Blue Devil Sports News
The Huntington High School boys’ lacrosse team squared-off against New Jersey’s Seton Hall Prep in a scrimmage game at Blue Devil Stadium on Saturday. The event was held in honor H-ton lax alum Kyle Kirst, who passed away suddenly last June. He was 47 years old.
Mr. Kirst started in goal for Huntington during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. He also played on the Blue Devil football team. He went on to play lacrosse at Rutgers University and became a very successful and well respected high school coach in New Jersey.
The Blue Devil alum left behind a wife and five sons, two of which play on the Seton Hall Prep team. Following the game, a tailgate party was held at Harbor Boating Club.
Mr. Kirst graduated with Huntington’s Class of 1986. He went on to earn an undergraduate in history and education at Rutgers University in 1990. He taught history at Hanover Park High School. In addition to lacrosse, he also coached girls’ basketball during his career.
H-ton Winter Track’s 2017 4x4 Forecast
It’s a long, long way off, but Huntington High School boys’ winter track and field head coach Ron Wilson is already thinking about next year. The Blue Devils won their second consecutive Suffolk Division II team title and went on to win 4x400m relay titles at the state and national championships behind Kyree Johnson, Shane McGuire, Lawrence Leake and Infinite Tucker. What does 2017 look like for the 4x4 relay?
“This relay team has done something that has never been done before in the history of the track and field program,” said Wilson about the recently completed campaign. “They won a national title. After losing at the national last year, the boys went on an unbelievable run, winning every competition they competed in.”
Huntington’s 4x400m relay won the Millrose Games in a new school and county record time of 3:17.36 and captured the Dartmouth Relays and county, Long Island, state and national crowns.
The Blue Devils’ victory at the New Balance Indoor Nationals came against No. 1 seed Archbishop Carroll of Washington, DC. “We ran an incredible 3:16.09,” Wilson said. That is the best time ever indoor or outdoor in Suffolk history. It’s the third fastest performance ever in New York and the ninth fastest in the country.”
Tucker is graduating, but the other three members of the relay will return. Also graduating will be Mitch Rudish and Exzayvian Crowell, who filled in at times on the relay.
Alum Samantha Lynch Scores for Notre Dame
Huntington Class of 2015 alum Samantha Lynch scored a goal on Monday afternoon for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team in the Fighting Irish’s 17-9 victory at Marquette. It was the former Blue Devil great’s fourth goal of the season.
Ranked No. 4 in the country, Notre Dame is 10-2 this spring. Lynch has played in eight games. Against Marquette, the teenager added two draw controls and picked up a ground ball. She now has 12 draw controls and two ground balls along with scoring four times.
Lynch was a star player for the Blue Devil soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams, earning post-season awards in each of the sports. She verbally committed to Notre Dame as a sophomore and has never regretted it.
An Advanced Placement Scholar with Honors, Lynch served as vice president of Huntington’s National Honor Society chapter, secretary of the Math Honor Society and was also a member of the Spanish, English and Social Studies honor societies. She plans to major in engineering at Notre Dame.
H-ton Girls’ Winter Track Recap
Huntington’s girls’ winter track and field team won the Suffolk Division II title behind a strong cast of athletes. The top performers included Latoya Shand, Alexandra Koumas, Ryann Gaffney, Savannah Richardson, Nina Cartwright and Nicole Abbondandelo.
Shand won All-League, All-County and All-State honors. Gaffney, Koumas, Richardson, Abbondandelo, Erika Varady, Lexi Mills, Rebecca Caballero, Alexis Pastorelli and Louise Koepele earned All-League recognition.
Shand, Koumas and Richardson also captured All-County Academic status. Cheskes was named the county’s small school Coach of the Year.
Team members set numerous new school records during the winter campaign. Ekaterina Koulakova, Kelsey Jamison, Koumas, Mills, Hand and Cartwright captained the 42-athlete strong Blue Devil squad.
Shand shined in several events. “All her hand work this year has paid off,” Cheskes said. Koumas also sparkled. “She had a great season,” the coach said. “She lowered her school record in the 600m run. She’s an amazing captain.”
