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By Richard V. Acritelli

Halfway through the daunting 5K cross-country course at Bowdoin State Park at Wappingers Falls on Nov. 23, Rocky Point High School Junior Trevor Green was running one of his best career high school races.  Competing with the top ten best runners from Montauk to Buffalo, Trevor, in his final race of the season, had a special moment.  Running hard through the hills that overlooked the Hudson River, Trevor utilized the massive downhill to strengthen his position within the second half of this race.  At the very end of this course, there was no letup in the mindset of Trevor to solidify his spot as one of the premier cross-country competitors in New York state.  After a grueling finish that saw him utilize a mighty kick around the fields and straightaway of this park, Trevor placed ninth in this race, and second overall from a talented contingent of Long Island runners.

I have been his coach for the last three years. Trevor is truly a special young man who is armed with a big smile and a can-do attitude.  This dynamic student-athlete is one of the finest athletes that has been my privilege to coach and see as an educator over the last two and half decades.  Going about his business in a quiet manner, this unique young man has cemented his athletic legacy at Rocky Point.   Over the last several months, this outstanding runner and swimmer has exhaustively been training for both sports. Trevor maintains the ability to run and swim at a high level and to also establish himself as a serious honor roll student.  Always embracing his training regiment, there are many days that Trevor is coming from one sport or heading toward another practice.  After pushing himself through numerous swimming strokes across this pool, this tenacious swimmer has a heart of steel, as he runs through the trails, fields and the “camel” hills within the Rocky Point Conservation Area.  He utilizes his strength to quickly defeat the opposition at both Snake and Cardiac hills at the Sunken Meadow State Park 5K Race.  Always observing the competition and understanding the times that he needs to earn, Trevor never takes a race lightly, as he understands that any runner can win at any given time.

This running philosophy has been cultivated over the last several years.  As a freshman, Trevor stayed with the best runners in the county and finished among the top five individuals to represent Rocky Point in the New York State Cross Country Championship at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School.  During the second half of this race, this 14-year-old kid realized that he had to adjust and elevate his aggressiveness to ensure that he finished in a top spot.  Beating several runners in the final mile of this hard course, Trevor placed 17th overall.  This freshman flashed a brilliant smile, was praised with heavy cheers, as he was the second highest Suffolk County participant in this exciting contest.  A week later and opposing the best city, private-, and public-school runners in New York, Trevor gained his first taste of racing at the challenging Bowdoin State Park 5K course.

The following year as a sophomore, Trevor continued to excel, as he earned his second all-league and division honors.  During the state qualifiers race, he upset some of the finest runners in the state as he won his first Suffolk County B Championship.  Coaching girls cross-country and track for the last three decades, Rocky Point High School Guidance Facilitator Mathew Poole has watched many of Trevor’s races and he observes that he “always runs from the front and I have explained to him over the years, there will be a time when you’re challenged at a pivotal moment.  When he won the Suffolk County Championship in 2023, I believe he realized this was happening and he refused to relinquish his opportunity.  Trevor is truly a warrior.”   For a second time at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School, Trevor was near the front of the pack at a quick pace, but he had difficulties breathing, and this setback diminished his time and placement.  While it seems like this young man is always competing, Trevor expects to achieve his many athletic goals, where he places pressure on himself to do well.  Never one to forget about a rough outing, Trevor greatly learns from all contests and has become one of the most experienced and successful athletes on Long Island.

At the start of this past season, near West Point, Trevor ran in the Bear Mountain Invitational. As he was still getting into shape, he ran well and placed second on a new course that featured a major hill.  Quickly, he pushed himself to train in the distance, hills and track workouts that enabled him to place high in all his invitationals and gained a second undefeated dual-meet season.   Trevor was also a key motivator of his teammates, as this squad placed second in the league, and missed an undefeated season by three points.  Whereas he has won many races, Trevor is an approachable young man who is easy to coach and like.  Senior Matteo Gravinese is a two-time all-league runner and the captain of this team.  Running numerous miles with Trevor, he believed that his friend, “is not only an exceptional athlete but also an excellent teammate.  While others with his level of skill may have gloated or bragged, Trevor was always kind to those of all running abilities on our team.  I think this sportsmanship is what makes him the best athlete I ever met.”  Kristian Hald is also a senior captain and an all-league runner, who like Gravinese, has enjoyed running with Trevor.  He has observed the attributes of Trevor in being “absolutely the best teammate you could ever ask for.  His incredible talent is not all that he brings to the team, as he always expresses an important sense of comradery to his fellow teammates.  Trevor is a modest athlete, where he has taken first many times, but quickly, he will always enquire about how his teammates finished in our races.”

