Westhampton Beach, Hampton Bays Student-Athletes Bring Home Fall Postseason Awards

The Westhampton Beach boys cross country team placed second at the New York State Championships, and therefore have a long list of postseason awards to show for it.

Leading the charge, as he did in many of the Hurricanes’ races, was Gavin Ehlers. He earned just about every distinction he could this fall, including All-Federation, All-State, All-County, All-Division and All-League, and he was named Newsday’s Suffolk County and Long Island Runner of the Year.

Ehlers had a strong cast behind him, though. Both Max Haynia and Trevor Hayes were All-State, All-County, All-Division and All-League and both were named to Newsday’s All-Long Island team. David Alvarado, along with Ehlers, Haynia and Hayes, was named All-State by tullyrunners.com. Alvarado was also All-County and All-League. Ehlers, Alvarado and Cole Cammarata all earned Academic-All-County honors as well. Cammarata was also an All-League runner.

Oona Murphy and Rose Hayes earned All-County, All-Division and All-League honors while running for the Westhampton Beach girls cross country team. Gabby Wendel was All-Division and All-League while Keira Falvey and Jamie Kelly were both All-League.

Katelyn and Julia Stabile reached the New York State Championships as a doubles tandem for the Westhampton Beach girls tennis team and were therefore All-State. Matilda Buchen was an All-County player for the Hurricanes who won the Suffolk County East Final bracket and went 13-1 throughout the regular season. Emily D’Alessandro, Lexi Sielaw, Kylie Way and Ana Way were each All-Division, while Mia Failla and Melina Pinonzek were All-League. The ’Canes were also given the Team Sportsmanship Award.

By finishing seventh in the county, Westhampton Beach boys golfer Owen Jessop not only earned All-County honors, but qualified for his first ever trip to the New York State Championships, which will be played this June. Zach Berger and Charlie Beasley finished 12th and 13th, respectively, to earn All-County honors. Beasley was also All-Conference. Jessop, Berger, Ryan Springer and Harry Maloney were All-League.

The Westhampton Beach boys volleyball team reached the Suffolk County Division II Championships once again where they fell to crosstown rival and eventual state champion Eastport-South Manor. The ’Canes had four All-County selections in Dan Haber, Conor Farnan, Joe Green and Declan Kerns. Haber was also named to Newsday’s All-Long Island Team and was a county All-Tournament selection along with Farnan, who was an All-County Academic Elite selection. Josh Aponte earned All-Division, All-Tournament and All-County Academic honors while Colbie Mason was All-Tournament.

Lauren Goss was an All-Conference player for the Westhampton Beach girls volleyball team this fall. Reilly Mahon, Molly Mensch and Ali Parascandola were All-League players. Eric Ferrante was named JV Coach of the Year.

Andre Insalaco helped lead the Westhampton Beach boys soccer team to another postseason berth after the team went 6-6-2 in League IV play (7-7-2 overall). He was named All-State, Second Team All-Long Island, All-County, All-Conference and was League IV MVP. Loris Van Vlodrop earned All-County and All-Conference honors while Alessandro Volpe and Kade Murphree were All-League players. Ethan Vogt was an Academic All-County student.

Trinity Valenzuela, Amanda Shannon and Sarah Gormley were All-Division for the Westhampton Beach girls soccer team.

After starting the season 0-3, the Westhampton Beach football team finished the season 5-3 to be a Big Four finalist in Division III and host a playoff game. Deegan Laube, Owen Spizuoco and Robert Moreland each landed All-County honors for their efforts on the field while Geoff Arrasate, Noah Hebberd, Christian Killoran and Frankie Noto were First Team All-Division selections. Will Gambino, Zach Fuhrmann and Nick Waszkelewicz were Second Team All-Division selections.

Every one of the school’s fall varsity programs — boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls volleyball, boys golf, game day cheer, football, and girls tennis — each earned New York State Scholar-Athlete team honors by having a cumulative GPA of 90 or higher.

The Hampton Bays boys golf team finished the season 5-5 in League VII this past fall and was led by Erik Sandstrom, who earned an All-League selection for his efforts. Aidan Kamp was also an All-League golfer.

The Hampton Bays girls volleyball team finished a victory away from clinching a Suffolk County Class B playoff spot, finishing 6-8 in League V (9-6 overall). Briana Quiros earn All-Classification status while her younger sister Tanya Quiros was named League V Rookie of the Year. Aliyah Cukaj and Meegan Lennon were All-League selections while Kati Mounts, Jordyn Meyers and Asha Pensa-Johnson were All-League Honorable Mentions.

Juan Cardona was named All-Conference and represented the Hampton Bays boys soccer team in the Suffolk County Exceptional Senior All-Star Game. Alex Posada was also an All-Conference player while Juan Alape and Charlie Garcia were All-League. John Pacheco was Academic All-County.

Cooper Shay earned himself All-County and First-Team All-Division nods while playing for the Hampton Bays football team. Zach Bahamondes, Kazmin Pensa-Johnson and Stephen Sutton were Second Team All-Division selections.

Adriana Tapfer and Sofia Galvan both earned All-League honors while running for the Hampton Bays girls cross country team. Luca Villano and Arents Hansen were Second Team All-League runners for the boys team.

Boys and girls cross country, boys golf, boys soccer, competitive cheerleading, field hockey, girls tennis, girls volleyball, gymnastics were all New York State Scholar-Athlete teams, holding a cumulative GPA of 90 or above. Additional information on the girls gymnastics, girls soccer and girls tennis teams was not available.