May 1, 1986

    Greg Schiavoni, Pierson High School’s junior right-hander, set a school strikeout record in Pierson’s 9-1 victory over Shelter Island on Monday. Schiavoni, who gave up three hits, struck out 16, eclipsing the former record of 15 jointly held by Ricky Kraft and Bob DePetris.

May 15, 1986

    The United States Open, which, tennis players notwithstanding, needs no further qualification among golfers, is, after having been bally-hooed here the past four years, about to descend on the windswept moorlands of Shinnecock Hills, a prospect that, for the local resident, both fascinates and repels.

    What fascinates is the chance that the rolling expanse of narrow fairways and high rough of the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, which slopes down toward Peconic Bay from a Stanford White Shingle Style clubhouse commanding views of bay and ocean, will, with Aeolus’s help, tax its cool professional challengers.

    What may repel is the associated traffic. Many South Fork inhabitants do not share the United States Golf Association’s enthusiasm for the tournament as a vehicle to boost tourism, although for the most part the tourist industry here has welcomed the Open’s coming. Its shots, after all, will be heard and seen around the world.

May 22, 1986

    The checkered flag may not wave this season at the Bridgehampton Race Circuit, whose control is at the moment embroiled in litigation involving two groups of sports car racing enthusiasts.

    . . . While club races aren’t being permitted, said Lawrence Auriana, president of the Bridgehampton Road Races Corporation board of directors, the corporation is allowing certain driving schools to operate at “The Bridge,” from time to time. Skip Barber is holding a sports car driving school there this week, ending today, and an “anti-terrorist” driving school is scheduled to use the 2.85-mile loop in the near future.

—

    Fifteen golfers, six of them with Southampton connections, made the cut in a 36-hole local qualifier for the United States Open held at the Noyac Golf and Country Club and Southampton Golf Club last Thursday.

    Of the 15 whose scores were the best among 155 carded that day, Bruce Zabriski, a Southampton professional who plays on the European tour, was the medalist, with a two-under-par 70 at Noyac, and a one-over-par 71 at Southampton. John Adams, a former assistant of Southampton’s head pro, Bob Joyce, who has played on the Professional Golf Association tour the past nine years, was the runner-up at 71-71.

    . . . “Everybody made it but me,” joked Joyce, when asked how he had done on Thursday. “I scored 80 and 80 — very consistent. Bad putting. The greens were fast, but true.”

May 29, 1986

    The East Hampton High School baseball team, runner-up to Hampton Bays in League VII, has for the second straight year made it into the Suffolk County playoffs.

    In games played during the week, East Hampton defeated Hampton Bays 10-5 on May 21. . . . It was only the second time Hampton Bays has been defeated this season.

    Pat Bistrian pitched that day, evening his record at 4-4. A double play in the first inning, and a triple play — the first Jim Nicoletti, East Hampton’s coach, can remember one of his teams achieving — in the sixth greatly helped the Bonac cause.

    . . . The triple play went into the scorebook as 4-6-3-2-5-1. Nicoletti said it couldn’t have come at a better time.

—

    A Guinness record of 13 hours of continuous Ultimate disc play was set last Thursday by Southampton Ultimate Frisbee for Educational Recreation (SUFFER), an Ultimate club at Southampton College. SUFFER already holds the Wham-O record of 36 continuous hours.

—

    East Hampton Town residents will be able to travel daily on the Long Island Rail Road to and from the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Marina Van, the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, said, “The way it was, you could get there from here, but you couldn’t get back. The new schedule will enable people in East Hampton Town to take the train to and from the Open each day.”

Memorial Triathlon

    The Robert J. Aaron Memorial Triathlon, which benefits the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Montauk Senior Nutrition Center, the East Hampton Police Benevolent Association, and the Montauk ambulance squad, will be contested in Montauk Saturday. The one-mile swim in Lake Montauk is to begin at 7:30 a.m. The bicycle leg is 22 miles, and the run is 6.2. The staging area is at the intersection of West Lake and Star Island Drives.

    Merle McDonald-Aaron, who oversees the race, said 700 triathletes had signed up, including the defending champion, Andrew Kalley, 28, of New York City. Last year’s women’s winner, Laurel Wassner, 34, now a pro, who was fourth over all in 2010 in 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 58.3 seconds, may be a late registrant, McDonald-Aaron said.

