Thank you so much to all of our sponsors and partners from the 2016-2017 year. Your support means a tremendous amount!

• Major General Kok presents US Army Service Award to Nick DeCillis, Section XI Administrative Assistant for Corporate Sponsorship
• Section XI Coporate Sponsor, Jennifer Gunn, TFCU
• Section XI Sponsor, Russell Cohen, Laser/Residential/Sprinturf
• Section XI sponsor, Lucy Mazany, Signature Bank
• Section XI Sponsor, Don Hoffman, Cullen and Danowski
• Section XI Sponsor, Harold Schwab, Steve Schwab, Schwab’s 2^nd Wind
• Section XI sponsor, Bob LoNigro, Emily LoNigro, Port Jeff Sports
• Section XI Sponsor, Major General Kok, Captain Imbriaco, First Sergeant Willhite

Unified Hoops action in Suffolk County finished up this week out at William Floyd High School … great work by the student-athletes at Northport, Whitman, Floyd and Amityville who participated this year!

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) announces its spring 2017 Scholar-Athlete teams and individuals. This is the 25th year the NYSPHSAA has conducted the Scholar-Athlete program, which is sponsored by Pupil Benefits Plan, Inc.

This spring 2,064 teams received the Scholar-Athlete Team Award. Even more impressive, 35,301 student-athletes received an individual grade point average of 90.00 or above, and have been recognized as Individual Scholar-Athletes. The change in this year’s program resulted in over 1,200 more individual scholar-athletes being recognized during this spring season compared to the spring 2016 season.

“Congratulations to our member schools and student-athletes,” said Executive Director Robert Zayas. “We continue to be proud of this program especially this year in which we recognized an additional 1,200 student-athletes achieving high standards in the classroom. We are excited to have the opportunity to expand this program to honor even more students for the academic excellence.”

The School of Excellence and School of Distinction Awards will be given to deserving schools over the summer. The School of Excellence Award recognizes schools who have 75% of its varsity programs receive the Scholar-Athlete Team Award over the academic school year. The School of Distinction Award recognizes schools who have 100% of its varsity programs receive the Scholar-Athlete Team Award.

The full list of Scholar-Athlete Teams and Individuals for the 2017 spring season can be found HERE!

Sayville has captured the Section XI girls golf team championship.

Sayville will play the Section VIII winner on May 30 at Bethpage Yellow.

Section XI Team Results, Top Four

• Sayville 949 (Two Day Total)
• Runner – up – Commack 969
• 3rd Place – Smithtown West 972
• 4th Place – Smithtown East 979

Smithtown Wests’s Emily Montagnino Wins Individual Title

Via Newsday

Section XI is saddened to learn about the passing of former Brentwood athletic director, Bill Lown.

Bill was the varsity soccer coach at Brentwood for 10 seasons, and the Brentwood athletic director and Suffolk County Soccer Chairman from 1990-1999.

The SCSCA named their “Small School Player of the Year” award in his name and he was inducted into the New York State Soccer Hall of Fame in 1998.

Bill was well respected in Brentwood, Suffolk County and state soccer communities.

Lown is survived by his wife, Jean, son William D. (Carla) Lown, daughter Elizabeth Pappas and three sisters and two grandchildren.

Visitation info: The Branch Funeral Home (190 E. Main St.) in Smithtown, N.Y. 11787 Sunday from 2-6 p.m.

The funeral service will be at First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown Monday at 10 a.m. Interment will follow with military honors at Calverton National Cemetery.

The spring playoff brackets for Section XI baseball, softball, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse are officially available:

Baseball: http://www.sectionxi.org/TOUR/BSB.htm

Softball: http://www.sectionxi.org/TOUR/SB.htm

NYSPHSAA Executive Committee Not Supportive of Additional Sections

Two State Championship Venues Approved for 2018-2020

Via NYSPHSAA.org

The Executive Committee of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) held its May meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Troy on Friday. The committee voted on several key items important to the Association’s 785 member schools.

After discussing the topic of non-public school participation since July 2016, the 22-member Executive Committee did not support continuation exploration of additional Sections for non-public and charter schools; the vote was 14 to 8. Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA Executive Director said “this is an important discussion for our Association, since we have a membership of nearly 800 high schools and 11 very diverse Sections.”

Among the approved items, the Glens Falls Civic Center was approved to host the Girls State Volleyball Championships from 2018-2020 and Middletown High School was approved as the host for the Boys Soccer State Championships from 2018-2020. A drone policy was approved for scrimmages, regular season, and post season competition.

The Committee approved the boys swimming and diving qualifying standards for the 2018 State Championships as well as the girls swimming and diving standards for the 2017 State Championships. The classification cut-off numbers for boys and girls cross country were approved for the fall 2018 season.

