Jack Flores turned in a spectacular sophomore season, winning divisional and county individual championships and compiling an overall mark of 23-1 to lead the Huntington High School boys’ tennis team this past spring.
Flores shook off a nagging shoulder injury to advance to the state tennis championships in Queens were he won several matches before falling to the eventual state champion in the quarterfinal round.
Huntington varsity boys' tennis coach Jamie Fishlow
The Blue Devils went 5-5 in league play and 5-8 overall under longtime head coach Jamie Fishlow. Senior Kyle Chin captained the team, which consisted of 13 players.
Flores sparkled for Huntington in the No. 1 singles position. “Jack is an advanced player who continues to train hard,” Fishlow said. “He showed improved focus this season in close matches and repeated at the Suffolk champ.”
Freshman singles player Josh Bailin and sophomore doubles players Ryan Knowles and Matt Girimonti along with Flores were the top four players for Huntington.
“Reaching third place in the league in a rebuilding season was our best accomplishment,” Fishlow said. “As a very young and inexperienced team, our standing in the league was a pleasant surprise.”
The team’s senior corps included Chin (Boston University), Noah Helburn (SUNY Geneseo) and Jay Ryan Schmitt (SUNY Polytechnic Institute).
Rounding out the roster was Reid Bellistri, Connor Dougal, Max Gordon, Andrew Knowles, John Segreti and Jason Verville.
“We were young with minimal varsity experience,” Fishlow said. “We had freshmen and sophomores playing in the top positions. Everyone was willing to learn and practice hard. We developed a nice team cohesion.”
With the loss of just three seniors and with their best player returning, Huntington is looking forward to next spring. “Our goal is to come in first place in the league and to qualify for the county team playoffs,” Fishlow said.