Basketball Camp

    Howard Wood and Louis O’Neal, who coach East Hampton High School’s girls basketball team, are to oversee a camp at the high school for third-through-eighth-grade boys and girls from June 27 to July 1. The five-day camp, which is to include guest speakers, will cost $75.

    According to a flier, which is available at South Fork schools, “This camp is designed as a fun-filled environment for grade school students interested in learning the game of basketball. Emphasis will be put on fundamentals, teamwork, and discipline. Instruction will be provided by quality local high school coaches.”

    Those wanting more details can call O’Neal at 871-7332.

Thunder in the Sand

    Jay Grisham of East Hampton cleaned up at last weekend’s Thunder in the Sand motocross races held in Wildwood, N.J., winning the 250 B, Open B, and College Boy divisions. A graduate of the State University at Delhi, Grisham is to attend the Motorcycle Institute of Technology in Orlando, Fla., in the fall.

    Other East Hamptoners who did well during the course of the two-day event were Stewart Thomas, who won the Open 250 division; Mark Wesnofske, who was second in the over-25s; Devon Grisham, who was second in the Open C division; Eric Schoenster, who was fifth, and Ben Schoenster, who was seventh in the 85 c.c. 7-through-11 division, and T.J. Wittmer, who was fifth in the 85 c.c. 9-to-11 division.

Rising Rower

    Walter Banfield, the grandson of Norma Edwards of Springs, and a sophomore at the Christchurch School in Christchurch, Va., placed third with Brandon Byrd, a junior, in the junior boys doubles race at the national scholastic crew championships in Cherry Hill, N.J., over the weekend.

    The Virginia state champions won a bronze medal as well in the Stotesbury Cup — reportedly the largest rowing competition in the world — in Philadelphia.

Thursday, May 26

SOFTBALL, county tournament, first round, East Hampton at Kings Park, 4 p.m.

BOYS TENNIS, county tournament, quarterfinal round matches, sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

BASEBALL, Pierson-Port Jefferson winner at McGann-Mercy, Riverhead, 4 p.m.

Friday, May 27

BOYS TENNIS, county tournament, semifinal round matches, sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

SOFTBALL, county tournament, Class C bracket, final best-of-three series begins, Pierson at Port Jefferson, 4 p.m.

BASEBALL, county tournament, first round Class C losers to play at site of higher seed, 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 28

YOUTH FOOTBALL, registration for Police Athletic League 7-through-13-year-old teams, East Hampton High School football field, 9:30-11 a.m.

SOFTBALL, county tournament, Class A bracket, Kings Park-East Hampton winner vs. Miller Place-Islip winner, site of higher seed, 2 p.m.

Tuesday, May 31

BOYS TENNIS, county tournament, final, Smithtown East High School, 4 p.m.

BASEBALL, county tournament, Class C best-of-three final begins, site of higher seed, 4 p.m.

SOFTBALL, county Class C final, game two, Pierson at Port Jefferson, 4 p.m.

Wednesday, June 1

SOFTBALL, county tournament, Class A best-of-three final series begins at site of higher seed; game three of Class C final between Pierson and Port Jefferson, if necessary, 4 p.m.

Ross Tennis Champs

    Henry Lee and Felipe Reis of the Ross School won the Suffolk County boys doubles championship at Smithtown East High School Friday, upsetting the tourney’s top seeds, Chris Hunter and Eric Bertuglia of Half Hollow Hills East 1-6,7-6, 7-5. Ross now has three county champions — Lee and Reis, and Nadia Smergut, who won the county’s girls singles title last fall.

    Ross’s team, second behind Hills East, was to have begun play in the county team tournament in its bubble yesterday with the Longwood-Northport winner. Barring disaster, Ross is to play two more home matches — today and tomorrow — before Tuesday’s final at Smithtown East.

Bonac Teams

    East Hampton High’s baseball team, seeded eighth in the county’s Class A bracket, was to have played ninth-seeded Islip here on Tuesday. Originally, the game was to have been played here Monday, but rain caused a postponement.

    The winner was to have played at top-seeded Sayville yesterday. The double elimination tournament is to continue through next Thursday.

    East Hampton’s softball team, the eighth seed in that tournament’s Class A bracket, is to play a first-round game at top-seeded Kings Park today at 4 p.m. The winner is to play the Miller Place-Islip winner on Saturday at 2 p.m. A best-of-three final series is to begin Wednesday.

