Olivia Polinsky & Lucas Spagnoletti Capture Dellecave Awards

Seniors Olivia Polinsky and Lucas Spagnoletti are Huntington High School’s recipients of this year’s Guy “Butch” Dellecave Award, which is presented to one graduating male and female from each Suffolk high school who possess “outstanding accomplishments on the field of play, in the classroom and within the community.”

Ms. Polinsky and Mr. Spagnoletti were joined by their families at a Sunday morning awards breakfast at Villa Lombardi in Holbrook, which drew of crowd of more than 400.

Guy “Butch” Dellecave was on the faculty of the Connetquot School District for 30 years. He was also one of the top rated basketball officials in Suffolk and the state and directed the Smithtown basketball summer league for 35 years. One of the main proponents of the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame, he founded the Dellecave Education Institute for Professional Development, which provided classes, workshops and seminars for administrators, teachers and coaches. Mr. Dellecave passed away suddenly on August 27, 2000.

The 24th annual awards program recognized 116 seniors from across Suffolk. Ms. Polinsky was one of six finalists among 58 nominees for the female countywide award.

The Dellecave Awards are presented by The Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, Inc. and the Butch Dellecave Foundation, Inc. The 116 award recipients were chosen on the basis of outstanding athletic ability as well as having displayed exceptional character and integrity and community service. “They have all been difference makers,” Newsday’s Michael Anderson said.

During the breakfast, master of ceremonies Robert Schwender requested that each of the award recipients stand up and hug their parents for all they have done for the teenagers.

Olivia Polinsky

Huntington’s Olivia Polinsky has combined spectacular academics and athletics with standout service to her classmates and community while serving as a role model for underclassmen interested in making a similar positive difference in the world.

An All-Division and All-County Academic field hockey player, Ms. Polinsky has captained multiple Blue Devil varsity teams adding New York State Scholar Athlete Award honors during every season.

Ms. Polinsky has also played an integral role in Huntington’s Unified basketball program, patiently and warmly working with a variety of co-ed players with moderate to severe disabilities to further their passion for the game.

Ms. Polinsky has worked with the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition as a senior ambassador and mentor for the past four years, sharing her knowledge of diseases and preventative care with the community by speaking at local middle schools about personal care and environmental health.

President of Huntington’s Habitat for Humanity club chapter, tutoring coordinator for the Science National Honor Society, secretary of the Environmental Club and public relations coordinator of the National History Day Club, Ms. Polinsky is heavily involved with her school and community. She is a compassionate and considerate person, volunteering in Life Skills classes and confidentially assisting classmates as they work through personal and family issues as president of the high school’s Natural Helpers program.

Ms. Polinsky found a way to incorporate her love of athletics into outside activities when she planned and executed the first-ever Color Run fundraiser at Huntington High School that brought nearly $10,000 into the Habitat for Humanity club’s coffers. Her determination and giving nature is evident in everything she does.

While away from the Huntington High School’s classrooms and fields, Ms. Polinsky has spent a significant amount of time working at Stony Brook University’s Ecotoxicology Lab and on several other public health projects through Stony Brook. She also has partnered with Mount Sinai and participated in two of its summer NYSCHECK programs, where she collaborated with medical professionals in creating advocacy projects.

Ms. Polinsky was one of the first three high school students to attend a NYSCHECK statewide annual conference at The Edith Macy Center. She was able to provide an informed high schoolers’ point of view on children’s environmental health.

The senior works throughout the year as a high school lab assistant. Ms. Polinsky sets up and takes down labs as well as helping organize and plan classroom material. During the summer, she works as a camp counselor at the Head of the Bay Club. She also has volunteered as a youth field hockey coach at Northport High School. In addition, she has spent time at the North Shore Holiday House, educating underprivileged girls about the importance of environmental health through interactive discussions and games.

Invited to participate in USA Field Hockey’s NEXUS program, Ms. Polinsky has played for the Lasting Legacy Club team for six years and thoroughly enjoyed both tournaments and practices. She further intends to continue her field hockey career on the college club level.

