One point. That’s how close the Huntington boys’ indoor track and field team came to winning the Suffolk large school championship last Saturday night at Suffolk-West in Brentwood.
The Blue Devils came oh so close, but couldn’t overcome several obstacles placed in their path. Shane McGuire was sidelined by a injury he sustained on Friday night and Kyree Johnson pulled out of the long jump, which he was expected to win, after he felt muscle tightness in his legs after warming up for the event.
Johnson won the 55m and 300m dashes and Lawrence Leake captured the 600m dash and finished second in long jump. The Blue Devils also won the 4x400m relay and Clay Jamison and Sam Bergman finished fifth and sixth, respectively in shot put, but it wasn’t enough.
Smithtown West nipped Huntington, 52-51 for the county crown. William Floyd (40), Sachem North (37) and Smithtown East (35) rounded out the top five teams. Twenty schools competed in this year’s Suffolk championships.
“It is what it is,” said Ron Wilson, Huntington’s head coach.
The Section XI individual championships/state qualifying meet will be held on Monday, February 13 at Suffolk-West. The action kicks-off at 5 p.m.
Final team scores: 1. Smithtown West (52); 2. Huntington (51); 3. William Floyd (40); 4. Sachem North (37); 5. Smithtown East (35); 6. Longwood (33); 7. Copiague (28); 8. Commack (24); 9. Brentwood (22); 10. West Islip (21); 11. Sachem East (17); 12. Northport (16); 13. Bay Shore (14); 14. Half Hollow Hills East (13); 15. Patchogue-Medford (10); 16. Riverhead (8); 17. Walt Whitman (7); 19. Lindenhurst (1); 19. North Babylon (1).