Huntington Sports Flash
The Huntington High School boys’ lacrosse team came within a whisker of toppling one of the best teams in the state on Tuesday afternoon, before ultimately falling to No. 4 ranked Connetquot, 13-12.
The Blue Devils led 3-2 after the first period. The teams were tied at halftime, 7-7. Huntington regained the advantage by the end of the third period, 11-10.
Connetquot went on to outscore host Huntington in the final frame, 3-1 and capture the victory by the slimmest of possible margins.
Garrett Moya led the Blue Devils with four goals and three assists and Matt Gelb added two goals and three assists. Huntington’s well-balanced attack included two goals and an assist by Austin Reda and two goals by Thomas Goldsmith. Chris Abbondandelo and Dan Brown had one goal each. Goalie Sam Bergman stopped 11 shots.
Huntington’s defense was led by Ryan Stieve, Ryan LaBella, Mark Rafuse, John Shea, Ryan Buxton and Matt Meyers.
H-ton Boys’ Track Stays Undefeated
The Huntington boys’ track and field team survived the weather and turned back visiting Eastport-South Manor in a close contest, 41-37 to clinch the Suffolk League IV dual meet championship.
With steady rain falling, the coaches agreed to forego contesting jumping and hurdle events to help streamline matters. The Sharks came into the meet after winning four-of-five previous league contests. But, despite the challenging elements, Huntington found a way to win and improve its record to 6-0.
Kyree Johnson won the 100m (10.9 seconds) and 200m (22.1) dashes. Kenny Charles captured the discus (155-10 feet) and Shane McGuire won the 800m run (2:02) for the Blue Devils.
The title marked the Huntington boys’ track and field team’s third consecutive league championship.
Comsewogue Nips Blue Devil Girls
Emma DeGennaro had four goals and an assist and Katie Reilly added a goal and five assists, but the Huntington girls’ lacrosse team fell to visiting Comsewogue, 9-8 on Monday afternoon.
Huntington trailed at halftime, 4-3 and was never able to gain the upper hand on the Warriors, who held off the Blue Devils in the final seconds of the game.
Ryann Gaffney scored a pair of goals for Huntington and Emma Petrizzi had a goal and an assist. Goalie Allison Berejka recorded four saves.
Blue Devil JV Improves to 10-1
The Huntington junior varsity girls’ lacrosse team improved to 10-1 by shutting out host Comsewogue on Tuesday afternoon, 13-0.
The Blue Devils were led by Abby Maichin, who scored three goals and Sydney Van den Valentyn, who added two goals and seven assists. Alyssa Sorensen had two goals and Holly Wright had a goal and a pair of assists. Marissa Stafford, Synclair Taylor, Ashlyn Case, Maire Brown and Sigrid Cassell scored one goal each.
Huntington is coached by Kim Gilroy and Linda Costello-Roth.
Blue Devils Return for Bob Pratt Invitational
After hustling back to Long Island from the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, five of Huntington High School’s most exceptional track team athletes helped lead the Blue Devil girls’ squad to a sensational showing in the Bob Pratt Invitational in Smithtown last Saturday.
Huntington placed fourth out of 21 teams overall and many individual athletes turned in fine performances in their respective events.
Alexandra Koumas finished first in a field of 35 in the 400m hurdles. The senior went wire to wire in 66.91 seconds. The teenager placed third out of 51 runners in the 800m run in a time of 2:24.50. Alexis Pastorelli was 10th in the 800m in a time of 2:26.93.
Nicole Abbondandelo notched a lifetime best in the 3000m with a time of 10:30.63. The sophomore finished second in a field of 37.
Anna Gulizio finished sixth in a field of 54 in the 400m dash, crossing the line in 60.17 seconds.
In the 1500m run, Louise Koepele ran a season best time of 5:09.3, which placed her seventh out of 34 runners. Niamh Condon placed 13th out of 33 runners in the frosh-soph 1500m race in a lifetime best time of 5:27.70.
Rebecca Caballero achieved a personal best in the long jump with a leap of 17-00.25 feet, which placed her fifth in a field of 24. Marina Ruzic finished eighth with a jump that measured 16-07 feet. Ruzic also placed 11th in a field of 48 in the 200m dash with a time of 28.07 seconds.
Nicole Arenth dropped her previous best time by 12 seconds in the 1500m race-walk to finish 22nd in a field of 38 in a time of 8:39.94.
Nina Cartwright finished seventh out of 21 competitors in discus with a throw of 92’1. Cartwright also placed seventh out of 17 in pole vault by clearing nine feet.
Jolena Smith threw a huge personal best of 87’5 in discus. Nicole Muszynski placed eighth out of 30 competitors in high jump by scaling 4’6.
“As a whole, we were missing a lot of people due to vacations,” said Shawn Anderson, the Blue Devils’ head coach. “But, the team ran very well and we are heading in the right direction. We have a few invites to peak and really tweak things in workouts to get ready for the championship season.”
Kenny Charles Named to All-State Basketball Team
Huntington senior Kenny Charles has been named to the Class AA All-State honorable mention boys’ basketball team by the New York State Sportswriters Association.
Charles is headed to SUNY Cortland next fall where he intends to play basketball for the Red Dragons. The teenager was previously named to the All-League, All-Conference and All-County teams.
Playing his final season in a Huntington uniform, Charles averaged 20.4 points and was named the Suffolk League III Player of the Year. He averaged 21.4 points in league play and 17 points in the team’s five non-league contests.