Just finishing this season several weeks ago, Trevor defeated an extremely tough opponent in Hartley Semmes from Harborfields to be crowned his second County B Suffolk County Champion.  While Trevor is always pleased with his running, he quickly starts looking ahead toward the next approaching contests.  For the second time in three years, he was an all-state runner who competed at Queensbury High School outside of Saratoga and Lake George.   Trevor did not finish as he expected, but he made all-state honors and was picked as one of the top runners to represent Suffolk County for the Federation’s/Nike Regional Race.  Although he was exhausted from this race and his swimming schedule, he prepared for the harsh course at Bowdoin State Park.  With a brisk chill in the air and the winds coming off the Hudson River, Trevor finished the season on a high note showing his dominance on a course that he only ran once before.  Long time Mount Sinai Track and Field and Cross-Country Coach Bill Dwyer watched this race, and he believed, “that Trevor is a great athletic competitor, who is strong and powerful, and even tougher within the hills of Bowdoin.  Adversity from the previous week at Queensbury High School made this talented runner that much more difficult to beat at the Federation/Nike Regional Race.” 

Constantly showing an outpouring of love and support toward Trevor are his parents, who make every race, where they enjoy not only seeing their son do well, but the other boys from this team as well.  Trevor’s mother Toby is an educator, who coached her boy when he was 5 years old in running.  On a regular basis, she drives Trevor to and from practice from these two busy sports.  Always looking at a calendar of meets and practice times, she drives her car with the license plate Team Green.  His father Anthony was a talented football player and runner at New Field High School, where he mentors his son, and helps him navigate the difficult waters of highly competitive sporting contests.  Looking at his son’s strenuous daily schedule, Anthony believes that, “it has not been an easy road.  Competing in swimming all year and finding time to run cross-country in the Conservation Area.  There are moments that my son finds himself exhausted from these two highly disciplined sports.”

Whereas it has been my chance to coach this fine young man in cross-country and to see him strive for greatness, to watch him swim is a special experience.  Since his earliest years, Trevor’s first love has always been swimming, where he has established himself as one of the best swimmers in the state.  Like in cross-country, in swimming, Trevor has many friends, where they speak about the different times that are needed through the events of this demanding sport.  Recently, it was my opportunity to chaperone his first race at Sachem East and to listen to these boys speak about this unique sport.  Quickly, you notice the bond of these young men and it did not take long for Trevor to establish his presence, as he quickly qualified for the New York State Swimming Championships.  After Trevor defeated his opponent, he quickly exclaimed that he had plenty of work to do to bring down his times.

It was a big family moment for the Greens, when Trevor learned that he would be accepted onto the University of Minnesota Division I swim team.  It has been the dream of this exceptional student-athlete to swim at this college level and to major in engineering. 

These skills have not gone unnoticed, as Trevor was selected for the USA Swimming National Select Camp.  During 2023-2024, Trevor, along with five other male swimmers, had the highest individual IMX Power Point scores.  For several years, as in running, Trevor constantly improved his times against the opposition in the pool.  As a seventh grader, Trevor made the Suffolk County Qualifier in 100 Butterfly and 200 Individual Medley.  As a freshman, he took third place in the county in the 100 Butterfly and Backstroke events.  A year later, Trevor was the Suffolk County Champion in the 500 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke.By six seconds, he broke the 26-year record that was held at the Stony Brook University pool for the 400 Medley.  In a message by Swimming Managing Director of Sport Development Joel Shinofield stated, “as these athletes set their sights on LA 2028, we look forward to seeing them follow in the footsteps of Olympians who attended this camp, including Bobby Finke, Carson Foster, Lilly King, Katie Ledecky and Gretchen Walsh.”  Shinofield certainly hopes that this younger crop of swimmers in which he includes Trevor are possibly the future to represent the United States against foreign competition.  

Thank you to Trevor Green for always giving his very best in being a tremendous student-athlete to represent Rocky Point High School in cross-country and swimming.  The future is bright for this old-fashioned athlete, who after a major running race, will ride his bike to school or walk home after practice.  As he is still a junior, the University of Minnesota will gain a “winner” within every sense of this word through the work ethic, drive and character of this devoted competitor.