The Huntington High School boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are inviting anyone entering grades 9-12 to join the Blue Devil running program. No experience is necessary. Practices will begin on Monday, August 23 at 7:30 a.m.
Onix Salva will coach the boys’ team with Beth Vogelsang leading the girls’ squad. Both coaches are high school physical education teachers. Interested in running for the Blue Devils? Send a message to Coach Salva at osalva@hufsd.edu or Coach Vogelsang at evogelsang@hufsd.edu.
“Cross country is a great sport,” Salva said. “We enjoy fun daily workouts and train for competitions. We have wonderful group of young men and women who work very well with each other and really support and encourage their teammates. It’s fun to watch your time steadily improve day after day.”
Huntington’s boys’ cross country compiled a 3-2 record last spring in Salva’s first year with the program. The cross country season is typically held in the fall, but Section XI pushed last season back to March-April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Huntington topped Copiague, North Babylon and West Islip and dropped meets with Deer Park and Bellport. Salva sees a bright future for the program with some new faces joining a group of returning veterans.
Rising junior Matteo Armstrong is expected to lead the returnees along with incoming sophomores Ethan Goleski and juniors Ian Rotunno, Nicholas Seitz and Charles Siepel.
Last spring’s Blue Devil girls’ team finished as the league runner-up. Huntington’s returnees include incoming sophomores Damaris Mani-Munoz, Andrea Mani-Munoz and Jannel Marroquin; rising juniors Talia Addeo and Maryuri Nunez Gomez and incoming seniors Yanira Rivera Ronquillo and Erin Ye.
Every student needs to get re-qualified by the school nurse prior to each sport season. The nurse can only clear a student-athlete who has the following forms on file:
• Private Physical Exam Form (link below)
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/resources/2021/health/private_physical_exam_form.pdf
• Interval Health History Form (link below)
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/athletics/2022/interval_health_history.pdf
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/athletics/2022/interval_health_history-sp.pdf
Students who want a physical exam performed by the school doctor should report to the Huntington High School nurse’s office on Thursday, August 19 at 8 a.m.
Boys’ cross country team members should report to the nurse’s office on Thursday, August 19 at 11 a.m. to submit forms and get requalified. Girls’ cross country team members should report on the same day at 12 noon.
All Blue Devil sports student-athletes are also required to submit a blue parent permission form to their coach no later than the first day of tryouts/practice.
The form can be found at this link:
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/athletics/2022/parent_consent_form.pdf