Blue Devils Rock Suffolk Division II Championships
Trayvon Toney and Shaheem Lewis are teammates and friends, but the Huntington High School track and field stars are also in competition with each other. They pair went at it at the Suffolk Division II Championships last week. The Blue Devils finished fourth, a mere five points out of second place.
Toney, a senior, is state ranked in discus, but Lewis is no shrinking violet either. The junior is bigger physically and he's just as tough mentally. A photo of the Blue Devil duo starring each other down reminds Huntington head coach Ron Wilson of a similar photograph that depicts professional wrestlers Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan glaring at one another at Wrestlemania III in 1987.
At the Suffolk Division II Championships, the discus turned into one of the most hotly contested events. On Lewis' first attempt he threw 141-feet to move into the top spot. Toney then flung the disc 144-feet on his first throw to grab the lead. The two teammates advanced to the finals as interest in the event picked up among the crowd.
"Seeing them compete against each other was great," Wilson said. "Everyone including the fans and athletes were cheering both athletes on when they stepped into the circle. You could hear and feel the excitement of the crowd when they threw. What a sight to see when they both starred each other down in the circle!"
On Lewis' last attempt he launched the discus a personal best of 153'3 to reclaim the lead. But, the rugged Toney refused to be denied. He grabbed the discus and threw it 153'11 to claim the county crown for himself.
Toney's best effort in the event this year is a 170 foot throw, which led the state for about a month. That distance is still the fifth longest in New York this spring. "Toney is actually like Hogan in that he thrives on competition," Wilson said. "We're hoping that both of them carry this energy into the state qualifying meet this Friday and Saturday in Port Jefferson."
So good were Toney and Lewis in the event that they earned the Blue Devils 18 points in discus alone, vaulting the team into second place among 18 squads. But, even more outstanding performances were still to come.
In other action for Huntington:
• Senior Tyriek Johnson ran the preliminaries of the 110m high hurdles in 14.75 seconds, the best time recorded in any Suffolk division. The teenager went on to win the event for the third consecutive year, crossing the finish line in 14.82 in the finals.
• Johnson also soared 22'7 on his last long jump attempt to add a second crown to his growing collection. It marked the second straight year he captured the long jump title.
• The biggest surprise of all for Huntington was its 4x800m relay team of junior and lead leg Thomas Boisclair, freshman Alex Alvarenga, senior Ryan Ackerman and freshman Scott Gulizio. The relay team finished third in 8:18 behind state-ranked Bellport and North Babylon, respectively. "It seemed as if we were out of contention for any of the top six spots," Wilson said. "Gulizio was trailing in about seventh place on the last lap of the event. In the final 300m you saw Gulizio picking up the pace. Then once he reached that final turn, he started passing people. All I could do was sit back, watch and say, 'wow.'"
• Earlier during the day, Gulzio and Ackerman both ran well in the 1600m race. Gulizio completed the distance in a personal best of 4:30 and Ackerman finished in 4:50.
• Sophomore Joshua Watkins joined in the team's fun, as well. In the 400m intermediate hurdles, he placed fifth in 59.21 seconds.
• In Huntington's last event, the 4x100m relay consisting of lead leg freshman Gerald Riley, second leg senior Trayvon Toney, third leg junior John Ceide and anchor senior Tyriek Johnson put on a show that Wilson will always remember. Behind a very strong effort by Toney, the Blue Devils ran an astonishing 44.09 seconds to place third behind North Babylon and Hills West, respectively.
"It was a great race and Toney ran the best leg of all," Wilson said about relay race. "He really does show his power and speed when he gets the baton in his hand. Wow. He ran down the leaders, but unfortunately our third leg left out too soon and then had to stop and get the baton and that slowed us down a bit. But, that didn't stop Ceide. He got the baton and passed it on to Johnson who was able to hold that third spot down."
Huntington finished second in the 18-team championships for the second consecutive year. Smithtown West led the field with 100 points followed by Copiague (69), North Babylon (68) and the Blue Devils (64).
"We were very satisfied with the performances of our athletes," Wilson said. "They stepped up their game and for that we were happy. We did this with only about a dozen athletes."
The state qualifying meet is slated for Friday and Saturday at Port Jefferson. "Like these young folks say, 'it's time to turn it up a few notches,'" Wilson said.