After two days of stiff competition against more than 100 teams from across the northeast United States and Canada, the Huntington High School boys’ indoor track and field team found itself firmly ensconced in third place at the 50th Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, New Hampshire.
The Blue Devils trailed only Rhode Island powerhouses LaSalle Academy and Bishop Hendricken in the final standings. Huntington capped off its fine showing by winning a gold medal in the 4x400m relay for the fourth time since 2015.The Blue Devil relay team consisting of lead leg sophomore CJ Kiviat, second leg sophomore Isaiah James, third leg junior Justin Stevens and anchor senior leg Johnathan Smith circled the track in a combined effort of 3:27.64, easily vanquishing runner-up Bishop Hendricken, third place LaSalle Academy and fourth place Stonington, Connecticut and running away from the rest of the highly regarded field.
Huntington won the event at the 2015, 2016 and 2017 meets. A blizzard prevented the Blue Devils from attending last years’ Dartmouth Relays, but this past weekend they picked up where they left off two years ago.
The Blue Devils quickly started accumulating points in the competition during the open hours of the huge gathering of top young talent on Friday. Huntington’s 1600m sprint medley relay team stretched out after the long bus ride and went right to work.
Kiviat was impressive running the opening 200m leg. “He ran a great split giving us a slight lead over the rest of the field,” Huntington head coach Ron Wilson said. Kiviat handed off to sophomore Anthony Joseph, who covered the second leg of 200m in 23 seconds. Smith took the baton for the third leg, which measured 400m and he expanded the Blue Devils’ lead with a 50 second split. James ran the final 800m in a personal best split time of 1:59.
The race ended in spectacular fashion with three teams all crossing in a photo finish. When the smoke cleared, Stonington, CT had won with a time of 3:36.50 followed by Hope, RI, which crossed in 3:36.51 and Huntington, which trailed the leader by a mere 10/100ths of second with a time of 3:36.60.
The Blue Devils’ time in the 1600m sprint medley relay ranks them No. 1 on Long Island, No. 2 in New York and No. 9 in the US. It also qualifies Huntington for the national championships in the event.
In other highlights:
- The Blue Devils’ 4x200m relay team consisting of sophomore Nasir Youngblood, freshman Josiah Melendez, senior Jaden Bholan and sophomore Anthony Joseph finished fifth in 1:36.85.
- Smith (second place in 50.49 seconds) and Kiviat (fourth place in 51.80) were among the top finishers in 400m dash.
- Stevens scored points in the 600m run with a fifth place finish in 1:26.98.
- Joseph placed fourth in the 300m dash in 36.49 seconds.
- In high jump, sophomore Trevan Meagher leaped a personal best height of 5-10 feet.
- Seventh grade sensation, Jahmar Francis ran 39.24 in the 300m dash. “His time ranks him as the No. 1 seventh grader in the state and in the country according to MileSplit.com.
