Long Beach wins division meet

After an 11-2 regular season, Long Beach boys’ track and field coach Greg Milone couldn’t have asked much more from the Marines in the Division 2-A championship meet. 

Feeling right at home at the Long Beach Middle School facility, the team cruised to a third consecutive spring division title with victories in seven events and runner-up finishes in five others. Junior Tariq Cole took the Shot Put and Discus, senior John Anfossi won the Triple Jump and placed second in the Long Jump, and junior Tyquan Scott captured the High Jump and was second in the Triple Jump to lead the way.

“It was great,” Milone said. “I’m very happy for the kids. Almost everyone went through a lot of adversity this school year going back to Sandy, and some still aren’t living at home. They really worked hard and crushed it.

“We performed as well as we could in the division meet,” he added. “We left some points on the table in the county meet, but that didn’t take away from the season.”

The Marines, whose 160 points were 65 more than runner-up Calhoun, were loaded with talent in jumping events and it showed in the results. Anfossi (42 feet, 8 ½ inches), Scott (42-¾) and senior fourth-place finisher Thomas Patrick (40-3 ½) combined for 22 points in the Triple Jump, and Anfossi (21-7 ½), Patrick (20-7¼) and senior Joel Torres (20-2½) placed 2-3-4 in the Long Jump.

“We had a lot of diversity in what we’re good at,” Milone said. “The only area we need to get better is distance races.”

Cole, who put in extra time to improve his footwork and balance, was clearly best in both throwing events. He won the Shot Put (46-3) by nearly two feet and the Discus (136-6) by more than 15 feet.

Scott, with a combination of size and strength, cleared the High Jump bar at 6-2 to win comfortably. Earlier this spring, he set a school record in the event at 6-6. He also took fourth in the Shot Put. “He’s a multi-talented athlete,” Milone said. 

Senior John Delahantey enjoyed a big spring, winning the division Pole Vault (10-6) title and contributing to a record-setting 4 x 400 relay along with seniors Justin Guttuso, Kevin Matthews and Christian Mesiouris. The 4 x 400 and 4 x 100 (Anfossi, Patrick, Torres and junior Stefan Pitts) both ran second in the division meet. Senior Greg Dentice (third) and junior Matt Loughery (fifth) also scored in the Pole Vault.

Guttuso was second in the 400 Intermediate Hurdles and third in the 400 dash, while senior Kyle Mosley, who missed a portion of the campaign, won the 110 High Hurdles and tied for fourth in the 400 IH.

Sophomore Josh Linster proved an instrumental newcomer to the program. He won the division title in the 100 meter dash (11.1 seconds), ran second in the 200 (23.1), and picked up third in the High Jump.