LBHS athletes celebrate winter sports achievements

As Long Beach High School athletic teams celebrated Winter Sports Awards Night on March 13, the focus of the evening was on the importance of persevering and working together to reach a common goal.

Among the many accomplishments of the season, the hockey club team club won the Nassau County Championship, pulling up just short of winning another state championship on their home ice.

The boys’ swim team won the division championship, which was a fitting present for coach Woody Davis, who celebrated his 50th year of coaching boys’ swimming this year.

The girls’ basketball team finished second in their conference with a 12-5 season record. The boys’ basketball team had a .500 season and finished third in their conference.

Members of the girls’ track team broke five school records this year, and the boys’ track team was named the scholar-athlete team of the year.

The wrestling team finished 5-0 in the regular season and took home the league championship title, as well as three tournament titles. Twenty-four team members qualified for the counties.

The gymnastics team hosted the team championships, finishing seventh in the county, almost reaching their highest score at that meet.

Even those teams who fell short of their dreams this year took pride in knowing they had done their best for themselves and their teams. There were also many individual accomplishments to celebrate. Among the most impressive was Jacori Teemer, who won the New York State wrestling championship at 99 pounds, becaming the first eighth-grader to win a state championship title in Nassau County history. Jacori is the 11th state champion that Long Beach wrestling has produced. Max Willard was a state qualifier in swimming for the third consecutive year. Josh Linster was a state qualifier in track. Girls’ basketball players Mary McDonagh and Perri Steiner earned Academic All-State honors. There were also 14 All-County, 11 All-Conference, one All-Class and 24 All-League players named.

Winter teams also scored big in the classroom. The girls’ basketball, gymnastics, boys’ swim, boys’ track and girls’ track teams were all named scholar-athlete teams by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, with team averages of 90 or above.