New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance honors LI's top physical education students
Krista Fardella and Kevin Lynch of East Rockaway High School were among this year's winners. Credit: East Rockaway School District
More than 200 teens throughout Long Island have been recognized as their school’s top physical education students.
A total of 109 Nassau high schoolers were selected to receive the 2023-24 Outstanding Physical Education Student Award from the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s Nassau Zone. In Suffolk, 108 students were chosen to receive the 2023-24 Suffolk Zone High School Leadership Award from the association’s Suffolk Zone.
Local schools were invited to nominate one male and one female student based on criteria such as their academic achievements, extracurricular leadership and physical performance in school. Award recipients also serve as role models for their peers, lead healthy lifestyles and demonstrate behaviors such as good character, citizenship and sportsmanship, the association said.
“It truly is an honor, as their physical education teachers thought that they were the best of the best. This is not only because of their physical ability, but also their integrity, leadership and personal and social responsibility," said Henry Opperman, who is president of the association’s Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Section, past president of the association’s Nassau Zone and a health and physical education teacher at Uniondale High School.
Nassau winners and their high schools were Ari Guerra and Angelina Feeney, Baldwin; Jake Geller and Grace Severin, Bethpage; Jay Sarju and Ashleigh Coyne, Sanford H. Calhoun in Merrick; Cormac Govaert and Francesca Giordano, H. Frank Carey in Franklin Square; Joseph Gagliardo and Caitlin Leary, Carle Place; Giancarlo Rengifo and Avika Mehta, W.T. Clarke in Westbury; Charlotte Labuda, Cold Spring Harbor; Anthony Donato and Angelina Weinert, Division Avenue in Levittown; Matthew Rodriguez and Brooke Vislocky, East Meadow; Kevin Lynch and Krista Fardella, East Rockaway; Malyk Gordon and Tiffany Wong, Elmont; Jaskeerat Singh and Ashlinn Kelly, Farmingdale; Ryan Connolly and Haley Noone, Floral Park; Ethan Duffy and Naomi Belgrave, Freeport; Tyler Gorman and Josephine Yin, Garden City; Philip Dilgard-Clark and Taylor Enrile, Glen Cove; Dylan Yaghoutiel and Lillian Wu, Great Neck North; Michael Angelaras and Shannon Ethier, Great Neck South; Miccal Osorio and Glendy Hernandez, Hempstead; Sean Curry and Tara Flood, Herricks; Peter Santos and Brianna Liao-Greene, Hewlett; Dylan Donegan and Olivia Hoffmann, Hicksville; Nicholas Filocamo and Nikoletta Poulos, Island Trees; Antonio Leoni and Hailey Kamler, John F. Kennedy in Bellmore; Michael Hancock and Reilly Roberts, Locust Valley; Michael and Ava Main, Long Beach; Alex Caballero and Claire Deputy, Lynbrook; Ben Campbell and Nicole Stuekenschneider, General Douglas MacArthur in Levittown; Ryan Hayes and Ayanna Simpson, Malverne; Cole Purcell and Lauren Perfetto, Manhasset; Daniel McWilliams and Theresa Mannino, Massapequa; Mitch Savalli and Sadie Hellerer, Wellington C. Mepham in Bellmore; Rafael Solon and Keira McCaffrey, Mineola; Brandon Dampman and Ava DeLisse, New Hyde Park; Rishi Malhotra and Alexandra Selmani, North Shore in Glen Head; Adam Elbehiry and Lola Mainland, Oceanside; Sofia Kabacinski and Courtney Mahon, Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset; Jake Panetta and Abygail Seslowsky, Oyster Bay; Ryan Gurien and Lucy Younghans, Plainedge; Aiden Gasbarro and Dani Weissman, Plainview-Old Bethpage; Benjamin Rabinovich and Casey Rhine, Roslyn; Sam Mills and Daisy LaBella, Paul D. Schreiber in Port Washington; Charlie Herman and Amanda Williamson, Seaford; Kenji Noda and Brooke Scicutella, Sewanhaka; Nicolas Albarano and Kristen Lane, South Side in Rockville Centre; Daniel Onorato and Electra Scheiner, St. Dominic in Oyster Bay; Nicholas Yang and Rose Cohen, Syosset; Luis Lizama and Jocelynn Cornejo Enamorado, Uniondale; Timothy Harrington and Morgane Kapto, Valley Stream Central; Sedgeley Duperval and Nattaly Lindo, Valley Stream North; Michael Hernandez and Dori Chau, Valley Stream South; Joseph Robbins and Isabelle Witte, Wantagh; Joseph Thomas Jr. and Kerilee Vargas, West Hempstead; Thomas Fletcher and Ariceli Hernandez, Westbury; and Austin Prince and Annelise Belle, The Wheatley School in Old Westbury.
