Blue Devils Feted at All-County Dinner
Huntington High School senior Tyriek Johnson walked off with the Most Outstanding Athlete Award and Ryan Ackerman and Shaheem Lewis were recognized for their exceptional performances at the Suffolk Track Coaches Assn. annual winter dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge.
The event drew a crowd of 500 who dined on tossed salad, lemon chicken with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables and coffee and cake. The ballroom was jam-packed and included an incredible array of talented athletes.
Johnson received two commemorative sweaters emblazoned with writing denoting his Long Island championships in the 55m high hurdles and long jump. He was also presented with a pair of plaques for earning All-County honors in both events. Near the end of the evening it was announced that the Blue Devil great was this year's recipient of Suffolk Track's Most Outstanding Athlete Award.
"I was called up to the dais to give a speech that I didn't even know I had to give," laughed Ron Wilson, Huntington's head coach. "So I had to think quickly about what to say. So I talked about how Tyriek and I have been attached at the hip for the past eight or nine years. When I was teaching second grade at Flower Hill, he was in Mrs. Detrano's third grade class. Whenever he got himself in a little trouble, he was thrown into my class. Then a few years later when I was brought to Huntington Intermediate School to teach sixth grade, lo and behold, Johnson's name appeared on my classroom roster and I shook my head and said 'Oh no, not again.'"
Wilson went on to tell the packed house that it was during that year he recognized Johnson's "gift of athleticism." During field day activities at the school Johnson competed in the long jump. "One of the other kids from another team had the longest jump," Wilson recalled.
"Tyriek came to me and asked me 'What do I have to do to beat that?,'" Wilson said. "I simply told him to run as fast as he can with out stutter-stepping, hit the white line and jump as high as you can into the pit. History was made that day. He soared an unbelievable 15 feet into the pit. The phys ed teachers, looked and said it was 'unbelievable.' That's Tyriek. He takes in everything you tell him to do. Even though at times it doesn't seem as if he is listening, he really is."
Wilson jokingly told the crowd that Johnson is responsible for all the gray hairs on the coach's chin and that he can't want until the senior graduates. Everyone laughed. Then Wilson got serious, saying it has "been an honor and a pleasure teaching and coaching him and I love him as if he was my own kin and I will surely miss him."
Huntington junior Shaheem Lewis was also honored at the awards banquet with a plaque for his fine performance in shot put. The teenager captured the Suffolk small school's crown in the event with a throw of 49 feet.
Senior Ryan Ackerman was recognized as Academic All-County for finishing in the top six in the county in the 600m run and meeting the award's academic standard by being in the top ten percent of his class.
In the county meet, Ackerman placed fifth in the 600m run in 1:28.23, less than a second shy of the 11-year old school record set by Blue Devil long distance coach, Shawn Anderson, a member of Huntington's Class of 2001.