Pierson Teams

    Pierson’s softball team is to begin a best-of-three Class C final series at Port Jefferson tomorrow at 4 p.m. The second game is to be played Tuesday, and a third game, if necessary, is to be played Wednesday.

    The Whalers’ baseball team, seeded second among the Class C schools, was to have played a home game with third-seeded Port Jefferson yesterday. The winner is to play at top-seeded McGann-Mercy this afternoon. The two losing teams are to play each other tomorrow at the site of the higher seed. Class C’s final best-of-three series is to begin Tuesday.

Youth Lacrosse

    East Hampton’s second and third-grade lacrosse team coached by Chris Stewart finished the season undefeated Sunday, besting Eastport-South Manor 8-2. Christian Johnson led the way with four goals. J.B. Stewart and Logan Gurney each had two.

    Michael Sabin tended the goal. “He’s been outstanding all season,” said Stewart, who added that “Jackson Baris anchored our defense, as he has all season.”

    Stewart, who received a Gatorade dunking, and his charges celebrated afterward at the La Superica restaurant in Sag Harbor.

P.A.L. Football

    A second registration session for East Hampton’s Police Athletic League football teams is to be held at East Hampton High School’s football field Saturday from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

    Five 7-through-13-year-old teams (including a new all-seventh-grade one) made up of youngsters living between Montauk and Bridgehampton are to play this fall. The Web site ehyfootball.com has more information.

E.H.I.T. Tennis

    The following were winners and runners-up in leagues at the East Hampton Indoor Tennis Club this past winter:

    Mariano Castillo and Rich Swanson, Monday men’s A singles; Barbarta Mueller and Kelly Canavan, Thursday women’s A singles; Glen Lawton and Jack Graves, Thursday men’s A doubles.

    Diana Cochran and Wendy Kalkstein, Monday women’s A doubles; Dave Olson and Chris LaGuardia, Tuesday men’s B-plus singles; Christine Kuhl and Wendy Flanagan, Thursday women’s B-plus singles; Dawn Harvey and Julie Stavola, Tuesday women’s B-plus singles.

    Chuck Kraus and Dom Magat, Monday men’s B singles; John Ali and Richard Louie, Thursday men’s B doubles; Teresa Pascual and Koral Gregor, Monday women’s B doubles; Heather McCormack and Fran Powell, Tuesday women’s B doubles, and Jim McMullen and Harvey Reid, Tuesday men’s retired doubles.

The East Hampton High School baseball team was to have finished up the regular season at Miller Place Thursday afternoon, but nothing was riding on that game inasmuch as the Bonackers had clinched the program's first playoff spot since 2007 by defeating the Panthers 2-1 at home the day before behind Maykell Guzman's pitching and hitting.

Guzman, a sophomore who mixes swift fastballs with tantalizing changeups, allowed only two hits over the course of seven innings here on May 18. And he came through at the plate as well, his shot down the left field line scoring his older brother, Deilyn, with the winning run from third base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Guzmans' teammates rushed from the dugout as Deilyn crossed home plate, and the brothers were soon besieged by whooping and cavorting celebrants.

A few moments later, when the team had reassembled in the dugout, Eddie Bahns, the team's coach, told them, "You guys played an incredible game today, the best this year. You've worked your butts off and you deserve it. I couldn't be happier for you. I'm thrilled. You did an excellent job. Everybody's happy for you, everybody's been pulling for you. . . ."

Indeed, East Hampton's baseball program has rarely made the playoffs in the past decade. Before 2007, the last time a Bonac baseball team made them was in 2002.

When Bahns was finished, Will Collins, his assistant, added, "Every guy today came up with big plays -- there was Maykell's pitching, Michael's catch out there [in the top of the seventh] in center field, and Ben's [in the top of the fourth] in right . . . It was a tremendous team win."

After giving up a triple to the visitors' leadoff hitter, Shane Paparelli, in the top of the first, Guzman retired the rest of the side on strikeouts.

The only other hit off him that grey afternoon was a single through the right side of the infield by Dan Smith, who bats second in Miller Place's lineup, leading off the third.

Guzman finished with eight strikeouts. He walked five. Two of those walks, issued in succession in the top of the second to the designated hitter, Matt Crimi, and to Bruce Tyler, resulted in the Panthers' sole run as Crimi, who had advanced to third on a bunt by Dan Becker, was plated by Kevin Cargoi's sacrifice fly. John Hirdt grounded out to A.J. Bennett, East Hampton's first baseman, to end the inning, leaving Tyler stranded at third.

