The Harborfields High School girls track team competed in an indoor crossover meet at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Saturday, Jan. 9.
Harborfields Delilah Shapiro placed eighth in the 55-meter hurdle event with a 10.41, and teammates Marina Bak and Sophia Rose ran the 1500-meter race and placed 14th and 17th, respectively. Brianna Coakley finished fifth at 1000-meters with a time of 3:39.81.
It was all Kings Park in their homecoming game against Harborfields, where the Kingsmen dominated from the opening kickoff to blow out the Tornadoes, 34-7, Oct 9.
Senior quarterback Jonathan Borkowski teamed up with John Matthew for two touchdown throws a 14 yarder and a 26-yard pass and run play. Nico Laviano grounded out the yardage with a pair of touchdowns of his own a short yardage score and a 15-yard run. Kings Park’s James O’Melia punched in from short yardage in the win.
Kings Park enters their bye-week and are back in action Oct. 23 with a road game against Comsewogue at 3 p.m. The Tornadoes retake the field with a home game against Eastport South Manor Oct. 15. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
The Harborfields High School Class of 2021 were celebrated by family, friends, community members, faulty, staff and administrators at the school’s graduation ceremony on June 26. As the graduates processed on the field in the classic Harborfields green and white, joined by Principal Timothy Russo, Superintendent of Schools Rory Manning and members of the board of education, the crowd cheered enthusiastically.
“Much in the same way your family has cared for you, we have also,” Manning said. “The staff of Harborfields has been your second family for the last 13 years and we selfishly don’t want you to go, and why would we? You proved to the world that you were capable of the unimageable, and despite countless odds against you, you thrived.”
Principal Timothy Russo initiated a special tribute to Gabby Cava, a beloved member of the Class of 2021 who passed away in January 2020 from cancer. Gabby’s family was in attendance to accept the first diploma from Russo.
Before continuing presenting diplomas to the graduates, Russo took some time to commend the Class of 2021 for their perseverance and ability to succeed in the face of huge challenges.
“You are an incredible group who will be missed by many as you go onto achieve whatever greatness is coming your way,” he said. “Your enthusiasm, kindness and respect for Harborfields has led us through a challenging year, and I thank you for being the young men and women you are.”
The Harborfields Tornadoes peppered the net early and often in their season opener at home against Port Jefferson winning the Division II contest, 16-2.
It’s been 23 months since either team has seen action, but Harborfields seamed crisp and up to the task leading by two goals two minutes in. The Royals struggled to keep the ball upfield when Harborfields senior attack Leah Hansen’s shot found its mark to put her team ahead 3-0. Harborfields sophomore Sia Markowski scored as did teammate Marina Bergin for a six-goal lead. With 13 minutes left in the half Hansen struck twice more for an 11-goal lead and with it a running clock.
Sophomore Julia Schiliro stretched the net for Harborfields two minutes later before Port Jeff senior Claudia Kountsantanou, took the goose egg off the scoreboard for the Royals. Teammate Katelynn Johnston’s shot found the back of the net a minute later to trail 12-2 at the half. Harborfields flushed their bench the rest of the way for the win.
The threat of rain could not stop Harborfields High School’s Class of 2021 from waking up more than an hour before classes began on Oct. 23 to watch the sunrise alongside their fellow seniors.
The socially distant gathering, coordinated by the student government, marked the high school’s first ever “Senior Sunrise,” starting a new tradition at Harborfields High School.
Following the postponement of homecoming, the event was the first opportunity of the 2020-21 school year for seniors of different cohorts and virtual learners to connect as a class.
Senior Class President Melina Sandel said, “It’s a great opportunity for us to reconnect after such an abrupt end to last school year. “It was great seeing all of our friends from different cohorts.”
Photos courtesy of Harborfields Central School District
By Bill Landon
The Harborfields girls varsity basketball team traveled to Bay Shore for a nonleague match where the Tornadoes squeezed out a 45-41 victory Dec. 7.
Senior Casey Nickerson led her team in scoring with 17 points that included three treys, while senior Celia
Argiriou tacked on 12, and senior guard Colleen Dwyer banked 9 points for her team.
The Lady Tornadoes will be back in action Dec. 13 as they host Eastport/South Manorville at 6 p.m.
