Sports

Councilman David Lys hopes to include $250,000 toward the renovation and expansion of the Montauk skate park in East Hampton Town's capital budget.

For the third year in a row East Hampton High's boys swimming team won the League II meet, this one contested Saturday at Hauppauge High School, topping four teams — Hauppauge, West Islip, Sayville-Bayport-Blue Point, and Northport — that had defeated the 3-4 Bonackers in dual meet competition.

It was pretty much good news all around for East Hampton High's active winter teams this past week. The swimmers, in their final home meet of the foreshortened season, defeated Lindenhurst 71-59, "exhibitioning" in the final two events so as not to run up a score; the boys track team here on Saturday defeated Rocky Point 50-45, and the girls, whose coach, Yani Cuesta, was still awaiting Rocky Point's long jump results as of Sunday, were leading 43-39.

During the pandemic, physical education teachers here have jumped through some hoops in order to keep students safe while at the same time active.

Sag Harbor's Board of Education, faced with a student petition to overturn a recent decision by the district superintendent, Jeff Nichols, not to let Pierson High student-athletes compete this winter in "high-risk" sports, once again seconded the superintendent at a meeting Monday night.

Following the county's okay of certain "high-risk" school sports, East Hampton High's boys and girls basketball teams and Bridgehampton's boys team are set to play games, but East Hampton's wrestling team will work out only intramurally this year and will not compete with against other teams.

"Montauk's skate park could become a destination," said John Britton, the father of an 11-year-old skateboarder who is working with Councilman David Lys to advocate for a renovation and expansion. 

A plan is in the works to renovate and expand the Montauk skate park, designed in 1999 by the late skateboarding legend Andy Kessler. To fund the project, East Hampton Town has $50,000 in hand from one donor and is applying for a $25,000 grant from the Skatepark Project in California.

Following the big new this week that "high-risk" sports, namely boys and girls basketball, wrestling, and competitive cheerleading, could begin a foreshortened season on Monday, South Fork school districts grappled with whether that was in their students' best interests.

High-risk high school sports including wrestling, basketball, and competitive cheerleading can resume again in Suffolk, County Executive Steve Bellone announced Monday. The season will run from Feb. 1 through Feb. 27.

East Hampton High's winter sports seasons were still on hold as of this week, the second week in a row that the school's students were learning remotely. "It hurts — they were just getting into a routine, and then were cut off."

Depending on the weather, East Hampton's Little League organization could begin outdoor clinics for 8 through 12-year-old boys and girls at the Pantigo fields in East Hampton this weekend.