SWR track coaches, Thomas Cutinella to be inducted into Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame

Legendary Shoreham-Wading River cross country and track and field coaches Paul Koretzki and Bob Szymanski will be among a big list of inductees into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2020.

Former SWR athlete Thomas Cutinella will also be inducted posthumously.

Together, they led the Wildcats into decades of success with some of the top runners on Long Island coming through the program.

A total of 23 athletes, coaches, officials and journalists will be inducted during a ceremony May 26 at Watermill Caterers in Smithtown.

Koretzki and Szymanski, who were honored together as the News-Review’s 2016 Sportspeople of the Year, have been an unmistakable duo for nearly four decades. Koretzki has primarily coached the girls teams while Szymanski coached the boys.

Cutinella, who died at the age of 16 from an injury sustained during a Shoreham-Wading River football game in 2014, left behind a lasting legacy that continues to shine throughout the school and community. The Hall of Fame noted in an announcement how Cutinella “in his passing successfully donated his heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, corneas, numerous bones and skin tissue and saved many lives.”

His spirit lives on through the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Foundation, which raises money for scholarships, organ donation awareness and promoting football safety.

The Wildcats in 2014 went on to an undefeated season and their first Long Island Championship in the wake of their teammate’s passing. That success has continued ever since and this past fall the Wildcats won their fourth Long Island title. The team still wears “Tommy Tough” jerseys and brings a flag bearing Cutinella’s No. 54 onto the sidelines for every game. The turf field at SWR was formally named Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field and a new concession stand in his memory was formally unveiled last April.

For a full list of the Class of 2020, click here.