Pierre Leroy Honored as Section XI Swimmer of the Year

Huntington senior Pierre Leroy captured the Section XI Swimmer of the Year Award as five Blue Devils were honored at the annual county boys’ swimming and diving dinner at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook.

Leroy won the state championship in the 500 yard freestyle in a blowout time of 4:32.50. The Huntington great was All-State in three separate events, including finishing second in the 200 yard freestyle and swimming on the Blue Devils’ 200 yard medley relay that placed eighth.

Leroy’s second place time of 1:40.46 in the 200 yard freestyle at the state championships was just 1.12 seconds off the first place finisher’s time.

Leroy and senior Evan Spagnoletti garnered All-State, All-Long Island, All-County and All-League honors. Junior Lucas Spagnoletti and sophomore Max Leroy were All-State, All-County and All-League. Freshman Sam Klaaren was All-League. Evan Spagnoletti, Lucas Spagnoletti, Max Leroy and Klaaren also claimed Scholar Athlete Awards.

Evan Spagnoletti placed sixth in the 100 yard butterfly at the state championships in the excellent time of 50.59 seconds. The teenager also won All-State honors by swimming on the 200 yard medley relay that placed eighth. He nailed the fastest 50 fly split in the entire state in the event.

Lucas Spagnoletti and Max Leroy grabbed All-State honors by swimming legs on the 200 yard medley relay that finished eighth in New York.

The Blue Devil swimmers know how fortunate they are and they will always remember how much time and effort they put into pursuing their goals. The teenagers and their coaches took delight at the recent county dinner at Villa Lombardi,

“My senior year of swimming for Huntington was everything that I could have dreamed of,” Evan Spagnoletti said. “Earning All-State honors by placing top eight in the state as well as third on Long Island with a finish of second in the county was something that I take great pride in. A lot of hard work was put into earning these titles. There were some nights where I would do homework with weights strapped to my chest so I could train my lungs. I needed to maximize my workload of school and swimming in and out of the pool. I also need to give credit to all my friends, coaches and family who supported me along the way. A strong relay, team and community empowers an athlete.”

Huntington, which combines with Walt Whitman and Harborfields in boys’ swimming is coached by Meg McConnell and Christopher Helmke.