It was approved, by request of the handbook committee, to clarify the practice rule. As a result, it was determined that “warm-ups” will not be considered a practice. The NYSPHSAA budget for 2017-2018 was approved. Official job title changes were approved for NYSPHSAA staff members. Lisa Hand, from Treasurer to Director of Finance and Kristen Jadin, from Special Programs Coordinator to Director of Special Programs.

President Jim Osborne convened the meeting at 9:00 am, with two representatives from each of the 11 member sections, in addition to NYSPHSAA staff, executive directors, and guests. The meeting adjourned at 2:04 pm.

Incoming Section XI Assistant Executive Director Pete Blieberg was inducted with this year’s class to the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame.

Blieberg, who will begin his post with Section XI this summer, has previously served as an athletic director in the Sachem, East Islip and Kings Park school districts.

Joining Blieberg in this year’s hall of fame class are Gene Heeter, who scored the first touchdown for the Jets at Shea Stadium, Linda Detlefsen-Nicosia, who ran set the mile record for female runners in 1979, Bay Shore softball power Karen Dromerhauser, former big league pitcher John Pacella, Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching coach Ray Searage, former MLS player Mark Semioli and Brett Ziegler, who played in the NFL and USFL.

The Section XI boys tennis tournament kicks off on May 6.

CLICK HERE for the full team bracket!

Below you will find all tournament and championship info.

*Division Individual Tournaments: Division III at Mt. Sinai HS

• 5/6 – 9 am
• 5/8 – 10 am
• 5/12 – 12 pm

  *5/12, 13, 15: Division Individual Tournaments, Division IV at William Floyd HS, 5/12 & 13 9am, 5/15 3pm

• Division I at HH Hills West HS   
• Division II at East Islip HS                       

Section Individual Tournament at William Floyd HS
5/19 – 9 am
5/20 – 9 am
5/22 – 12 pm

6/2-4 – NYSPHSAA Championships at National Tennis Center (Indoor Facility), Flushing

We’re proud to announce that two from Suffolk County will be inducted to the NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame this year.

Riverhead native and former pro football player Ed Danowski, as well as longtime Northport girls basketball coach, Rich Castellano, will be honored at a ceremony in July.

Longtime Nassau County athletic director Pat Pizzarelli will also be inducted.

From NYSPHSAA … 

RICHARD CASTELLANO, Coach: Richard Castellano, who graduated from Deer Park Schools (Section VIII) in 1969, was one of the most successful girls basketball coaches in New York State history. After graduation he earned his Bachelors at St. Johns University and began his career at Northport High School coaching girls varsity basketball in 1979. Over four decades, Castellano racked up 613 wins (top five in NYS), 21 League titles, 10 County Championships, five Long Island Championships, and made the NYSPHSAA State Semifinals three times.  Richard had the honor of being a part of the National Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in 2011-2012 and a member of the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) since 1990.  He was inducted into the BCANY Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame the same year. Additionally, Castellano was named Newsday’s “Coach of the Year” four times, NY Daily News “Coach of the Year” twice, and was honored as “BCANY Section Coach of the Year”. In 1991, Castellano coached the freshman baseball team, then in 2001, he began coaching freshman boys volleyball, and from 2002-2004 he coached girls JV volleyball. Community service also played a huge role in Castellano’s career. He created the Suffolk County Coaches vs. Cancer/Score for a Cure Fundraiser, a program that 95% of all schools in Suffolk County currently participate in.  He also has led the program to raise tens of thousands of dollars since its inception. During Richards’s 22-years as President of SCWBCA, he awarded over $250,000 to basketball players for camps and college scholarships. He has proven a dedication and support of student-athletes during his long career and continues to coach girls basketball and freshman baseball at Northport High School today.

ED DANOWSKI, Athlete: Ed Danowski, a graduate of Riverhead High School (Section XI) and Fordham University, was one of the most successful three-sport athletes in Long Island high school sports history.  From 1927-30 he earned All-County honors while competing in football, basketball and baseball at Riverhead—a rare honor during that era.  He continued a football career at Fordham University where he was team captain his senior year in 1933 and selected as an NCAA All-American in 1932 and 1933.  After graduation, Danowski was drafted by the New York Giants football team as a quarterback and halfback with his career in the NFL lasting seven seasons. In fact, he was the first New York Giants quarterback to win two NFL championships and from 1935-38, he was in the top five in nearly all NFL passing categories for four straight seasons.  He led the NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns and total offense in 1935. After retirement from the NFL, Danowski enlisted in the US Navy, eventually becoming Lieutenant Commander.  Following his service, he returned to his alma mater as the head football coach at Fordham for nine seasons. Danowski garnered numerous honors to recognize his outstanding athletic career. He was inducted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame, Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Long Island Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. In 2007, Ed was selected as Newsday’s “Elite 11” which recognizes the best football players in Long Island history, and in 2011, he was recognized by The Suffolk Times as the greatest athlete in Suffolk County history.

CLICK to read the full release!