Rye Neck Boys Track: Small in Size, Big in Talent

For three years, Rye Neck junior Damon Sugrue has been on the Panthers' track and field team. But it wasn't until this year that he found an event to excel.

After toiling in the running events for most of his high school career, Sugrue took up high jumping this past winter. During the indoor season, he won the league title as he cleared 5'6". Last week, in the team's first meet against Harrison, Sugrue easily set a personal best, clearing 5'9".

"That jump really surprised all of us," Rye Neck coach Julia Gillis said. "We were surprised when he won the league title over the winter, and now to best his jump by three inches, that's impressive."

Starting in the winter and continuing through the spring, Sugrue has been working with assistant coach Matt Wurtz, who specifically teaches jumping. It's the first time Sugrue has worked with a jump coach. And with the top high jumpers having graduated last year, there's a void in that event in the section. 

With the state standard set at 5'11", there's a good chance Sugrue will compete in the Section 1 state qualifying meet and be one of the favorites to advance to the state meet.

 "We're real excited about his potential," Gillis said. "He almost got the state standard in his first meet; he just clipped the bar on his way down. He's a real talented and dedicated athlete. He ran track the past three years, but it hasn't been until this year that he's shown such improvement."

As for the rest of the team, the Panthers are heading into the spring with a smaller team than they had a year ago. That promises to make their league meets that much tougher as Rye Neck will have to compete against schools like Rye and Harrison, which are more than twice its size.

 "Unfortunately we're smaller than we were a year ago, and you like to see the team grow, not shrink," Gillis said. "But as for the team, we're looking for them to go out and get great marks for themselves. We just can't compete against some of those teams – we're not big enough."

The team may be small, but the Panthers have plenty of young, talented athletes. Sophomore middle-distance runners Lucas Bucknavage and Charlie Fraioli are expected to take a step up this season. Freshman Will Kebbe is looked at as a potential state competitor in the 400 or 800 meters, or the mile.

Even though Gillis is expecting a tough time competing in the team meets, she does believe there's enough talent to be a factor.

"Usually we're right in the middle of the pack. Hopefully this year we'll be in the top half of the middle," Gillis said. "We definitely have talented kids who can score in those meets, so we'll just have to see what happens."