Blue Devils Send Three to
State Track Championships
Blue Devil track stars Tyriek Johnson, Dante Allen and Trayvon Toney are headed to the New York State Intersectional Track & Field Championships this weekend at Caledonia-Mumford High School outside of Rochester.
The story of how Johnson reached the states has to be one of the highlights of the Huntington High School athletic program this school year. The teenager ran an "unbelievable" race in the 110m high hurdles at the state qualifier last week, Blue Devil head coach Ron Wilson said.
The Saturday finals field was led by top seeded Sancho Barrett of Amityville. Johnson was seeded second. The top two lined up in the fourth and fifth lanes, respectively. When the gun sounded, the pair flew side-by-side over the hurdles as the race unfolded.
"On the fifth hurdle, somehow Johnson lost his left shoe," recounted Wilson. "He claims his left foot was hit by another runner and it flew off." But, that didn't stop the Blue Devil's star sprinter.
"All I can remember is seeing that shoe go 20 feet in the air," Wilson said. "He lost his form and began hitting the last remaining five hurdles, but he didn't let that stop him. I looked to Johnson's outside in lane six and saw a Copiague runner passing him."
What Wilson believed he saw was an optical illusion. In fact, no one had passed Johnson. It took about five minutes for race officials to post the times and when they did the camera had Johnson in second in a time of 14.94 seconds and Copiague in third with in 14.95 seconds. "That was close," Wilson exclaimed.
Shot Put Success
Huntington qualified five throwers for the shot put state qualifier. Allen was the fourth seed with a throw of 50'10, Richard Fernandez was seeded sixth with a throw of 49'4 effort and Toney was the eighth seed after a 48' throw. Shaheem Lewis (12th seed, 45'9 throw) and Davon Nelson (19th seed, 44'4 throw) were also among the county's elite field.
Allen stole the show. On his last attempt in the final round, the senior put the shot 52'10 to grab second place and a spot in the state championships. "Everyone was rooting for him," Wilson said. "It was nice to see how the parents of other athletes and athletes themselves surrounded Dante, congratulating him after he completed his throw. I'm his coach and I couldn't even get to him. It was a nice feeling."
The meet official for shot put initially said Allen's throw was 53'1, which would have broken the 33-year old Huntington record of 52'11.25 set by Andrew Hinton in 1978. The only Blue Devil to come close to that mark was Jovan Hairston in 2004 with throw of 52'7.25. "We were so excited for him, but then the official said he had made a mistake, it was 52'10, which was just short of the school record, but who cared, we were on the bus to the states," Wilson said.
Fernandez finished seventh with a throw of 48'3 and Lewis was 12th with a throw of 44'10. Nelson landed in 18th place (42'8) and Toney finished 20th (42'5).
"One of the officials said, 'it must be a nice feeling as a coach to have five contestants in the county shot put finals; be very proud of your boys,'" Wilson recalled. "Proud I was and I'm still on a high from that Friday evening."
Huntington in Discus
In discus, Toney was seeded second, Allen was No. 9 and Fernandez was No. 20 coming into the state qualifier. Just like the shot put, Huntington's competitors ignited the crowd.
Toney tossed the discus an astounding 170'7 in his final attempt in the preliminary round. "I sat there watching this thing fly and pretty much just stay in the air, hoping not to hear the official say 'foul' because he may have stepped out of the circle," Wilson said. "It was great!"
Once again, fans, coaches, parents and other competitors mobbed a Blue Devil star, this time Toney. The junior didn't throw nearly as well in the finals, but the earlier toss was good enough to claim the county crown. He's now the top junior in the state and No. 3 overall, Wilson said.
Allen was also strong in discus, holding down second place for a stretch during the competition with a throw of 146'3, before falling to third place when top-seeded Andrew Bylicki of Deer Park threw 148'.
On his last attempt, Allen gave Bylicki a scare when he launched the discus 155', but it just nicked the sector foul line. If it hadn't, Allen would be competing in two different events in the state meet.
Allen wasn't upset with the final result. "It was okay," the senior recalled. "I like Andrew and I'm glad he's going on the bus with us."
"That kind of personality is the reason why our athletes are well-respected, not only for their talents, but the way they carry themselves," Wilson said. "Teams really do gravitate toward them when they show up at meets. They are really outstanding athletes and better people."