Harborfields High School’s Class of 2018 didn’t let a little rain put a damper on its commencement ceremony June 23.
Senior members of the high school choir performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the start of the ceremony, which was followed by words of encouragement and lessons from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Francesco Ianni. He spoke to the graduates about the importance of time and to have character and determination in everything that you do.
Salutatorian Sarah Katz also addressed her fellow graduates, calling the Class of 2018 a family and acknowledging the greatness within them.
“Sitting among this great crowd are great minds, leaders, soldiers, musicians, doctors, writers, dreamers and people who I believe can change the world or at least light the spark that does,” Katz said.
Valedictorian Emma Johnston also focused Harborfields’ being a tight-knit community and class, adding how moving to the district changed her life.
“I learned that Harborfields is truly a magical place,” Johnston said. “It is a place of support and mass synergy and it is a place where every walk of life can come together as a community to bring out the best in each other.”
Class president Christopher Burney spoke about his time in the district and wished his fellow graduates the best while encouraging them to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way. Featured speaker Casey Sturm, English teacher, addressed the graduates while speaking about when he was in their shoes as a Harborfields High School student.
“I can’t wait to see how you change the world,” he said.
Principal Timothy Russo presented each graduate with an evergreen tree, symbolizing the foundation and roots of their support system.
“Let this be a reminder to you of Harborfields and what you’ve meant to us,” Russo said.
Before the presentation of diplomas, Russo took a special moment to honor Maggie Schmidt, a member of the Class of 2018 who passed away in June 2017 after her courageous battle with cancer. The Schmidt family was present to accept her diploma on her behalf.
Pushing through the early morning cold and rains on Sunday, Huntington residents raced to support organ and tissue donations.
“I think we did fantastic for a first time run,” said Michele Martines, run organizer and mother of a heart transplant recipient. “For the cause, we’re going to save some lives.”
Roughly 130 runners helped to raise nearly $5,000 for LiveOnNY, a nonprofit association dedicated to recovering organs and tissues for transplants in the New York metropolitan region, at the 5K Race to Save Lives held April 29 at Harborfields High School. The event was sponsored by Simply Fit Health and Wellness gym, which has locations in Centerport and Huntington, Huntington Hospital and several Huntington Town officials.
The event recognized two donor recipients including Councilman Mark Cuthbertson’s (D) son, Hunter Cuthbertson, who had to receive a bone marrow transplant in 2017, and Martines’ son, Christian Siems,who celebrated the third year after his heart transplant April 25.
“A lot of people don’t know about organ transplants, that or they have misconceptions and they just assume things.”
Christian Siems
Hunter Cuthbertson was diagnosed with aplastic anemia during a precollege physical in 2016. Aplastic anemia is a failure of the bone marrow to produce the necessary amount of red blood cells. Though the chance of finding a perfect match in bone marrow with a relative is only 25 percent, the younger Cuthbertson found that his brother was a perfect match.
“I was elated when I learned he was a match, I dropped to my knees and I was crying,” he said. “But he’s one of the lucky ones. The other 75 percent need to go the unmatched registry. The larger the registry the larger the chance that someone’s going to get saved.”
He underwent a week of chemotherapy before having a bone marrow transplant performed in March 2017.
Siems learned his heart was beginning to fail before he turned 21. He had an external defibrillator installed and tried to move toward college, but after getting progressively more tired and sick he was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center where he was told he would need a heart transplant. Luckily for Siems in just six months he received a call that they found a donor.
“I’ve known [Siems] since I’ve moved here, and it’s been hard watching Christian go through what he has,” Joe Bertolini, Siems’ neighbor and overall winner of the 5k, said. “He’s come to talk to us at our school about what he’s been through. It’s inspirational.”
Siems has taken up publicly speaking about the need for organ donors to local schools and community organizations.
“Only about 32 percent of New Yorkers are registered to be donors, in some states its over 56 percent.”
Karen Cummings
“A lot of people don’t know about organ transplants, that or they have misconceptions and they just assume things,” he said. “I go out there and talk to kids, the next generation and I educate them on what it is, and not to be scared of it. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give.”
