Their Own Little Kentucky Derby
After starting the season by losing its first two meets to Harborfields and Kings Park, the Huntington boys’ track and field team has picked up the pace considerably with a string of standout performances.
The three straight victories, including one at night under the lights at Islip, have infused the squad with confidence. At the St. Anthony’s Invitational, an elite two-day meet that drew public and private schools from across Long Island, the Blue Devils mixed it up with some gutsy efforts.
In the 400m hurdles, freshmen Tyriek Johnson gave head coach Ron Wilson a little bit of indigestion. “En route to what seemed to be an easy score in his heat, coming around the last turn Johnson took a bad step over the hurdle and almost went down,” Wilson said. “He was in first, but ended last in his heat due to that bad step.”
To his credit, Johnson did finish the race in a good time of 60.8 seconds. He finished the race still in a good time of 60.8 seconds. He was then scratched out of the long jump due to the injury he sustained to his right ankle.
“We were going scratch him from the 110m high hurdles, but he wanted to wait to see how it felt the next morning,” Wilson said. “He called me that morning and said he would be alright to run - and run he did!”
In the semi-finals, Johnson was placed in lane two in the third heat next to a senior from Bayport-Blue Point who had previously placed second in the county championship and who has run in the state finals.
“Johnson had a sluggish start, but managed to keep pace and execute a sprint to each hurdle,” Wilson said. He passed his Bayport foe going over the fifth hurdle and won the heat with the best time of any semi-finalist and just shy of the Huntington record at 14.85 seconds.
“Boy he had a smile on his face when he saw his time flash across the FAT time board,” Wilson said. “He was a happy camper! Right before the finals, one of the coaches there said, ‘Here's a preview of the county championship, Barrett from Amityville, Castelletti from Bayport, Johnson from Huntington, Jackson from Northport, Glover from Hills West, Mandat from North Babylon, and Payton from Longwood.’ All of these young men have already run times in the 110 hurdles to qualify them for the state championship in June. In the finals Barrett got out of the blocks first with Johnson, Jackson, and Castelletti right on his heels. Johnson caught Barrett at the ninth hurdle and it looked as if he was going to pass him going over the last hurdle, but that didn’t happen.”
Johnson hit that last hurdle with his trail leg to place second out of more than 60 hurdlers entered in the event. “It was an exciting race,” Wilson said. “Fans and coaches were cheering and standing to there feet as the runners were coming down the track. It felt as if we had our own little Kentucky Derby right here on the Island.”
Senior Chris Sandoval medaled in the unseeded section of the discus placing first with a throw of 133’2. Junior Dante Allen placed ninth and sophomore Trayvon Toney placed 11th out of more than 100 discus throwers.
Junior Richie Fernandez placed 12th out of more than 100 throwers in the shot put. “He continues to improve every time he steps into the circle,” Wilson said. I truly enjoy coaching this young man. How can I not? Not only is he a thrower, he loves and enjoys it. He’s a hard-working young man always looking to improve. His parents may not be all that happy being that they have tons of craters in their backyard from him practicing and throwing at home.”
In the unseeded 400m dash, junior Eric Szilagy won his heat placing ninth overall in 53.5 seconds. Sophomore Ryan Ackerman continued his ascension in the sport by placing 14th out of more than 100 runners in the 800m run in 2:07.86.
“We are now in the part of our season, where we now have to start preparing for the post-season,” Wilson said. “Quite a few of our boys have already established times, throws, and jumps that make them eligible to participate in the division and county championships.”
The program was scheduled to honor its seniors this week at a home meet on Wednesday against Rocky Point. On Saturday (May 8) the Blue Devils will participate in the John Glenn Invitational beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing through the day.
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