Blue Devil Girls’ Track Claims Honors

The Huntington varsity spring girls’ track and field team turned in a successful season with 10 Blue Devils claiming post-season honors.

Coached by Kevin Thorbourne and Sarah Hall, the 32 athlete strong roster was captained by Elizabeth James, Hope Bilkey, Megan Donaghy, Sophie Bradford and Jannel Marroquin. Huntington compiled a 3-2 dual meet record. The Blue Devils also competed in a variety of invitational competitions, including ones in Maryland and Philadelphia.

Huntington’s top performers included Elizabeth James (All-League; All-Sectional; All-County), Megan Donaghy (All-League; All-Sectional; Academic All-County), Hope Bilkey (All-League; All-Sectional), Jannel Marroquin (All-League; All-Sectional), Kohana Nakamura (All-League; All-Sectional), Kiley Barch (All-League), Sophie Bradford (All-League), Andrea Mani-Munoz (All-League), Jesley Martinez-Canales (All-League) and Lindsay Depeine (All-League).

A talented sophomore, James set a new school record in triple jump with a mark of 37-10.5 feet. She also competed in the 4x400m and 4x100m relays, high jump, long jump and the 200m dash, compiling the most points on the team in the five dual meets.

“Elizabeth James is the most competitive athlete I’ve ever coached,” Thorbourne said. “She will definitely go down as one of the best runners in Huntington High School history.”

Bilkey closed out her career by starring in long jump, 100m dash and the 4x100m relay, notching the second most team points in dual meet action.

“Hope is a great athlete,” Thorbourne said. “Her spring season was affected by not running during the winter, but under the circumstances, she still had a great season.”

Donaghy also finished her high school career by giving the Blue Devils everything she could in the 400m, 800m and the 4x400 and 4x800m relays. She was third on the team in dual meet points.

“Megan is another great athlete,” Thorbourne said. “I wish that I coached her beginning in ninth grade. She is a prime example of a student-athlete.”

The highlight of the season was victory at Lindenhurst. “The team came together to pull off a great win,” Thorbourne said. “Sophie, Elizabeth, Kiley, Megan and Jamyn Husselbeck sacrificed their individual event and jumped in to fill in when we needed points. Their sacrifice helped us walk away with a win.”

The Blue Devils are losing only five seniors to graduation. Thorbourne expects the 27 returning athletes and a talented group coming aboard from J. Taylor Finley Middle School to form a “very competitive” team.