With all but a single runner returning from last year’s squad, the Huntington High School appears ready to put the proverbial pedal to the metal this fall.
The Blue Devils saw Ryan Smith graduate last June, but everyone else is back from the 2017 team. Huntington’s top returning runners include sophomores Andrew McKenzie, Aidan Heller, Isaiah James and Carlos Martinez, juniors Jason Verville and John Segreti and senior Graham Young.
Second year head coach Robert Nill has high hopes for success this fall. Practice commences on Monday, August 20. “We are looking to do a lot better than we did last year,” James said. “We will also have a lot of newcomers on the team.”
Nill said that last fall was a “learning season” with a cast of underclassmen filling the starting positions. McKenzie was sidelined while he nursed an injury and that certainly hurt the squad. But the teenager is expected to return in fine form this month.
Verville and Heller are both coming off solid seasons and Segreti and Graham weren’t far behind. James and Martinez improved by leaps and bounds and both are expected to be ready to climb into the ranks of Suffolk’s best.
Huntington will once again compete in a series of league meets and invitational races at Sunken Meadow State Park on a 2.8 mile course there. Practices are held daily at the high school.
A healthy crop of freshmen runners coming to the high school from J. Taylor Finley Middle School is expected to turnout for the first day of practice.
“I feel that our cross country team is in its best shape to have the best record for Huntington in a long time,” Heller said. “We have a couple incoming freshmen who have been coming to our workouts and they are looking good as well. Overall, the team is looking good for the coming season.”
Interested in running with the Blue Devils this fall? Send a message to Nill at ranill@optonline.net.