East Hampton tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. With one out, Brandon Brophy, who bats second in the lineup, lined a single to right (one of nine hits the Bonackers had that day). Brophy took second on Deilyn Guzman's short-to-first groundout. Miller Place's pitcher, Cody McPartland, then issued back-to-back-to-back free passes to Cameron Yusko, Bennett, and Maykell Guzman, the latter allowing Brophy to stroll home with the game-tying run.

The visitors had a runner on second with one out in the top of the fifth, the result of a walk and a steal, but a foulout to Yusko off third and a strikeout ended the threat.

The top of the seventh began with a great running catch by Michael Abreu of a long fly ball hit to straightaway center field by Becker, Abreu's opposite number. Guzman then gave up back-to-back walks, to Cargoi, and to a pinch-hitter, Justin Ludwig, putting runners at first and second for Paparelli, whose triple began the game. Bahns came out to discuss the situation with Guzman.

When the action resumed, Paparelli bunted in front of the plate -- a move that left Miller Place fans near the first baseline dumbfounded, but which didn't surprise East Hampton's catcher, Ryan Joudeh, whose throw to second caught the hesitant Cargoi as he tried to get back to the bag.

That was the second out of the inning. There were still runners at first and second, but Guzman struck out Smith to retire the side.

The Bonackers lost no time when they came to bat in the bottom of the seventh. Brophy led it off with another base hit and Deilyn Guzman followed with a double to the center field fence.

Collins, the third base coach, then tried a safety squeeze with Yusko bunting and Brophy, who'd taken a secondary lead off third, racing plateward, but Brophy was dead on arrival. Later, Collins, who was spared any agonizing because of the happy outcome, said a suicide squeeze probably would have been better.

One out later, with runners at second and third and two gone, Maykell Guzman, who bats sixth in Bonac's lineup, smacked the aforementioned walk-off single that led to the joyful celebration at the plate.

"It's the first time our seniors [Dylan Carroza, Ben DePietro, Frank Grande, and Richard Dalene] have made the playoffs," said Bahns. "They were eighth graders the last time we did. The playoffs are a great thing. I'm glad they'll get the chance to experience them."

Ross Tennis

    The Ross School, which has been seeded second, behind defending-champion Half Hollow Hills East, in Suffolk’s boys tennis team tournament, is to play a home match with the Northport-Longwood winner tomorrow at 4 p.m. The winner of tomorrow’s match is to play, again at the site of the higher seed, on Monday, also at 4. Tuesday’s semifinals are to be played at the sites of the higher seeds as well. The final is set for Wednesday at 4 at Smithtown East High School.

    Ross lost to Hills East in last year’s final by a score of 5-2. Earlier this season, the teams played a nonleaguer at Ross, with the Thunderbirds winning 5-2 again. Cole Katzter, one of the Cosmos’ top doubles players, was not in the Cosmos’ lineup that day, however.

    In the recent division individual tourney, Ross’s Henry Lee and Felipe Reis won the doubles, and Richard Sipala, the team’s number-one, lost to his Southampton rival, Jeremy Dubin, in the singles final.

    The county individual tournament’s semifinal, final, and consolation rounds were to have been played at Smithtown East yesterday.

Rugby Family Day

    A rugby clinic for youngsters overseen by Play Rugby USA will precede a barbecue and a friendly match between the Montauk and Connecticut Yankees Rugby Clubs at East Hampton High School Saturday. Registration for the youth clinic will be at 10 a.m.

    Montauk, which has recently added the services of some young pile-driving forwards and fleet backs, has done surprisingly well in friendly matches this spring. Saturday’s game will be the first the Sharks have played at home since last fall.

Swim Across America

    A kickoff party for Swim Across America’s July 2 Hamptons Swim in Gardiner’s Bay will be held Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor. Olympians Craig Beardsley and Glenn Mills are to speak.

    Laura Mott is handling reservations for the party. Her e-mail address is [email protected].

Team in Training

    An informational meeting on Team in Training, whose running and triathloning teams throughout the country raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, will be held at the Amagansett Library Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Participants will be availed of certified coaching in preparation for such events as the Hamptons Half-Marathon and Marathon and the Tobay Triathlon in Oyster Bay.

