Riverhead boys finish dual-meet season strong

They are peaking at the right time of the season.

The Riverhead Blue Waves boys track and field team members finished their Suffolk County League III dual-meet season on Tuesday with a flourish, as they beat the Half Hollow Hills East Thunderbirds, 84 1/2-66 1/2, in Riverhead. The win over Hills East came on the heels of the Blue Waves’ strong showing in the St. Anthony’s Invitational last weekend.

Riverhead Coach Steve Gevinski called it “a nice way to conclude our season.”

Mike Smith won two events for the Blue Waves (4-2, 4-2) against Hills East (2-2, 2-2) as he captured the shot put at 55 feet 6 inches and the discus at 155-6.

Other Riverheaders excelled, too. Edwin Perry finished first in the long jump (19-8) and high jump (6-0), and was second in the triple jump (42-6). Kashaun Boynton came in first place in both the 100 meters (11.3 seconds) and 110-meter high hurdles (15.5). Sasha Schafer won the pole vault at 12-0, Ryan Budd was first in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 58.4 and placed second in the 110-meter high hurdles in 16.0, and Treval Hatcher won the triple jump at 43-4 1/2.

The Blue Waves, with 35 points, placed fourth out of over 60 teams in the St. Anthony’s Invitational on Friday and Saturday. St. Anthony’s came in first with 67 points.

Smith won the shot put with a throw of 57-11, while Schafer took first in the pole vault at 13-6.

Perry placed third in the high jump at 6-2, Budd came in the fourth in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 56.41, and Boynton was seventh in the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.47. Riverhead’s 4×400-meter relay team of Kevin Williams, Hatcher, Pete Rodriguez and Budd finished seventh in 3:26.51.

“This was really a high-caliber meet,” Gevinski said. “These were the best teams from Suffolk and Nassau, the Catholic schools and teams from New York City. We had a real nice finish.”

And the Blue Waves followed that with a nice win over Hills East. “This was another big step for us,” Gevinski said. “Now, we’re looking forward to the postseason.”