Blue Devil Sports News
The Huntington High School fencing team is sharp not only in its matches, but in the classroom, too. Dozens of Blue Devil fencers earned New York State Scholar Athlete honors during the recently completed season.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association recognized 17 Huntington boys' fencers and 28 girls' team members as scholar athletes for compiling cumulative grade averages that totaled more than 90 percent.
The Blue Devil girls' team scholar athletes include seniors Kelly Askerberg, Andrea Cerini, Taylor Choy, Caroline Glowacky, Marisa Pashkin, Katelyn Postiglione and Anna Wertheim; juniors Rachel Feltman and Brianna Kirkland; sophomores Cristina Bateman, Olivia Castillo, Kaitlin Dayton, Fiona Geier, Charlotte Levinson, Ruhi Shah, Mary Sheehan and Kaitlin Wascher; freshmen Yardalie Daniel, Irina DeSimone, Melanie Lanham-Ciancia, Elisa Medina-Jaudes, Kelly Tenbus and Hanae Wada; eighth graders Tateana Khokhar and Lydia Witt and seventh graders Lianna DeChiaro, Adina Kirkland and Emma Reilly.
The Huntington boys' team honorees include seniors James Ferraiolo, Brent Filippini and Richard Hermer-Fried; juniors Nick Frieman, Brian McConnell, Benjamin Nikodem and Donovan Richardson; sophomores Garrett Filippini, Elias Goldman and Lucas Vaccaro; freshmen John (Jack) Malone, Jack O'Heir and Stefano Ornato; eighth graders Sean Mello and Sam Prinzi and seventh graders Casey DiGiacomo and Lars Drace.
Two Sportsmanship Awards
Two Huntington winter sports teams have earned Section XI sportsmanship awards. The J. Taylor Finley Middle School boys' basketball team and the Huntington High School boys' fencing team were honored.
"The Section XI sportsmanship rating program has been in effect since 1993," said Edward A. Cinelli, Section XI's executive director. "Much time and effort are expended to ensure that participation in interscholastic athletics results in positive educational experiences for our student-athletes."
Following each athletic contest, coaches submit a rating to Section XI on the opposing coaches, athletes and supervision/spectators. "We believe the program is unique and are quite proud of the wonderful cooperation of member schools, which ensures its success."
HHS Alum Scores 100th for Cornell
Huntington High School alum Steve Mock was named the Ivy League's Player of the Week after the Cornell University lacrosse star scored a career-high six goals, including five during the second half, in a 12-10 victory over Yale in the Ivy opener for both teams. The scoring spurt made him just the seventh player in Cornell history to notch 100 goals.
A 2009 Huntington graduate, Mock scored 21 goals as a Cornell freshman, 40 as a sophomore and 23 as a junior. He has already scored 21 goals this season in the first seven games.
Mock's six goals against Yale came on nine shots. He also added three caused turnovers. The former Blue Devil great opened the 2013 season by scoring five goals against Hobart. Two games later he tallied five goals against Colgate. He notched two goals against Virginia and also scored against Binghamton and Canisius.
The Huntington alum is enrolled in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Mock is one of the Blue Devil lacrosse players ever, with 123 goals and 61 assists. He earned All-Suffolk honor twice and was an honorable mention All-American as a senior. Mock also lettered twice in soccer and once in golf at Huntington High School.
Lou Puca an All-American
Former Huntington High School wrestling great Louis Puca earned All-American honors at last weekend's NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
A sophomore at SUNY Cortland, Puca placed sixth in the nation at 174 lbs. Seeded third, he advanced to the semi-finals, where he dropped an exciting 11-8 decision to Ithaca's Jules Doliscar. Puca had earlier topped Delaware Valley's Dallas Winston, 5-2 and sixth-seeded Dan Schiferl of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 9-7. Puca finished the season with a 30-7 mark.
While competing for the Blue Devil mat team, Puca won All-League, All-County and All-State honors. He also competed on Huntington's cross country team. Puca was a member of the Class of 2011.
Paar Approved as Volunteer
Former Blue Devil three-sport star Charles Paar has been appointed a volunteer boys' assistant varsity lacrosse coach. He earned a BA degree in history at Stony Brook University in 2010.
Paar starred on the Huntington High School football, wrestling and lacrosse teams. A standout lax goalie, he went on to win NCJCAA All-American and Player of the Year honors after leading Nassau Community College to the junior college national lacrosse championship.
Paar went on to play goalie at Stony Brook, where he again won All-American recognition and was named the conference MVP. He has been associated with the Long Island Squids lacrosse club, both as a player and assistant coach.