announces retirement: Lorraine Moylan is stepping down as girls basketball coach at Pearl River, ending her Hall of Fame career with 536 wins.

   The Pirates' season ended Thursday with a loss to Albertus Magnus in the Section 1 Class A semifinals, and Moylan broke the news to her players Friday.

   She won a pair of sectional title at Pearl River, where she started in 1993 after guiding Albertus Magnus to four

More N.Y. postseason coverage All sports • NYSSWA site for brackets of tournaments from the past and present seasons. Boys basketball • Status of the 11 sectional tournaments • Road to Glens Falls for scores and stats. • NYSPHSAA tourney brackets • Current state rankings. Girls basketball • Road to Troy for scores and stats. • NYSPHSAA tourney brackets • Current state rankings. Ice hockey • NYSSWA site for tournament brackets. • Current state rankings. Wrestling • 2013 state meet results: D-I | D-II • Final state rankings.

straight crowns beginning in 1990.

   State bowling, day 2: Freshman Nick Caruana (1,450) of Sachem East and Comsewogue's Nicholas Eckert (1,377) rolled the best six-game series as Section 11 bowled the top boys score of 6,804 on the second day of the NYSPHSAA championships in Syracuse.

   Arlington senior Matt Cerino rolled a perfect game during the first block of the day.

   On the girls side, Section 6 took honors with a 6,562 pinfall at Strike 'n Spare Lanes, helped by a 299 game and the day's No. 2 series from Melanie Hannon.

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   Mattydale-East Syracuse Minoa's Beth Piston took high-series honors at 1,412.

   Veteran coach dies: Former Haldane football coach Larry Brigati died Sunday at the age of 84.

   After beginning his coaching career in the youth ranks and then with a semi-pro team, he coached at Haldane for 32 years. The school's football field was named in his honor in 2008.