    Tennille Treadwell, who is one of Team in Training’s coaches, said 75 percent of the funds raised through Team in Training’s participation in various long-distance events throughout the country “go toward finding a cure for all blood cancers.”

Bocce Showdown

    Wreaking revenge for last year’s loss, a Southampton Bocce League team, the Founders, comprising Sal Ficara Sr., Rich VanHouten, Charles Mottern, and Saverio Naclerio, defeated a Southampton Town Board team 12-9 at the Southampton Recreation Center on May 10.

    Councilman Chris Nuzzi, Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, Councilwoman Bridget Fleming, and Teri Kiernan, the town’s tax receiver, made up the town board’s team.    

    Steve Marciw, the bocce league team’s captain, said that “the match was tied several times until the Founders picked up three points with one toss.”

    The 24-team league, whose matches are contested at S.Y.S. on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, is to begin play June 14.

    “When we started, in 2008, we only had eight teams,” said Marciw.

Thursday, May 19

BASEBALL, East Hampton at Miller Place, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 20

BOYS TENNIS, first round, county team tournament, Northport-Longwood winner at Ross, 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 21

RUGBY, Montauk Rugby Club Family Day, with junior clinic, barbecue, and friendly game with Connecticut Yankees, East Hampton High School, from 10 a.m.

BASEBALL, county tournament, Class A playoffs, ninth seed at eighth seed, 11 a.m.

SWIMMING, Swim Across America gala, at which Olympians Craig Beardsley and Glenn Mills are to speak, Breakwater Yacht Club, Sag Harbor, 6-9 p.m.

Sunday, May 22

TEAM IN TRAINING, informational meeting, Amagansett Library, 1:30 p.m.

Monday, May 23

BOYS TENNIS, quarterfinal round, county team tournament, at sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

BASEBALL, eighth-ninth seed winner at Class A top seed, 4 p.m.

Tuesday, May 24

BOYS TENNIS, semifinal round matches, county team tournament, sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

BASEBALL, playoffs continue, sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

Wednesday, May 25

BOYS TENNIS, final round, county team tournament, Smithtown East High School, 4 p.m.

BASEBALL, playoffs continue, sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

SOFTBALL, first round games, county tournament, sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

Graham’s 800

    Mike Graham now tops the 800-series list at East Hampton Bowl. The former all-state bowler recently put together 300, 259, and 257 games for L.W. Winslow Painting in the Tuesday night businessmen’s league to achieve the feat. Graham is the only one at the Bowl who has rolled two 800-plus series. It was his fifth 300, though he’s got a ways to go to catch his father, Steve, who has 11 perfect games to his credit.

T-Ball to Start

    Mark McKee will begin overseeing East Hampton Kiwanis’s T-ball sessions at the John M. Marshal Elementary School field on Saturday from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The program, for boys and girls ages 5 through 8, will last six weeks. Registration will be held Saturday.

Rowing Results

    Gavin Nelson (stroke) and Ryan Lewis (bow), representing the Sag Harbor Municipal Rowing Club, won the men’s novice doubles race at the Long Island junior rowing championships in Oyster Bay last weekend, finishing five lengths ahead of the runner-up, McGann-Mercy High School of Riverhead, on the 1,500-meter course.

    In men’s novice quads, Sag Harbor’s Nelson, Elias Van Eckle, Steven Hatgistavrou, and Ryan Lewis finished second, by less than half a second, to St. Joseph’s High School of New Jersey, despite catching a crab at the start.

Rugby Champs

    The Montauk Rugby Club won the Long Island Rugby Club’s Mother’s Day tournament at Lido Beach with wins over Lansdowne (12-7), the New York Police Department (51-0), and the Brooklyn Rugby Club (31-0).

    Montauk’s forwards comprised John Glennon, Danny Fagan, Jim Abran, Scott Abran, James Lock, Nick Lawler, Jarrel Walker, Charlie Collins, Conner Miller, Randy Steyart (making his debut), and Steve Daige.

    The backs were Gordon Trotter, Rich Brierley, Brian Anderson, Brian Powell, Matt Brierley, Liam DeFronzo, Jon Quinn, and Matt Reilly (on loan from the Suffolk Bullmoose).

    The side practices Tuesday and Thursday evenings at East Hampton’s Herrick Park. Montauk is to play a home game with the Connecticut Yankees, a Division II rival, at the park on May 21.

