The J. Taylor Finley Middle School boys’ track and field team is off and running. The Blue Devils have six interschool meets scheduled for this spring.
Coached by Timothy Madden and Christopher Taylor, Finley’s roster is small is size, but nevertheless quite talented. The athletes are split evenly between seventh and eighth grades.
The squad consists of seventh graders Gabriel Abreu, Cristian Delgado, Ethan Goleski, Frank Ioppolo, Anthony Jimenez-Avila, Riley LaCosta, Jack Ruthkowski Andy Suazo Archaga and Daniel VanArsdale and eighth graders Dylan Brinn, Ryan Curran, Kender Edouazin, Brian Florvil, Nikolai Seferian, Nicholas Seitz, Charles Siepel and Raul Vilorio-Fuentes, Jr.
Finley has home meets scheduled with Babylon, East Islip, East Northport and West Babylon. The Blue Devils will travel to Bay Shore, West Islip-Udall and Brentwood for away contests.
Finley practices the middle school’s Greenlawn Road campus. It competes in meets at Blue Devil Stadium at Huntington High School.
Last spring’s team compiled a 5-1 record and showcased some superb athletes. The Blue Devils were led by then eighth graders Tate Furman, Anthony Amitrano, Collin Garcia and Andrue Nunez Gomez.
Finley toppled East Northport, Kings Park, Elwood, Oldfield and Hauppauge. The Falcons’ lone loss came at the hands of Northport.
Coach Madden has been a Huntington physical education teacher since September 2002. A graduate of Hauppauge High School, he obtained an undergraduate degree at SUNY Cortland and a master’s degree at Stony Brook University. He has coached football, basketball, baseball, track, lacrosse and softball at various levels.
Coach Taylor has been a Huntington physical education teacher since September 1996. A graduate of Port Richmond High School in Staten Island, he obtained an undergraduate degree at CUNY-Queens College and a master’s degree at Hofstra University. He has coached high school football and lacrosse and middle school basketball, volleyball and track and field.