Shoreham-Wading River's Michael Huebner wins 800 state qualifier

Most athletes are at their best when they are fully healthy. Most. However, Shoreham-Wading River senior Michael Huebner is not like most athletes.

The Buffalo commit won the 800 meters on the first day of the Suffolk state qualifier track and field meet on Thursday at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station, finishing in 1 minute, 53.65 seconds. The time was the 10th best in the state for the outdoor season. He was able to run his way into the state’s top 10 despite shin splints in his left leg.

About two weeks ago, Huebner came down with the injury while practicing. His rehabilitation runs went poorly, forcing him to shut himself down for five days. He returned to action at the Suffolk Class 4B meet with a special wrapping on his leg that reduces stress. He fought through the injury to win a pair of county titles in the 400 and 800 before giving an encore performance in the 800 on Thursday.

It was the second consecutive year in which Huebner won the 800 at the Suffolk state qualifier. Last year, the story was almost identical, as he overcame Achilles tendinitis in the same leg to win the same event in the same place — in almost the same time (1:53.41).

Perhaps he’s better when he’s hurt.

“Somebody told me, ‘When you’re hurt, you’re ready to go,’” Huebner said. “When I’m healthy, I’ll mess up . . . When I’m hurt, I know what I’ve got to go for and I do it. I will say: when you’re hurt, you’ve got to be smart and keep up with everything. Stretching, icing, all of that. When I get hurt, I start doing all the right things.”

Huebner did not have to win to qualify for the state championship meet, as he already hit the state’s super qualifying standard for Class B runners in the event. The super standard automatically sends athletes to the state meet, so long as they compete in the qualifier meet.

However, even though he was hurt and had nothing to lose, Huebner wanted to go for glory, and he got it.

“I wanted a better time,” Huebner said. “I felt like I could do one better. I needed it for myself. I was also a little nervous because I won last year, so I had to do it again. I had been saying I want to go get it. I felt like this one was more important to me.”

Five other runners qualified for the state meet in the 800, starting with Bellport senior Vincent Pitre Jr., who was the top Class A finisher in 1:54.65. Eastport-South Manor senior Paul Zorn finished fourth overall in 1:55.72 to earn the state’s super qualifier. His classmate, Justin Albanese, already owned the super standard. Northport junior Alex Toran finished second among Class A runners and already owned the at-large qualifying standard, sending him to the state meet, as well. Port Jefferson junior Lucas Sweeney placed atop Class C in 2:03.42 to advance with them. 

The 3,200 sent four boys, two of which were Ward Melville teammates Jon Seyfert and Anthony Anatol.

Seyfert, a senior, owned the super standard, so with nothing to gain, he decided to take it easy in hopes that Anatol would win. Anatol, a junior who has never been to the outdoor state meet, did not own an at-large or super standard, meaning he needed to win the 3,200 to get there.

After trailing for the first half of the race, Anatol made a move into first place and never relinquished it, though Northport sophomore Seamus Taylor hung with him closely the rest of the way. Anatol won it by half a second in 9:25.41 to punch his ticket to the state meet. He was greeted with a long round of congratulations from his entire team and staff, as well as some friends from school who came to watch.

“There was definitely a lot of pressure, but Coach [Ryan] DeLuca and [assistant coach Brian] Liebowitz telling me that I’m one of the best guys here took some of the edge off,” Anatol said. “Just having their reinforcement and them giving me good training helped me know that I had as good of a shot as anyone. It feels amazing. I’ve never felt happier after crossing the finish line.”

Seyfert was happy to see that his selflessness benefited his teammate.

“I know that if Anthony’s on any stage, he’s running faster, he’s putting his heart on the line, he’s going 100%,” Seyfert said. “That’s what he did today. Seeing him take over, I knew it was over.”

The other two 3,200 runners going to the state meet are Shoreham-Wading River sophomore Spencer Lee, who won Class B in 9:48.42, and Port Jefferson junior Christopher Nam, who won Class C in 10:06.68

In the field, Connetquot sent two kids to the state meet in freshman Jeremiah Davis and junior Alex Molter. Davis flew a personal-record 23 feet, 2 ¼ inches to win the long jump, while Molter cleared a school-record 14 feet, 9 inches to win the pole vault.

“When I was in eighth grade, I didn’t think I’d improve this much,” Davis said. “I was jumping 22s, and I missed states by a couple of inches. I was a little frightened because I never thought I’d make it.”

Shoreham-Wading River junior Leyton Mangiamele also qualified in the long jump as the top Class B finisher with a jump of 22-3 ¾, while Southold/Greenport senior Jeremiah King-Smith led Class C at 20-4.

Whitman senior Luca Cioffi cleared 14-6 in the pole vault to hit the super standard and send himself to the state meet, while Half Hollow Hills West junior David Collymore won Class B at 13 feet even and Port Jefferson senior Kendry Rodriguez won Class C at 12 feet. 

Mount Sinai senior Tyler Zahra rounded out the list of Thursday’s overall winners, as he won the shot put with a throw of 54-8. West Babylon senior Jah’rece Matthews threw 52-2 ¾ to lead Class A and make the state meet, while Southold/Greenport freshman Michael Garrett did the same thing with a throw of 37-1 ¾ in Class C.

Most of the races that took place on Thursday were preliminaries to qualify for finals runs on Friday. However, there were three preliminary sprints — the 100, 200 and 400 — in which no Class C runners survived, therefore meaning that the class’ top finisher from each of those trials earned Suffolk’s qualifying berth to the state meet from Class C.

In the 100 and 200, Babylon sophomore Mason Harris paced the Class C field with an 11.85 and 23.34 to qualify for the state meet. His teammate, junior Griffen Smith, ran a 50.96 to qualify for the state championship in the 400.

The only other athlete who already clinched a spot in the state meet was Eastport-South Manor senior Jaiden Campbell, who was the only Class B runner in the 110-meter hurdles to qualify for the finals run on Friday. Campbell became the class’ top finisher in the event by default, which automatically secured his berth to the state championships.