The Huntington varsity boys’ indoor track and field team put on a show at the Nassau County Coaches Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex at Staten Island last Saturday. The Blue Devils won a horde of gold, silver and bronze medals to impress dozens of competing squads.
Huntington boys' track and field head coach Ronald Wilson.
Justin Stevens bested a field of 93 runners in the 600m run, going wire to wire in 1:24.89 to capture a gold medal. “I wanted to work on running each lap at a consistent pace and I did a pretty good job at that,” the senior said. “I have a long way to go until I am where I want to be, but it’s progress.”
Rhaliek Thomason ran to a first place finish in the 55m hurdles, clocking in at 8.27 seconds to outclass a field of 34.
Huntington was most impressive in the relays, winning the 4x400m and 4x800m varsity races and the 4x200m and 4x400m freshman/sophomore division contests. The Blue Devils missed out on a varsity trifecta when it checked in late for the 4x200m relay, but the runners didn’t let it get them down and went out and won gold in the 4x4.
In the 4x400m relay varsity division, Chad Rowe, Anthony Joseph, CJ Kiviat and Justin Stevens swept past the field of 16 to win a gold medal in 3:26.57.
In the 4x800m relay varsity division, Aidan Heller, Jason Verville, Craig Haas and Andrew McKenzie ran past the rest of the field of 14 to capture first place in 8:47.63.
In the 4x200m relay freshman/sophomore division, Bryce Robinson, Ramon Lyons, Julio Martinez and Jahmar Francis finished first in 1:37.45 to easily best the field of 13.
In the 4x400m relay freshman/sophomore division, Jahmar Francis, Bryce Robinson, Julio Martinez and Tyriek Mays-McKoy crossed the finish line first in 3:45.56 to vanquish the field of six teams.
In other action:
- In the 1000m run, Andrew McKenzie (6 th in 2:46.26), Aidan Heller (8 th in 2:47.57), Craig Haas (19 th in 2:53.61) and Jason Verville (21 st in 2:53.91) were among the top finishers in the field of 76.
- In the 300m dash, Rhaliek Thomason finished 16 th in a field of 126 in a time of 37.73 seconds.
- In the 300m dash freshman/sophomore division, Adrian Angueira (13 th in 40.61 seconds) and Skyler James (19 th in 41.47 seconds) ran very well in a field of 107 runners.
- In the 1000m run freshman/sophomore division, Huntington’s Matt Armstrong placed fourth in a field of 80 in a time of 2:57.99.
- In weight throw, Gary Barash finished second in a field of 36 with a toss that measured 50-06.00 feet.
- In shot put, Mekai Butts (3 rd with a throw of 46-01.00), Gary Barash (4 th – 46-00.00) and Elijah Fresnel (11 th – 35-09.50) were among the top finishers in a field of 68.
- In the shot put freshman/sophomore division, Damien Santos placed fifth in a field of 29 with a throw of 30-09.25 feet.