While Ron Wilson feels his team wasn’t at its best, the Huntington High School boys’ track and field team was still good enough to edge powerful Connetquot after sweeping the three relays to close out this week’s meet in dramatic fashion.
“The relays were a real thriller,” said Wilson, who serves as Huntington’s head coach and is assisted by veteran Eli Acosta. “That’s what it came down to and both teams knew it. You had two teams who were both league champions coming into last year’s spring season prior to the pandemic. Connetquot was the League II champions and we were the League III champs. On this day at Connetquot we found ourselves in a tough spot.”
Regular season dual meets are typically sleepy affairs without much drama, but as the Huntington-Connetquot battle played out over three hours, the tension steadily mounted.
After completion of the triple jump, the Blue Devils trailed 67-59 and they knew they needed to sweep the relays to win the meet.
One of two recent transfers to Connetquot from Jamaica performed “exceptionally well,” Wilson said. “He beat us in the 100m dash and the 200m dash with juniors Tyriek Mays-McKoy and Julio Martinez finishing second and third, respectively in both events. Normally, it is our sprinters, jumpers and throwers that keep us out in front of the competition. I must say it was our distance runners, seniors Aidan Heller, Andrew McKenzie, CJ Kiviat, and Isaiah James that kept us in this dual meet until the bitter end.”
McKenzie and Heller were spectacular early in the meet in the 1600m run with McKenzie out-kicking his teammate for the win in a personal best time of 4:42 with Heller just a second behind. Heller later went on to win the 3200m run in 10:21.
McKenzie and Heller later teamed up with sophomore Nick Seitz and junior Henry Vohs in the 4x800m relay winning the event in 8:51. Junior Quincy Chery won both the 110m high hurdles (15.8) and the 400m intermediate hurdles (61.0). Kiviat and Isaiah James placed 1-2 in the 800m run in times of 2:04 and 2:06 respectively.
Kiviat, James and Quincy Chery along with junior John Chirico were sensational in the 4x400m relay, eclipsing the competition by over 100 meters and finishing in a very fast time of 3:33.
Senior Anthony Joseph had the best day of all. “He leaped an amazing 22-07 feet on his first jump to be the clear winner in the long jump,” Wilson said.
Joseph went on to win the 400m dash in 50.8 with freshman sensation Jahmar Francis finishing second in 53.6. Joseph and Francis would later team up with Julio Martinez and Mays-McKoy for the last event of the evening; the 4x100m relay, which was the determining factor of the meet.
“What an exciting race it was,” Wilson said. “Julio led off before handing the baton to Joseph, who extended the lead. Joseph handed the baton off to Francis, who kept pace and he handed off to Mays-McKoy, who cruised home in the final stretch for a great early season time of 43.7.”
Huntington struggled in the throws. Senior Mekai Butts placed second in shot put and the Blue Devils were totally swept in the discus, triple jump and pole vault. “We really didn’t feel comfortable with any of our athletes pole vaulting without efficient practice, so we gave away nine points there as well,” Wilson said.
The relays helped smooth over any Blue Devil difficulties and paved the way for victory. Wilson said the team felt “pure jubilation” when the final score was tabulated at 74-67.
Huntington hosts Copiague next week in the Blue Devils’ home opener on Wednesday, May 12.