Colonie sophomore Kyle Plante went the latter route yesterday en route to a Section 2 record in the 400-meter hurdles at the 70th annual Eddy Games at Union College. Plante's time of 59.95 seconds broke the 1983 sectional mark of 1:00.80 by Mont Pleasant's Rhonda Phillips and the meet record of 1:01.57.

   The combination of the record and her triumph by more than a second in the 200 meters (:25.66) earned Plante the most valuable performer award in the girls' competition.

   "She is an interesting kid because she is extremely competitive," Colonie coach Jen Peterson told The Times Union. "She thrives on the excitement of an event and she wants to compete."    Saratoga senior Madalayne Smith led the Streaks to the team title by winning the 100 dash and 100 hurdles before scooting off to the prom.

   Milestone alert: Twenty-second-year Pearl River baseball coach Bruce Miller earned his 300th career win with a 10-9 victory over Brewster. Matt Burke hit a grand slam, and Mike Davis and Mike Girling each banged out three hits for the Pirates.

   Overlooked from earlier in the week, Harrison senior attacker Melissa Shulman scored seven goals to go over for 200 in her career during a 17-2 lacrosse victory against Keio Academy.

   Working for a cause: This is how good people take care of their own, in this case Marlboro junior softball player Carmen Congelli.

   Congelli, engaged in a 20-month battle with rhabdomyosarcoma — a rare soft-tissue cancer, was the inspiration last week for the "Strike Out Cancer" game between Newburgh Free Academy and Minisink Valley. Newburgh coach Mike Truncale organized the game, which raised nearly $6,000 for Congelli, who undergoes chemotherapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York once a week.

   Noel Russ, the father of one of Congelli's former teammates, has raised an additional $70,000 through the Carmenstrong fund since her diagnosis. Ray Congelli's boss, Jerry Argenio, donated $10,000 to that fund and $1,000 to the benefit game, The Times Herald-Record reported.

   "It's nice to have all the support," Carmen Congelli said. "With everything that happens, people still stay by your side. It's nice just to know you have people behind you."

   Retirements: Ogdensburg Free Academy boys basketball coach Bill Merna announced his retirement last week after 599 wins at Hammond and OFA, tied for sixth on the state's all-time list. Merna had retired from teaching in 2008.

   In Rochester, Wilson Magnet boys hoops coach Chris Connell, 59, is stepping down. Connell launched the program in 1983 and compiled a record of 347-262 -- mostly against larger City-Catholic League schools -- with six sectional titles and a NYSPHSAA championship.

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   "He was more than a coach, it was more like a father figure for a lot of the guys on the team," former player Burnice Greene, now the assistant principal at School No. 9, told the Democrat and Chronicle.

   Why bother showing up against her? Palo Alto (Calif.) Castilleja senior Samantha Albanese recently put together the sort of streak that most softball pitchers could never imagine. The Northwestern University recruit tied the state and national records by stringing together 10 no-hitters, a feat previously accomplished by Angelica Selden of Travis Air Force Base in California in 2004.

   The 5-foot-8 Albanese struck out 150 batters and fired three perfect games during the streak, which included 22 strikeouts in seven innings during a 2-0 victory. She extended the streak to 27 consecutive strikeouts by fanning the first five batters in her next start.

   The no-hit streak ended last week during a 2-0 loss to Palo Alto, which received a no-hitter from Kelly Jenks.

   She has compiled a 58-12-1 record with 1,113 strikeouts and a 0.27 ERA in a four-year career that has included 15 perfect games. For good measure, she also hits .589 at the plate.

   Final thought: Is anyone else getting a little nervous about the Upstate-Downstate All-Star Football Classic that allegedly will be played in the Carrier Dome, purportedly on June 6?

   I saw one downstate newspaper report on local player selections for the inaugural senior all-star game, but additional info on the game simply does not exist just three weeks before kickoff.

   Going head-to-head that weekend with spring championships in many sports, graduations, weddings, assorted pro sports and any number of other events already made this a risky propositions. The inability to firm up rosters and churn out promotional material to stir up interest could prove to be a disaster.

   I hesitate to ask if this could be a one-and-done event for no other reason than I'm beginning to wonder if the first game will actually come together.