Joseph Norrby and Matt McIntee lead East Islip to first Suffolk indoor track and field small school championship in school history
Matt McIntee of East Islip pulls away down the stretch of the 300-meter dash during the Suffolk boys small school indoor track and field championships at Suffolk Credit Union Arena on the Suffolk CCC-Brentwood campus on Saturday. Credit: David Meisenholder
East Islip needed one more solid run to accomplish something it hadn’t before.
East Islip led Shoreham-Wading River by one point before the 4x400 meter relay at the Suffolk Small School indoor track and field championships at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Saturday.
East Islip won in 3 minutes, 32.83 seconds before adding to its score with a fifth-place finish in the 4x200 and coasting to the program’s first Suffolk title with 66 points. Coach Ralph Tubello said he wouldn’t have wanted any other group on the track to seal the win.
“First time in school history, and I’m just so happy for these guys. It’s well deserved,” Tubello said. “We’ve been through a lot of trials and tribulations, a lot of ups and downs, and I told them 'there’s a process, you have to trust me'. I said 'it’s all going to work out in the end', and now we have the finished result.”
Joseph Norrby cleared 6 feet, 4 inches on his first attempt to win the high jump, then placed second in the 600 in 1:23.44.
Norrby, a junior who finished third among public schools and fourth in the Federation in the high jump at last year’s state championships, said he was happy with his performance in both events at this point in the season.
“I was just trying to get points today and, as we get further into the season, I’ll focus more on my single events,” Norrby said. “Our whole team, we love each other. We have great chemistry, and the coaches are great.”
Matt McIntee, an All-Long Island football player and a Syracuse lacrosse signee, won the 300 in 35.51 seconds. The East Islip senior later anchored the 4x400 team, which included Norrby, Aidan McConnell and Jack Kalinowski.
Tubello praised the leadership of Norrby and McIntee, both of whom he said he called up to the varsity level when they were in seventh grade.
“Those guys are the commanders of the team, and they lead by example,” said Tubello, who’s coached at East Islip since 2014. “That’s why we are where we are. They had a tremendous day, and everybody follows them and follows through.”
East Islip earned eight top 5 individual finishes, along with the 4X400 win.
Shoreham-Wading River’s Michael Huebner won the 600 in 1:22.68 and anchored the winning 4x800 relay team for the Wildcats, who finished second with 49 points.
Longwood scored 79 points and won the large school title behind the winning 4x400 and 4x200 relay teams and individual wins from Jordan Gibbs, Ayobami Adebayo, Garfield Geddes and Desmond Calderon.
Adebayo cleared 6-4, a two-inch personal best, on his first attempt to win the high jump. The Lions senior also finished third in the triple jump (44-2).
“I was just thinking about all the work I put in, all the time I put in, for this moment right here,” Adebayo said. “[This team is] like family. I’ve grown as a person with them, I wouldn’t be the man I am without a lot of these guys. I love them.”
Geddes launched himself exactly 22 feet to win the long jump. Gibbs won the 55 in 6.45 seconds, then anchored the Lions’ winning 4x200 team. Calderon won the 300 in 35.87 seconds and anchored Longwood’s champion 4x400 relay.
Northport scored 42 points and finished second in the large school team competition. Vito LaRosa finished second in the 55 (6.47), Alex Toran finished second in the 600 (1:24.61), and Brandon Cruz placed second in the 1,600 (4:31.85) for the Tigers.