Blue Devil Boys' Track Starts Strong
It was business as usual for the Huntington High School boys' track and field team. The Blue Devils opened the season with a strong showing at the Middle Country Relays.
Even with many underclassmen on the roster, Huntington boasts an experience squad.
The discus relay team of Shaheem Lewis (136'), Trayvon Toney (134'9) and Dante Allen (129'6) placed first. A second Blue Devil discus relay team of Davon Nelson (103'), Brandon Fiordelisi (84') and Richie Fernandez (112') finished fourth.
On his second discus attempt, Lewis launched a personal best throw. "He's starting to recognize that he is one of the top throwers in the county," said Ron Wilson, Huntington's head coach. In an early season dual meet against John H. Glenn High School, Lewis finished second to Toney, who sent the discuss soaring 151'5.
In the shot put relay Lewis (43'2), Fernandez (47'7) and Allen (47'2) finished first out of 27 participating teams. Fernandez and Allen are talented senior throwers that are expected to be among Suffolk's best this spring.
The triple jump relay of Eric Szilagy (37'), John Ceide (37'6) and Danny Benitez (36'5) placed third. Szilagy,a "40-foot jumper," sustained a leg injury on his first attempt. "So on his two remaining jumps, we had him pass, which means that he didn't jump," Wilson said. "It's too early in the season, to have him risk a serious injury."
Huntington freshmen put on a dazzling display. The 4 x 100m relay team of Ricky Velasquez, Giancarlo Puello, Josh Watkins and Y'Majesty Allen swept across the finish line first in a time of 45.7 seconds.
The distance medley relay team of Marquis Francis, Markhenry Sanon, Y'Majesty Allen and Giancarlo Puello placed second behind a very fast Brentwood team. "These underclassmen are really talented," Wilson said. "They are very fast, but more importantly, they are hard workers."
Meet organizers annually present two large trophies to the top athletes at the competition with one for track events and the other for field events.
The meet organizers annually present two huge trophies at the end of the close of competition to the top performing athlete in the field events and one to the top performing athlete on the track. Coaches of teams participating in the competition nominated Dante Allen and Shaheim Lewis for the trophy given to the most outstanding field events athlete.
When all ballots were counted, it was the 6'7, 270 lb. Lewis who walked away with top honors. His strong effort in the discus, throwing 136' into an unforgiving wind and 43'2 toss in shot put helped Huntington win both events. "For a guy his size, his foot work in the circle is real good," Wilson said. "This 'giant-of-a-fellow' is going to do some great things here in Huntington before it's all said and done!"