Successful Start For Port Jefferson Varsity Winter Sports

Port Jefferson NY

30 December, 2021

2:41 PM

Description

Press release from the Port Jefferson School District: Dec. 30, 2021 The varsity winter athletic teams are off to a great start this season in the Port Jefferson School District. With postseason aspirations for all of the teams, each squad has started off the season on the right foot. PJ Nation wrestling followed up a strong performance at the Lou Gianni Memorial Wrestling Tournament in Huntington which had seven individual wrestlers finish in the top five in their weight class with another great weekend of wrestling. The Royals went 6-0 defeating Babylon last Friday 57-14 in their first dual meet of the season. The team continued rolling at the Michael Tarulli Dual Meet Tournament in Irvington, New York. The Royals completed the day at 5-0 and were the tournament champions. They defeated Ossining in the finals, 39-28. Many Royals wrestlers finished the weekend undefeated: Cade Delgado (6-0), Frankie D'Eia (9-0), Anthony Evangelista (6-0), Anthony Pipia (6-0) and Liam Rogers (11-0). Other wrestlers having a strong weekend were Preston Biedenkapp (5-1), Allen Kirsh (4-2), Chris Lotten (4-2), Nick Rodriguez (5-1) and Willie Rodriguez (5-1). The Royals varsity boys basketball team started the season demonstrating their intense defense which has held opponents to 44 points or less in all three league contests this season. The Royals are led by a strong group of seniors: Steven Bayer, Santiago Burgos-Fallon, Peter Murphy, Mike Scannell, Chris Scotto, John Sheils and Mike Tesser. The team opened up the season with a victory over Southold and is looking to get another "W" in upcoming games vs. Miller Place, Ross and Smithtown Christian. The varsity girls basketball team has an average margin of victory of 15 points in their four victories this season. The combination of veteran players Lola Idir, Annie Maier, Abby Rolfe and Amy Whitman and new players Alexa Ayotte, Maitreya Driscoll-Stremich, Rose Mellick-Hammock and Camryn Spiller has helped get the team off to a great start. The team has started the season off with nonleague contests against larger schools Half Hollow Hills West, Newfield and Sachem North. The Royals demonstrated a well-balanced attack with multiple players scoring in every game this season. The team is looking to continue their balanced attack in upcoming games against William Floyd and Babylon. The varsity boys and girls track teams have made the best of an unfortunate situation. Due to an insurance issue between Section XI and Suffolk County Community College, the first two indoor track meets at the college were postponed. In place of the postponed meets, the Royals hosted an outdoor dual meet last Sunday against Southold/Greenport. The running events took place on the track, and throwing and jumping events took place in the gym. The Royals had been practicing for just about a month without competing against opponents from other schools. It was great to finally compete against another team. The boys team will look to Dante Cangemi, Brendan Capodanno, Gray Joyner, Andrew Patterson and Arik Sen to help lead it to success throughout the winter track season. The girls squad has a strong group of upperclassmen which will help with the development of the younger student-athletes, such as Lucy DeWitt and Sadie Salzman working on hurdles together, Jenna Jacobs and her sister Alexa working sprints together and Caelan Shrtezmayer and Gwen Connelly working on the longer distances. The insurance issue has now been resolved and the Royals have put their focus on their scheduled crossover meets at Suffolk County Community College. This press release was produced by the Port Jefferson School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.