Boys Lacrosse

    The East Hampton High School boys lacrosse team improved its record to 3-8 (4-9) with a 15-2 win under the lights at Southampton Friday. Earlier in the week, the boys lost 20-9 here to Bayport-Blue Point, the fourth team in Division II.

    It was 10-4 at the half, but the Bonackers, “playing more aggressively and a little smarter,” according to their coach, Mike Vitulli, came back to cut the margin to 12-8 in the third quarter “before we were hit in the last minute with two bad penalties. It was 14-8 after three.” Tyler Mathews scored three goals in the Bayport game and Brendan Damm had four.

    Having lost four Division 1 players to graduation last year, namely Ryan Shaw, Providence’s face-off man, Tyler Brenneman, who’s a midfielder at Notre Dame, Austin Heneveld, who plays attack for the U.S. Naval Academy, and Jake Beyer, who’s a defenseman at Mercer in Georgia, the playoffs are not in the cards for the Bonackers this spring.

Gload Drives in 2

    Ross Gload started in right field for the Philadelphia Phillies in Monday night’s game with the Florida Marlins and drove in two runs. The Phillies won the game 6-4. Gload, who’s used as a pinch-hitter primarily, was batting .364 by game’s end.

Thursday, May 12

BASEBALL, Amityville at East Hampton, preceded by field dedication, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS LACROSSE, Kings Park at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL, Elwood-John Glenn at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 13

BOYS TRACK, East Hampton at Bayport-Blue Point invitational, 4 p.m.

BOYS LACROSSE, East Hampton at Center Moriches, 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL, Smithtown Christian vs. Pierson-Bridgehampton, Mashashimuet Park, Sag Harbor, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 14

BOYS TRACK, East Hampton at Bayport-Blue Point invitational, 8 a.m.

Monday, May 16

SOFTBALL, Pierson-Bridgehampton at Port Jefferson, 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL, East Hampton at Miller Place, and Pierson-Bridgehampton at Stony Brook, 4:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL, East Hampton at Miller Place, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS LACROSSE, East Hampton at Center Moriches, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, May 17

BOYS LACROSSE, East Hampton at Deer Park, 6 p.m.

BASEBALL, East Hampton at Miller Place, and Stony Brook vs. Pierson-Bridgehampton, Mashashimuet Park, Sag Harbor, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 18

BOYS TENNIS, Suffolk County team tournament, second round matches, sites of higher seeds, 4 p.m.

BASEBALL, Miller Place at East Hampton, and Pierson-Bridgehampton at Stony Brook, 4:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL, Pierson-Bridgehampton at McGann-Mercy, Riverhead, 4:30 p.m.

    Jim Kinnier, who coaches the combined Ross-Pierson boys and girls track teams, a program now in its fourth year, said during a recent conversation that “we’re headed in the right direction. I’ve got 25 boys and girls, the most I’ve ever had.”

    The boys and girls teams each have a win thus far, lopsided ones over their Babylon counterparts, though, at the time of the conversation, Ross-Pierson’s teams had suffered losses by similar margins to Port Jefferson and Center Moriches.

    As for the boys, Kinnier said Khalid Al-Mahmoud, a Ross student from Qatar, had turned in “fine times in the 100 and 200 — a 12.2 in the 100, which isn’t bad, not far off the school record, 11.6.”

    Another Ross student, Kayla Jerido, also a sprinter, who played Amateur Athletic Union basketball last spring, has run a 13.5 in the 100, said Kinnier, “a very good time for a girl.”

    Moreover, a Pierson sophomore, Oliver Lauro, a sprinter, had run a 12.4 in the 100, and Marco Lanuto’s 57.9 in the 400, he said, was “very good for a sophomore — he has a very nice future.”

    Elena Skerys, who ran cross-country for Pierson in the fall, has run a 5:54 in the 1,500, which, said Kinnier, “isn’t bad.” Among his male distance runners, “the best miler I have is also a shot-putter — Ross Kadri, a 220-pound Ross senior. He placed second in the Katy’s Courage 5K, and he’s run the 1,600 in 5:15 . . . he’s an incredible athlete.”

    “Over all,” Kinnier said in conclusion, “I’m really very happy. . . . We’ve been practicing at Ross and at East Hampton, where we use the long jump and triple jump pit and the high-jumping pit. We’re at East Hampton once or twice a week.”

    Kinnier said he hoped to have “three or four or five kids compete in individual events in the division meet and a couple of relay teams.”