Hewlett wins county track title

Senior Brian Durdaller and junior Kevin Dehaney led Hewlett’s charge to the Nassau Class AA boys’ track and field championship this spring. They each won an individual title and combined for 46 of the team’s 94 points in the meet held at Westbury High School on May 23-24.

“Brian and Kevin were our leaders, but it took a total team effort,” Bulldogs coach Eamon McHugh said. “I’m proud of the guys.”

Wantagh finished a distant second with 55 points, while Westbury took third with 52. Sixteen schools comprise Class AA.

Hewlett dominated in the Pole Vault, with Durdaller taking first place (12-feet, 6-inches), sophomore Alex Bellucia finishing second, and junior Rafael Cohen gaining third. Durdaller also took third in the 110 Hurdles (15.7 seconds) and third in the 400 Hurdles (59.2.)

“I feel really good for Brian,” McHugh said of Durdaller, who last week came back to place fourth in the Pole Vault in the State Qualifier meet at Westbury. “He really stepped up under pressure and it was absolutely great to see.”

Dehaney’s county title came in the High Jump, where he cleared the bar at 5-10, two inches better than his closest competitor Josiah Owhe of Westbury. Dehaney, who was also runner-up in Class AA in the Triple Jump (42-5 ¾) and third in the Long Jump (20-9), competed in the State Qualifier as well and finished fifth in the High Jump and seventh in the Triple Jump.

“Kevin’s the most naturally gifted jumper I’ve coached,” McHugh said of Dehaney. “Most jumpers excel in one or two events, but he’s a true triple threat.”

Sophomore Dimitri Baptiste led the Bulldogs on foot, racing to a second-place finish in Class AA in the 800-meter distance with a time of 1:58.7. He was part of a blanket finish that included winner Andrew Morra of Garden City, and third-place finisher Dan Charytonowicz of Wantagh. Baptiste won the Division 3A 800 race, helped Hewlett’s 4-x-400 to a first-place finish, and took second in the 1,600.

“Dimitri’s the first kid in 17 years of coaching I brought up to varsity as an eighth-grader, and he has so much natural talent,” McHugh said of Baptiste, who handled the anchor leg of the 4-x-400 relay, which included Windell Blake, Stephane Pierre and Adam Marc and placed third in the county meet, as well as the third leg of the 4-x-800, which placed fifth with Bellucia, Brian Chambers and Rodrigo Ulloa.

Pierre, a senior, scored points in two events at the county meet, placing fourth in the Triple Jump and sixth in the Long Jump. Blake, a junior, tied for fourth in the 400, while Chambers, also a junior, ran fourth in the 1,600. Junior Ayodele Akinnawonu was fourth in Class AA in the Discus, while sophomore Nick Bellucia picked up fifth in the Triple Jump.

The Bulldogs rolled up 201 points in the Division 3A meet, scoring 24 in the Pole Vault and 54 in the three jumping events.