What a Day for Huntington
A trip to the Town of Babylon Track and Field Championships produced a series of personal best performances for a Huntington boys’ team that seems to be peaking at just the right time of year.
“What a day our boys had at this meet,” head coach Ron Wilson said. “Our underclassmen gave some impressive performances to give them better seeds at the division and state qualifier meets.”
It was a day of “seconditis” for freshman Tyriek Johnson. He finished second in the 110m high hurdles in 15.37 seconds and second in the long jump with a leap of 20’2. Sophomore teammate Dan McQuade placed fourth in the 110m high hurdles (17.14 seconds) and fourth in the high jump, scaling 5’6.
Eighth grader Tyler Wolfe ran a personal best of 4:41 in the 1600m run to earn a fourth place medal. “He was a very happy fellow when he received his time,” Wilson said.
Freshmen Dan Benitez also ran a personal best 5:04 in the mile. Sophomore Ryan Ackerman gave his best effort and it showed when he ran a personal best in the 800m run of 2:02. He placed 4th in that event. Junior Stevenson Gabriel placed fourth in the 400m run with a personal best time of 52.76 seconds.
Senior Chris Sandoval also earned two medals at the meet. He threw a personal best in the shot put (44’1) and discus (136’7) to capture third place in both events. Sophomore teammate sophomore Trayvon Toney wowed the rest of the Blue Devil squad when he launched the discus 141’6 on his first attempt and took second in the event. “That was not only his personal best, but the best so far this year by any athlete on the team,” Wilson said.
Toney also threw another personal best in the shot put, but it wasn’t enough to earn a medal as he placed seventh with a throw of 42’8. Senior Nick Thompson also threw a pair of personal bests in the discus (116’2 - eighth place) and shot put (39’8 - tenth). Senior Eugene grabbed two individual medals, as well, placing second in the 200m in 23.35 seconds and third in the 100m in 11.71 seconds.
Huntington’s 4 x 400m relay team of Moody, Ackerman, Gabriel, and Johnson earned third place medals with the group’s personal best time of 3:33. “Not only was this a personal best for these young men, but we have never run that time since I’ve been coaching here,” Wilson said. Last year’s relay team of Brian Cotter, Teddy Calligeros, Stevenson Gabriel, and Stevens Merilan ran their best time of 3:35.
Wilson is hoping for more strong performances and for some of his Blue Devils to earn berths in the state championships.
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