Gaffney broke school records in the 55m dash and 55m high hurdles. “She’s a superb athlete,” Cheskes said. Richardson improved her school record in the high school. Cartwright broke her own school mark in the pole vault.
Abbondandelo set new records in the 1500m and 3000m runs. “She has natural talent,” Cheskes said. “I can’t wait to see how fast she will get.”
Smithtown West Nips Blue Devils
Host Smithtown West nipped the Huntington boys’ lacrosse team in the season opener for the Blue Devils, 7-6.
The Bulls led at halftime, 4-2 and held off a late game rally by Huntington, which scored three unanswered goals in the fourth period.
Garrett Moya paced the Blue Devils with two goals and two assists. Ryan Gorecki also scored twice. Matt Gelb and Thomas Goldsmith each had a goal and an assist. Donnie Stewart recorded seven saves in goal.
Boys’ Tennis Remains Undefeated
The Huntington boys’ tennis team remained undefeated with a 7-0 victory over Walt Whitman. Cody Bograd and Nick Newell captured first double, 6-2, 6-1 to lead the 3-0 Blue Devils.
A Third Consecutive County Crown?
Is it beyond the realm of the possible for the Huntington boys’ indoor track team to win its third consecutive Suffolk title next winter considering some of its top athletes are set to graduate in June?
“Next year should be interesting,” said Ron Wilson, the team’s head coach. “We are losing a very experienced throwing field, but should continue to be dominant in the sprints and jumps. Three members of the 4x400m relay state champs will be returning. Mark Rafuse should improve and be stronger on the return for his senior year. Clay Jamison and Sam Bergman were among the top sophomore throwers in the state and will return in shot put.”
Despite all the talent coming back, Wilson isn’t predicting a championship. “It will be tough to defend our titles next season,” he said. “We did exceptionally well in the field events and losing Vernon Alexander and Amaru Jones in shot put and weight throw and Infinite Tucker, Tom Kopstein and Kyle O’Brien on the track could prove to be a problem for us, but we will see.”
Fall Athletic Season Dates Announced
The Blue Devil fall athletic season will start a week earlier than usual so folks who intend to participate should note the dates and make any vacation plans accordingly.
Coaches are already quietly organizing equipment and practice plans and student-athletes are discussing their interests for the 2016/17 school year. There is a mandatory meeting of all high school football players on Thursday, August 11 at 7:30 a.m. Football practice will kick-off on Monday, August 15 at 7 a.m. All other high school fall sports will begin practicing on Monday, August 22 at 7:30 a.m.
An opportunity for high school athletes (grades 9-12) to obtain a physical exam from the school doctor will be provided on Thursday, August 11 at 8 a.m. Students must bring a completed and signed health history screening form to the physical exam.
No one will be allowed to participate without presenting an up-to-date physical exam report, signed parent/guardian permission/code of conduct slip and a current health screening form. These documents are available in the athletic office at Huntington High School during daytime hours or via downloading on the school district’s website at www.hufsd.edu – click on the Athletics link at the top of the page and then choose Forms & Files.
High school athletes must re-qualify for participation with the nurse. Football players can do this on Thursday, August 11 from 9-11 a.m. All other fall athletes can re-qualify on Monday, August 15 (9-11 a.m.), Monday, August 22 (7-11 a.m.) and Tuesday, August 23 (7-11 a.m.) Physical exam forms completed by private physicians and signed health screening forms should both be presented to the nurse when requalifying.
Physical exams will be provided by the school doctor for student-athletes (grades 7-8) at J. Taylor Finley Middle School on Tuesday, September 6 at 8 a.m. in the nurse’s office there.
Finley students can re-qualify for fall participation on Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. and during lunch periods on Wednesday and Thursday, September 7-8. Physical exam forms completed by private physicians and signed health screening forms should both be presented to the nurse when requalifying.
Finley football practice will begin on Wednesday, September 7 and run from 3-5:30 p.m. All other Finley sports will start on Thursday, September 8 with tryouts being held from 3-5 p.m.
For more information call the athletic office at 673-2018.