Blue Devils Win Huge Trophy
The prestigious St. Anthony's Invitational track and field meet was the perfect tonic for a Huntington High School boys' track squad coming off a loss to league foe Bellport. The Blue Devils squared off against 75 elite teams from across the tri-state area and finished third in the standings, walking away with a huge trophy.
Huntington has several of the state's best track athletes in their respective events. The Blue Devils have a small roster this spring, but they make up for it in the quality of each individual. When they are at full strength, the team is a legitimate force to be reckoned with.
The top five teams in the St. Anthony's Invitational were awarded impressive trophies and Huntington head coach Ron Wilson was only too happy that the Blue Devils earned one.
"It's really an exhausting weekend," Wilson said about the meet. "It starts Friday afternoon and ends on Sunday. For us, our last event ended on Saturday night at about 9:45p.m."
Huntington got on the scoreboard early on Friday, thanks to state-ranked seniors Tyriek Johnson and Trayvon Toney and exceptional junior Shaheem Lewis.
Johnson put on a show in the long jump. On his second attempt in the finals, the teenager soared 22'9.75 to take the lead in the field of about 60 jumpers. The previous mark was 229.50 by No. 1 state-ranked Joe Carricolo of Massapequa, who won the state indoor championship last winter.
As luck would have it, on Caraciolo's last jump, he leaped went 23'4 to claim the St. Anthony's Invitational crown. A humbled Johnson was content with his new personal best record in the event and congratulated Caraciolo on his win. He then quickly turned to Wilson and said: "I'm going to leave this meet with some gold one way or another coach. I'm going to float tomorrow in the 110m high hurdles."
Toney & Lewis Rack Up Points
While Johnson was racking up points in the long jump, Toney and Lewis were hard at work in the discus and shot put circles. However, on their first attempts the two Huntington stars struggled. Toney threw 136' and Lewis threw 107', far short of their usual distances. Mathias Burner, a Ward Melville senior, threw 157'7 on his first attempt to take the lead in the competition.
Burner and Toney have been battling each other since they were freshmen. Toney's second attempt was almost as bad as his first. Lewis unleashed a throw of 148'1 to move into second place. But, Toney soon regrouped and sent the disc flying. By the time it landed the throw was measured at 162'2 feet, far enough to put the teenager in the lead of the 60-thrower field.
"The finals brought back seven throwers," Wilson said. "No one really improved." Bryan Rhodes from St. Anthony's advanced to third place with a throw of 148'6, falling in behind Toney's gold medal effort and Burner, who took second. Lewis finished in fourth place.
Toney has the fifth longest discus throw in the state this spring, a 170-foot effort at Commack two weeks ago. Lewis is No. 12 in the event with a throw of 152'7, also at Commack.
In shot put at the St. Anthony's Invitational, Lewis was able to make it to the finals and earn a fourth medal with throw of 49'. "That's been his best all year long," Wilson said. "He threw 49' to win the Suffolk small schools championship in shot put during the indoor season and he threw it a couple of weeks ago against Comsewogue at a dual meet."
Toney's throw of 44'3 wasn't good enough to make the St. Anthony's Invitational finals, but he did finish ninth. The senior sets high standards for himself. He was so unhappy with his performance that he tried to avoid eye-contact with Wilson the rest of the night.
Huntington Shines on Saturday
Huntington freshmen Matteo McNeil and Jimmie Nelson went right to work on Saturday in the frosh/sophomore competition McNeil threw 102'6 in discus to place eighth and Nelson turned in a 97' throw to take 12th place. While neither earned a medal, that would soon change.
In shot put, Nelson launched the weighty ball 39'11 to place second and McNeil threw 38'1.75 to capture a fifth place bronze medal. "Both athletes were happy because they were able to place and earn medals in competition with sophomores." Wilson said about the two ninth graders.
McNeil is one of the top freshmen throwers in the state and Nelson is rapidly advancing in shot put. McNeil started winning championships last year as an eighth grader. "What a great kid to have on your team," Wilson said. "McNeil is very competitive, but he doesn't let his bad days get the best of him."
A Race to Remember
The 110m high hurdles brought together three of the state's best in No. 1 Cameron Black of St. Anthony's (14.59 seconds); No. 2 Tyriek Johnson (14.60) and Uniondale's Nyder Chardonette (14.94). In the prelims, Black ran a 14.65, Johnson 14.67 and Chardonette 14.86.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Wilson said. "After Johnson's cool down, we talked strategy. [Assistant coach] Eli Acosta had told him that he hit two hurdles in the prelims, one of which knocked him totally off balance, but he was able to regain his composure and accelerate over the remaining hurdles. So that was the first strategy. Second was to get out of the blocks first. And in the finals, he did just that. However he knocked down the first hurdle, but because he got out first, he didn't lose much."
Johnson and Black were side-by-side going over each hurdle, but Johnson picked up steam going over hurdle six, accelerating and passing Black for first place in a time of 14.48, a new personal best. Black finished in brisk 14.53. "So, it's relatively still close," Wilson said. "They are both two outstanding athletes that thrive on good competition. It was really a nice race to see with everyone cheering from the fence and from the overcrowded stands."
In other action at the St. Anthony's Invitational:
• Freshman Alex Alvarenga improved his 3000m steeplechase time to 10:45. "He was a wet and cold, but a happy fellow," Wilson said. "He didn't think he had done so well."
• Senior Ryan Ackerman and freshmen Scott Gulizio had their hands full in the 800m run as the meet attracted some of the top distance runners in the metropolitan area. Bellport's Travis Correa won the competition, crossing the finish line in 1:53.94. "There were another dozen of runners who also ran under two minutes, which is awesome," Wilson said. Ackerman finished in 2:02.39 and Gulizio crossed in 2:02.71, both very respectable times.
• Senior John Ceide improved his personal best record in the 400m dash with a time of 52.12.
• In the 4x100m relay, the Blue Devils entered the team of freshmen Gerald Riley, Toney, Ceide and Johnson. "We didn't place," Wilson noted. "Toney fell into Ceide and the baton hit the ground. But, that didn't stop Ceide because he picked it up and continued to run and passed it to Johnson who crossed the line in 48.1. We know that these young men would have made it real interesting had things gone our way."
• In the 4x400m relay, Gulizio, Ackerman, Watkins and Garing finished in 3:35, a new personal best record for them.
"We left the meet Saturday night at about 9:45p.m." Wilson said. "We ended the night in third place and received a huge trophy to put in our trophy case. So I guess hanging around a track and a school for an entire weekend wasn't so bad."