Blue Devils Off and Running
Tyriek Johnson returns as Long Island's top hurdler and one of the state's best and elite throwers Trayvon Toney and Shaheem Lewis are back, helping to pace the Huntington High School boys' winter track and field team, which is off to a fast start.
Johnson has the third best time in the state of any hurdler returning to the track this winter. Toney and Lewis are both among Suffolk's top five throwers. The trio, along with 1000m run specialist Ryan Ackerman gives the Blue Devils a solid nucleus.
"Our roster is predominantly underclassmen this year with a seventh grader, two eighth graders and a host of ninth graders that are talented and should benefit from the early exposure," head coach Ron Wilson said. "These Finley [Middle School] kids are really legit. They are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the next couple of years."
At last weekend's league crossover at Suffolk Community College–West in Brentwood, Johnson captured the 55m hurdles in 7.87 seconds and won the long jump with a leap of 21'7. Toney was second in shot put with a throw of 45'5 and Lewis grabbed third with a 44'5 effort.
Ackerman and Mike Garing both ran the 600m dash 1:33 seconds with teammates John Ceide and Thomas Boisclair crossed the line in 1:36 seconds to give the team four places among the top ten finishers. Ceide also finished fourth in the 300m dash with a time of 39 seconds.
Freshman Kyle Davis finished sixth in the 55m dash in 7.33 seconds while Will Shaw took seventh in 7.36. Darryl Daniels was ninth in the hurdles in a time of 9.73 seconds. Marquis Francis placed fourth in long jump with a leap of 18'8.
Eighth graders Exayvian Crowell and Jahmik Curry each turned in fine performances, too. In the 55m hurdles, Curry ran 10.53 seconds to beat out Crowell (10.62) to win the freshman heat.
Seventh grader, Lawrence Leake made an appearance in the 300m meter dash, placing in the top seven of the freshman division with a time 44.61 seconds. Also in the shot put, Ray Vega (37'2.5), who is new to the sport, Mike Cimilluca (33'), Alex Velasquez (22'), Jimmie Nelson (28'), Jason Moreira (20') and Owen Breslin (22') all posted solid results.
Matteo McNeil, who last year won the freshman shot put county championship with a throw of 34', picked off where he left off, throwing 35' last weekend. Brendan Wirth won the freshman heat of the 600 meter dash with a finish of 1:42.
Huntington will compete again on December 22 at the Christmas Classic at St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington.