Sophomore Kathryn Montefusco won the Suffolk 200 freestyle swimming championship, took third in the 100 breaststroke and qualified for the state championships in both events to lead the combined Huntington High School-Walt Whitman squad to an eighth place finish in a field of 26 teams at the Section XI finals.
“Kathryn is an amazing athlete with incredible speed and a specialist in breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley,” head coach Christopher Helmke said. “Kathryn continues to help propel our team forward and adds to our success at every turn. She achieved All-League, All-County and All-Long Island honors and qualified to swim at the state championships at Ithaca College. Unfortunately, the state meet was cancelled due to COVID-19. This is Kathryn’s third year qualifying for states, which is a great personal achievement. She’s a true asset to our team.
Juniors Caelan Clayton and Abigail Lewis also enjoyed standout seasons, notching All-League honors.
“Caelan continues to be a hardworking, versatile and dedicated swimmer with a great personality and leadership skills,” Helmke said. “She’s a well-rounded athlete who specialized in butterfly and backstroke, achieving All-League honors in two events and qualifying for counties in two relays and two individual events this season. She’s a great asset to our team and great addition to our success.”
Lewis also shined. “Abigail has developed nicely into a competitive swimmer with skills that have become an asset to our team,” Helmke said. “Abby has contributed greatly to the team as a freestyler achieving All-League honors in the 400 free relay. She’s a hard worker and great addition.”
Huntington athletes on the roster also included seventh grader Riley Sullivan; juniors Simonne Bielski-Gregorio, Sydney Cordeiro, Rachel Deegan, Grace McCallion and Ainsley Proctor; and senior Claire Conner.
The Blue Devils proved to be awfully resilient. The season was moved from last fall to March-April due to the ongoing public health crisis. But the squad made the best of the situation it found itself in.
“The pandemic created many challenges for our combined Huntington-Whitman team this year, but thanks to our dedicated athletes and supportive parents, we persevered and continued to add to our swim season success, qualifying to compete at the league and county championships,” Helmke said. “Our swimmers rose to the occasion at the league championships as our 200 medley and 400 free relay fought hard to achieve All-League status. Our best team accomplishment this season was finishing eighth out of 26 teams at the Suffolk championship meet. In addition, our 400 freestyle relay had an amazing come from behind win in our heat, which showed amazing effort by two of our Huntington swimmers, Kathryn Montefusco and Caelan Clayton.”
Helmke said he will continue recruiting at J. Taylor Finley Middle School, where he is on the faculty as a science teacher. He also encourages Huntington swimmers and divers to participate in local club teams and summer programs.
“Our goals for next year are to continue to attract motivated swimmers and divers to our team and maintain a high level of dedication, sportsmanship and teamwork,” Helmke said. “Our swimmers will work to improve upon their individual best times and improve our league and county championship standings.”
Interested in joining the Blue Devil swim team or want to learn more about it? Send a message to Helmke at chelmke@hufsd.edu.
