“All Gas, No Brakes…” That’s one of Huntington High School track and field head coach Ron Wilson favorite sayings. He got it from Blue Devil football coach Andrew White and he’s embraced it.
“I told him that I was going to use that with the track team,” Wilson said. “And so far, it’s been just that for us.”
Huntington opened its season with back-to-back meets last week. At the North Shore High School Season Opener last Friday night at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory in Manhattan, the Blue Devils shined.
From the opening event, Huntington was on its game. Senior Jaylen Bush earned a spot in the finals of the 55m hurdles winning his heat in 8.13. He would go on to place second in the finals in a time of 8.19. Sophomore Quincy Chery ran a decent early season time, too, finishing in 8.96 in a field of nearly 50 hurdlers.
In the 55m dash, juniors Jason Turner and Nasir Youngblood both reached the finals, but poor starts cost them both a possible victory. Youngblood closed well to finish in third place in 6.83. Turner placed seventh in 6.95. Sophomore Josiah Melendez ended 7.04 for 13th place out of over 130 runners in the event.
Huntington was most impressive in the 300m dash, capturing the first three places. Juniors Anthony Joseph, CJ Kiviat and sophomore Tyriek Mays-McKoy finished first, second and third, respectively, in 35.83, 36.93 and 37.20. “These are some really good early season times that should only improve,” Wilson said. Junior Chad Rowe finished in ninth in 38.54 and sophomore Julio Martinez finished 12th in 39.10 in a field of more than 150 runners.
Senior Justin Stevens finished first in the 600m dash in 1:25.88. Eighth grade sensation Jahmar Francis earned a medal, too, placing sixth in 1:31.07. Junior Andreas Seferian, freshman Sam James and senior Matt Stolfa finished in the top 50. Seferian finished in 13th in 1:35, James was 17th in 1:36 and Stolfa in 30th in 1:39.
Senior Craig Haas earned a medal in the 1000m run, finishing sixth in 2:50. Junior Andrew McKenzie finished in 11th place in 2:54. He would come back the next day at a crossover meet at Suffolk-West in Brentwood and improve to 2:48 to finish in fifth place. Haas also improved his time, finishing seventh in the meet in 2:49. Senior Cole Pillion finished in 18th place running 3:02 after a running a hard 1600m the night before at the Armory.
In other distance events:
- Freshman Matt Armstrong showed great promise. He ran the 1600m in 5:03 on Friday night and followed up with 10:36 for an eighth place finish in the 3200m run on Saturday.
- Junior Aidan Heller ran 10:33 to finish in seventh place.
- “Our relays were also quite impressive both nights,” Wilson said. At the North Shore Opener, the 4x200m relay A-team consisting of lead leg Youngblood, second leg Rowe, third leg Kiviat, and anchor Joseph completed the course in first place 1:32. The B-team of lead leg, Melendez, second leg Mays-McKoy, third leg Bryce Robinson and anchor Julio Martinez finished in 1:37 placing fourth out of the 30 relays that were competing.
- In the 4x400m relay, lead leg Francis, second leg Chery, third leg Turner, and anchor Stevens finished in first with a time of 3:37, while our B-team consisting of lead leg Michael Persilot, second leg Seferian, third leg Haas, and anchor McKenzie finished sixth in a time of 3:49.
- At Suffolk-West, Huntington’s relays continued to shine finishing first and sixth in the 4x200m relay and 1-2 in the 4x400m relay. “We ran out of time and were unable to compete in the 4x800m relay,” Wilson said.
The Blue Devils were also sensational in shot put.
- Junior Mekai Butts had the best two days of all, placing second at the Armory and second at Suffolk West with throws of 45’10. Senior Gary Barash placed third at the Armory with a toss of 43’2 and placed fourth at Suffolk with a toss of 43’7.
The Blue Devils will travel to Staten Island this Saturday for the Nassau Coaches Invitational and then back to Suffolk-West on Sunday for another crossover meet.
Next week will be a true test as Huntington travels to Maryland to compete in the Prince George Relays in Landover.
