Blue Devils Race at
Belmont Lake State Park
The Huntington High School boys’ cross country team turned in a strong performance in a tri-meet against Bellport and West Babylon at the 463 acre Belmont Lake State Park, which was established in 1926 and was once owned by industrialist August Belmont.
“In my four years of coaching, this was the best performance I have seen by any of my teams,” said Shawn Anderson, Huntington’s head coach. While one of the Blue Devils’ top five runners sat out the meet, the team’s other stars enjoyed personal bests.
Kyle O’Brien led Huntington on the 5k course with a time of 17:19. Shane McGuire (18:26) Ethan Dwyer (18:39) and Connor Grosso (19:01) were also sensational. “It was a great battle,” Anderson said.
Nick Sanin, Ryan Mock, Tim Gress, Quinn Kemerson, Rudi Fasolino, Ed Brambil, Lukas Fleisig, and Joey Dammers rounded out the Blue Devils’ finishers.
“It was exciting to watch,” Anderson said. “We have two more meets left, a few invites and then championships season. They are exactly where they need to be, progressing in a positive direction as a team.”
Looking ahead, Anderson hopes to finish the season on a high note. “My top three on any given day are really four guys who are running interchangeably,” the coach said. “That’s Kyle O’Brien and then the changers are Ethan Dwyer, Connor Grosso and Shane McGuire. Kyle has been way ahead most of the season. I think finishing in the top 20 [in Suffolk] or even the top 10 is definitely an attainable goal.”
Dwyer, Grosso and McGuire “have been feeding off of each other and pushing each other to better and better races,” Anderson said. “Putting their hearts and legs out on the course, these guys have been running well in a pack, always exchanging leads and places. We have a few more races to go, but if these three can keep pressing then finishing better than last year is a given. Even finishing in the top third of the division seems like a realistic goal. But we still have about 3 ½ weeks until that race, so until then we keep raising the bar and helping each other as a team.”