The Suffolk Zone Award Recipient was a Section XI Athletic Leadership Conference attendee in both her junior and senior years. She has done her part in bettering her county’s athletic programs by attending several subsequent meetings that allowed her to collaborate with other proactive teenagers. They discussed various issues fostering growth in student-athlete excellence within her athletic community.

The AP Scholar With Honor Award recipient intends pursue a philosophy major on a pre-law track at the University of Georgia. In the future, Ms. Polinsky sees herself combating environmental and social injustice through the law.

Lucas Spagnoletti

Lucas Spagnoletti is Huntington High School’s “Superman;” a teenager who fits in perfectly well with his classmates, but who indiscreetly changes into hero status to help recent immigrants achieve academically and to engage in high end scientific research, some of which is devoted to preventing cancer while setting aside enough time to train for and swim to All-State honors in back-to-back seasons for the Blue Devils.

Huntington’s male nominee for the 2024 Butch Dellecave Award, Mr. Spagnoletti has completed 13 Advanced Placement classes while compiling a 103 academic grade average and scoring a 1510 on the SAT. He has been recruited by the University of Pennsylvania to swim on its NCAA Division I team.

Mr. Spagnoletti also takes classes outside of high school at Columbia University where he completed courses in Quantum Physics, Quantum Mechanics and Computing, Molecular Chemistry and more.

As an intern with Huntington High School’s science research program, he has guided underclassmen through project development and helped them prepare for competitions.

He has also been a “student teacher” in an English as a New Language class through Huntington’s New World mentors program. Daily for a full school year he came to class alongside newly immigrated students and helped them learn and master the English language while also helping them navigate life in a new country and large high school. Mr. Spagnoletti has also individually mentored two additional students through the New World initiative.

Mr. Spagnoletti is also a legitimate pioneer in modern genomics, where he is co-founding a new topic of science called exposomics while working alongside distinguished Columbia University professors. Specifically he is coding the national database and inputting allocated metadata for cases on this topic. This project coincides with working with the National Institutes of Health to get his findings published. The teenager has published research on similar topics in genetic engineering in plants and working on his current research about the effects of “Unaffordable Healthcare on Low-Income Patient Health Outcomes.”

Mr. Spagnoletti uses a combination of his scientific background and sense of community to help spur effective change in the world. His deep passion for science and health has led to him working with the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition for several years to deliver presentations to local middle schools about safe living and chemical exposures.

Mr. Spagnoletti has made presentations to underprivileged children during each of the past three summers at the North Shore Holiday House focused on how to have safe and healthy habits. Through these endeavors he was able to reach audiences numbering in the thousands of students and hopefully through the new scientific field of exposomics, it can lead to world changing research and innovation.

As president of Huntington High School’s Science Honor Society chapter, Mr. Spagnoletti helped sponsor events and raise awareness about community issues, such as the Long Island breast cancer walk and giving presentations at the high school about harmful environmental exposures.

On top of his academic accolades Mr. Spagnoletti is a phenomenal athlete, swimming competitively for over 10 years and excelling for the past three seasons on the Huntington Blue Devil varsity team. This past season he served as captain of the team, running practices and organizing events.

Mr. Spagnoletti qualified for the state championships during all three years of high school, earning All-State honors in multiple events five separate times and All-County honors seven times.

In his sophomore season, Mr. Spagnoletti helped lead the team to a county championship and second place finish at states, where he was All-State in the 200 free relay. His junior year season he swam the individual 100 fly at states and the 200 medley relay, again capturing All-State honors. In his senior year he swam the 200 medley relay, 100 fly and 400 free relay, garnering All-State in both relays.

The five-time All-State swimmer and scholar also volunteered to play on Huntington High School’s varsity Unified basketball team, patiently and lovingly working with a variety of co-ed players with special needs and moderate to severe disabilities who nevertheless thoroughly enjoy participating in the Blue Devil athletic program.

He intends to continue pursuing his academic and athletic dreams at the University of Pennsylvania.