Blue Devil Boys Set for State Qualifier

The Huntington boys’ winter track and field team is pumped up after a runner-up finish at the Suffolk large school county championships last weekend. The Blue Devils trailed only Connetquot in the final standings and crowned three county champions.

Matteo Armstrong won the 1000m run in 2:35 after a close second place finish in the 3200m run. Kender Edouazin won the 600m run in 1:24 and Jahmar Francis placed third in 1:25. Nikolai Lulewich placed fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5’10. The 4x400m relay of Nikolai Seferian, Francis, Armstrong, and Edouzain placed first in 3:30.

Next up for the Blue Devils will be the Millrose Games on Saturday in Manhattan with the Lorna Austin 4x400m Long Island Championship, which is slated to go off at 12:44 p.m. The event brings together the top relays from Suffolk County and Nassau County.

Huntington qualified for Millrose Games finals in the event on January 11. The Blue Devils ran 3:29.59 holding off stiff competition from Longwood (3:31.98), Connetquot (3:32.39), East Islip (3:33.81) and North Babylon (3:35.32). Manhasset (3:34.55) will represent Nassau County with Uniondale ran 3:38.56, just missing the final cut.

Huntington’s 2016 “Dream Team” of Kyree Johnson, Lawrence Leake, Shane McGuire and Infinite Tucker won the event in 3:17.36, which remains the meet record. “They went on to win the state championship and national championship in a Suffolk County record breaking time of 3:16.09,” Blue Devil head coach Ronald E. Wilson said.

Since Huntington has competed in Millrose Games 4x400m relay, it has dominated the winner’s circle:

• 2015 won (Johnson, Exayvian Crowell, Leake, Tucker): 3:20.63

• 2016 won (Johnson, Leake, McGuire, Tucker): 3:17.36

• 2017 lost (Leake, Anthony Joseph, Mark Rafuse, Johnson): 3:21.70

• 2018 lost (Jason Turner, Joseph, Johnathan Smith, Isaiah James): 3:31. 47

• 2019 won (CJ Kiviat, Joseph, James, Smith): 3:20.65

• 2020 won (Tyriek Mays-McKoy, Kiviat, Justin Stevens, Joseph): 3:19.80

• 2021 Covid-19 (meet canceled)

• 2022 won (Jahmar Francis, Quincy Chery, Matt Armstrong, Julio Martinez): 3:29.30

Huntington will vie in the Section XI state qualifier on Monday, February 13 at Suffolk-West in Brentwood. The Blue Devils have notched qualifying marks in six events, including the 600m, 1000m, 1600m, 3200m, 4x200m relay and 4x400m relay.

Huntington’s runners will need to finish in the top three of the individual events and the top two of the relays to qualify for the New York State championships on March 4. Only the top 12 competitors in each event will be allowed to participate in the state qualifier.

Here is where the Blue Devils stand as of Monday:

55m high hurdles: Delgado #13 (8.35), Seferian #16(8.38)

55m dash: David Dje Bi: No. 23 (6.81 seconds)

300m: Francis: No. 12 (37.13 seconds), Edouazin: No. 14 (37.28 seconds)

600m: Edouazin: No. 1 (1:24.37); Francis No. 4 (1:25.25); Armstrong No. 7 (1:25.60)

1000m: Armstrong: No. 1 (2:32.25)

1600m: Armstrong: No. 1 (4:24.38)

3200m: Armstrong: No. 4 (9:36.63)

High Jump: Lulewich: No. 5 (6’); Johan Fajardo: No. 11 (5’8); Roberto Rodriguez: No. 11 (5’8)

Weight Throw: Carmine Carusone: No. 5 (44’); Vito Aloe: No. 6 (41’), Ethan Lawless: No. 9 (36’9)

Shot Put: Carusone No. 22 (41’1); Dawin Preval: No. 26 (40’1)

4x200m: No. 4 (1:34.02)

4x400m No. 1 (3:29)