Suffolk winners and their schools were Benson Guillaume and Kazima Muwakkil, Amityville; Emilio Cardillo-Schrader and Alexandra Di Lauro, Babylon; Andrew Schaaf and Payton Imhof, Bay Shore; Macclin Keyser and Kate Lemery, Bayport-Blue Point; Connor Murphy and Brynn Johnson, Bellport; Carlos Garcia and Ashley Peralta, Brentwood; Mikhail Feaster and Alexis Davis, Bridgehampton; Spencer Buff and Izzy Rayburn, Center Moriches; Logan Norman and Ava Robels, Centereach; Samuel Lustig and Nicole Bransfield, Commack; Brandon Bermingham and Emma Norton, Comsewogue in Port Jefferson Station; Alexander Lillie and Lara Booth Alam, Connetquot in Bohemia; Joshua Osofsky and Rosangel Peralta Plasencia, Walter G. O’Connell in Copiague; Tyler Romero and Kaliyah Hull, Deer Park; Nico Horan-Puglia and Melina Sarlo, East Hampton; Matthew McIntee and Isabelle Procaccini, East Islip; Jonathan Dimarco and Danni Sparacio, Eastport-South Manor; Matthew Pepper and Caroline Mullman, Elwood-John H. Glenn; Jose Merino and Cameron Stanton, Greenport; Ari Gluck and Brielle Marcus, Half Hollow Hills East in Dix Hills; Matteo Vicente and Ava Blasi, Half Hollow Hills West in Dix Hills; Justin Guanga and Nellie Nicolova, Hampton Bays; Haralambos “Bobby” Constantatos and Jill Newman, Harborfields in Greenlawn; Eddie Bullard and Hailey Kulesa, Hauppauge; Thomas Girimonti and Olivia Polinsky, Huntington; Tyler Simonetti and Hailey Zambrana, Islip; Anthony Altobelli and Mikayla Olsen, Kings Park; Vincent Graff and Savanna Morse, Lindenhurst; Jacob Milano and Ainsley Hololob, Longwood in Middle Island; Liam Martin and Nicolette Capocci, Miller Place; Enzo Barranca and Taylor Pedra, Mount Sinai; Tarkan Kurtoglu and Sarah Murphy, Newfield in Selden; Joel Lomax and Angela Taddeo, North Babylon; Zachary Ansell and Madison Howard, Northport; Zachary Maggiacomo and Sophia Emr, Patchogue-Medford; Preston Biedenkapp and Michelle Wu, Earl L. Vandermeulen in Port Jefferson; Benjamin Dono and Jamie Elwood, Riverhead; Sean Logue and Sarah May, Rocky Point; Alexander Apicella and Alexis Berger, Sachem East in Farmingville; Anthony DiMenna and Hannah Scionti, Sachem North in Lake Ronkonkoma; Ryder Esposito and Eva McKelvey, Pierson in Sag Harbor; Jackson Neugebauer and Madeline McKillop, Sayville; Leonardo Dougherty and Kaitlyn Gulluscio, Shelter Island; Thomas Daggett and Emily Cordano, Shoreham-Wading River; Diego Flores and Grace McDonald, Smithtown East; James Camilleri and Angela Savoretti, Smithtown West; Mason Stevens and Chloe Bierfriend, Southampton; Eric Maldonado and Megan Rankel, Walt Whitman in Huntington Station; Flynn Klipstein and Aiko Fujita, Southold; Andrew Desimone and Emily McGinely, Ward Melville in East Setauket; Liam Henshaw and Samantha Maucere, West Babylon; Chris Piropato and Carley Squeglia, West Islip; Gianni Amodemo and Haley Waszkelewicz, Westhampton Beach; and Marvin Fenwick and Simmone Chippy, Wyandanch.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
