Dennis Walker Relay Showdown Draws Huge Field

The Dennis Walker Relay Showdown at Huntington High School was the place to be last weekend as about 40 boys’ and girls’ teams and more than 1,000 athletes converged on Blue Devil Stadium for a track and field extravaganza.

The teams came from around the metropolitan area and the competition stretched over nearly nine hours. About 2,000 athletes and fans were on hand and despite periodic rain, the show went on to completion.

Dennis Walker, Huntington’s longtime boys’ cross country and track coach who retired many years ago was among those in the crowd. Walker briefly addressed the athletes.

Current Blue Devil boys’ head coach Ronald E. Wilson was the master of ceremonies, calling out events and announcing the results.

Huntington’s boys’ team was led by Matthew Armstrong who finished first in the 1600m run in a time of 4:25.50. Freshman Max Carino placed third in the frosh/soph 1600m run in 4:54.89.

In the 100m dash, Cristian Delgado was fifth in 11.37 seconds and David Dje Bi was ninth in 11.41 seconds. In the 110m hurdles, Nikolai Seferian was fifth in 16.04 seconds with Nikolai Lulewich placing seventh in 16.59 seconds and Ryan Centeno finishing eighth in 16.71 seconds.

In other action:

• Ethan Lawless was seventh in both discus (117-02 feet) and shot put (42-10.50 feet). Sergemio Cerome was eighth in shot put with a toss of 40-06.50 feet.

• Nikolai Lulewich was fourth in high jump with a toss of 5-08 feet.

• In the 400m relay, Nikolai Seferian was fourth in 59.89 seconds and Ryan Centeno was eighth in 1:01.05.

• In the frosh/soph 400m hurdles, Guenil Elysee finished second in 1:03.83.

• The 4x400m relay placed second in 3:25.88 with the 4x100m relay finishing fourth in 45.30 seconds. The 1000m sprint medley relay placed sixth in 2:06.66.

Hope Bilkey, Elizabeth James, Sophie Bradford, Kiley Barch, Jesley Martinez Canales were the stars of Huntington’s girls’ track and field team last weekend.

Bilkey was fourth in both the 100m dash (13.28 seconds) and long jump (15-01.00 feet). James was fourth in triple jump with a distance of 33-02.75 feet. Bradford placed fourth in the 1500m run in 5:23.92. Barch won the frosh/soph 1500m run, besting a field of 29 in a time of 5:24.52. Martinez Canales was third in shot put with a throw that measured 27-10.00 feet.

In other action:

• The 4x800m relay finished third in 11:10.08. The 4x100m relay placed fourth in 53.39 seconds. The 4x400m relay placed seventh in 4:25.90.

• Kohana Nakamura placed seventh in the frosh/soph 100m dash in a time of 13.85 seconds.

• Dana Saramago was third in the frosh/soph 100m hurdles in 20.15 seconds.

Planning is already underway for next year’s extravaganza with more teams and other enhancements, including a DJ to keep things lively.