The spring sports season officially ended in June, and as usual there were no shortage of fantastic performances, by individuals and teams.
While no area team won a state title this spring, quite a few Long Island championships were won, and one individual state crown.
Here’s Blank Slate Media’s look back at the spring high school sports year:
Baseball: The Wheatley School graduated its top two outstanding players in 2023 in team leaders Dylan Rosenberg and Brian McCleary. But any thoughts the Wildcats would take a step back were erased emphatically.
Led by the dominant starting pitching of Connor Quinn (who had an ERA of less than 1 this season) and balanced hitting throughout the lineup, Wheatley captured the Class B championship over Oyster Bay, then went on to defeat Suffolk champ Babylon, 3-1.
That victory, Wheatley’s second LIC in four years, advanced the Wildcats to the Class B regionals, where they were defeated by Spackenkill (of Duchess County), 8-3.
Port Washington baseball also had a stirring playoff run, upsetting six-time defending champ Massapequa in a best of three series in the Class AAA semifinals.
Unfortunately the Vikings were then beaten by Farmingdale in the best of three final series. Mineola went the furthest of the local teams in Class A, reaching the semifinals.
Badminton: The Great Neck South girls badminton dynasty rolled on with no roadblocks this spring. Coach Allison Gottfried’s squad dominated the regular season, going undefeated, then beat rival Jericho, 5-2, for the Rebels’ fourth straight county crown.
Led by first singles player Kayla Wu, who won her third straight Nassau individual title, Great Neck South crushed Ward Melville to win its third Long Island championship in a row.
Boys Golf: The Wheatley School’s Jojo Dolezal had been gunning for a state championship for as long as he could remember.
The two-time Nassau individual champ had come close, but this spring he emphatically closed the deal. Taking the lead after the first day of the two-round event at Mark Twain Golf Course in Elmira, Dolezal rallied from a deficit on Day 2 and hit a miraculous shot on the 18th hole, forcing a playoff.
He then won on the second playoff hole to win the state crown in his senior year.
In team golf competition, the Manhasset squad enjoyed a remarkable season, winning the Nassau and Long Island titles, the second area school to do so in as many years (Port Washington pulled off the feat in 2023). Coach Mike Tarnowski’s group won their first LIC since 2018, led by a group of upperclassmen and two seventh-grade starters.
Softball: The Manhasset girls enjoyed a surprising undefeated regular season this spring, led by power hitting infielder Gianna Cerrone (13 homers), but were upset in the first round of the Class AA playoffs. Herricks reached the quarterfinals in AA as well before losing to MacArthur.
Boys Tennis: There was a new local champ when it came to the Nassau County individual tournament. Herricks’ Samarth Deepudass, in his first season playing high school tennis, captured the county singles crown, beating Roslyn’s Ethan Solop in a three-set thriller.
Both Deepudass and Solop reached the state tournament’s quarterfinals at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, but both were defeated in that round.
In the state team tournament, Port Washington fell to Syosset in the semifinals, while Herricks was beaten by Roslyn, 4-3.
Roslyn then faced perennial rival Syosset in the county finals, and Syosset was able to snare a 5-2 win, before going on to win the state team title.
Boys Lacrosse: It was a very unusual year for two-time defending state champion Manhasset. Coach Keith Cromwell’s group, moving up to Class B from Class C, suffered more than its usual share of regular season losses, but came on strong toward the end of the season. Manhasset (now going without a traditional nickname, simply known as “Set”) played a fantastic defensive game in beating fellow state champ Garden City, 6-5, in a scintillating semi at Hofstra.
Two days later Manhasset battled South Side but couldn’t quite repeat as county champs, with South Side squeaking out a 12-10 win. The Cyclones would go on to win the state title.
Port Washington reached the semis in class A before losing to nemesis Farmingdale.
Girls Lacrosse: Manhasset was looking to get back to the top of the state mountain after a title in 2022, but once again lost a thriller at the end. Led by new coach Jackie Williams, who took over for Meghan Clarke just a few weeks before the season started, top-seeded Manhasset overcame a slew of injuries and advanced to the finals of Class C before falling to Wantagh, 11-10.
The Port Washington girls fell to Massapequa, 10-8, in the Class A semifinals.
Track and Field: Finally, it was another strong spring for area track and field athletes. At the state meet in Syracuse on June 8-9, Manhasset’s Kate Voelker finished fourth in the high jump competition, despite having only tried the event for the first time a few weeks earlier.
Roslyn’s Zach Davidson had another outstanding pole vault performance, finishing third, to go along with his third-place finish at the indoor meet in the winter.
Manhasset’s boys 4×800 relay team just missed a state title, finishing second to Saratoga Springs by less than a second in an eight-minute race, while Great Neck South’s Isabella Spagnoli came in fifth in the steeplechase.
Port Washington’s Samantha Benson-Tyler continued to show she’s one of the best high school racewalkers in America, winning the USA Track and Field national youth outdoor championships in the 3,000 meter racewalk in 15:24.07.