The Huntington High School boys’ cross country team raced across the season ending finish line with a 3-2 record under new head coach Onix Salva.
The 11-member strong Blue Devil squad was captained by seniors Aidan Heller and Andrew McKenzie. The cross country season is typically held in the fall, but Section XI pushed it back to March-April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Huntington adapted to competing at meets in various parks around Suffolk. Historically, meets are held at Sunken Meadow State Park, but that facility was closed to school competition for most of the season.
Heller led Huntington with a seventh place finish in the divisional meet. The teenager went on to place 16th out of 41 finalists in the Section XI championships. The senior closed out his cross country career by garnering first team All-League and All-Division honors.
McKenzie placed 13th in the divisional championships and claimed All-League recognition.
Rounding out the team’s top four runners were Matteo Armstrong, who turned in a sensational sophomore campaign and senior Carlos Martinez, who concluded his Blue Devil cross country career in fine fashion.
“Aidan, Andrew, Matteo and Carlos were all extremely coachable and excelled this season, especially considering the circumstances associated with the pandemic.
Salva was pleased with the progress the team made. “Having two runners qualify for the divisional championships was great,” the coach said.
Huntington topped Copiague, North Babylon and West Islip and dropped meets with Deer Park and Bellport.
Armstrong is expected to lead next fall’s returnees along with current freshman Ethan Goleski and sophomores Ian Rotunno, Nicholas Seitz and Charles Siepel.
In addition to Heller, McKenzie and Martinez, the Blue Devils will be graduating Isaiah James and CJ Kiviat, both of whom were sidelined this fall with illness or injuries and Bryan Wong.
Salva said he plans on recruiting more runners for the program before the fall 2021 kicks off on Monday, August 23. “Our goal is to win the league title and have more competitors advance to the divisional and county championships,” the coach added.