Despite the two young men’s luck in finding donors, they are not the average case. New York State is currently ranked last in terms of number of residents who are registered as organ donors, according to LiveOnNY’s website. There are currently 9,359 people waiting on organ donations in the state.
“Only about 32 percent of New Yorkers are registered to be donors, in some states its over 56 percent,” Karen Cummings, a public and professional education specialist for LiveOnNY said. “We are the fourth fastest growing registry, but New York is still at the bottom of the list.”
A number of people who raced were the recipients of organ or tissue donations. Huntington resident Hal Strauss, who in August 2017 collapsed as he was doing his regular bike exercise. He was rushed to Huntington Hospital where he learned he needed a new liver.
“You just wait by the phone,” Strauss said. “I was able to get my organ in seven months, but I’m an anomaly. For other people it can take years.”
New York residents can register as organ donors whenever they visit the DMV, register to vote, register for health insurance through the health benefits exchange or
online at LiveOnNY’s website
Event will be held April 29 at 8:30 a.m. at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn
Huntington residents are being asked to lace-up their sneakers for a 5K race aimed at raising awareness that April is National Donate Life Month.
Town of Huntington council members Joan Cergol (D) and Mark Cuthbertson (D) are co-sponsoring the first 5K Run to Save Lives April 29 at Harborfields High School along with Simply Fit Health and Wellness gym, which has locations in Centerport and Huntington. The event aims to raise awareness for the importance of organ and tissue donation, an issue that hits close to home for Cuthbertson.
The councilman’s son Hunter said he was surprised when blood tests came back abnormal during his routine precollege physical in 2016. The younger Cuthbertson said further testing led him to be diagnosed with aplastic anemia, or bone marrow failure, an affliction causing his body to not produce enough blood cells.
“They said I could try to go back to school, but I would need a bone marrow transplant at some point,” he said.
“Nationally, 23 people die every day because they don’t receive an organ.”
– Christian Siems
Luckily for the councilman’s son, his younger brother was tested and wound up being a perfect match, despite just one-in-four odds. He underwent a week of chemotherapy before receiving his bone marrow transplant March 21, 2017.
“My treatment went really well,” the younger Cuthbertson said. “But it was really a perspective changing experience.”
He has since become a strong supporter of bone marrow donor drives, encouraging others to get tested to see if their tissue could be a potential match. Representatives from LiveOnNY, a nonprofit association dedicated to recovering organs and tissues for transplants in the New York metropolitan region, and Be the Match, a 501(c)(3) organization that matches patients with marrow donors, will both be at the April 29 event to encourage people to sign up.
“I think everyone who has the time to get their cheek swabbed, which takes 15 seconds, should do it,” he said. “Even if you are not the match or don’t have the time to do it today, a couple years down the road you might be the match to save someone’s life.”
Cuthbertson is one of the two individuals who will be recognized at the 5K race alongside Christian Siems, a 2012 Harborfields High School graduate. Siems said he considers himself one of the lucky ones. It was during one of the school’s annual blood drives that a nurse detected an issue with his heart.
“When she listened to my chest, she said, ‘You have a heart murmur,” but I hadn’t been diagnosed with a heart murmur; I got it checked out,” Siems said, indicating he later went for testing to St. Francis Hospital. “It was probably one of the scariest days of my life.”
Siems learned that his heart was starting to fail before age 21. He underwent surgery to have an internal defibrillator implanted and attempted to move forward with his plans to attend college.
But when Siems started feeling constantly tired, was pale, struggling to walk and even having difficulty talking, he was rushed to Huntington Hospital. Doctors had him airlifted via helicopter to cardiac specialists at Westchester Medical Center who informed him he would need a heart transplant.
“I was told I had to sit in the hospital and wait for a heart,” Siems said. “It could have been six months; it could have been a year.”
Doctors decided to risk performing an open-heart surgery to install an assistive device that would allow Siems to wait for his much-need transplant at home. He received a phone call after only six months that a donor was found. Siems celebrated the third anniversary of his successful heart transplant April 25.
“Nationally, 23 people die every day because they don’t receive an organ,” he said. “In New York, if you get too far out [on the list] a lot of times a doctor will tell you to move to another state to get an organ faster.”
New York state also has the third-lowest donor registration rate in the country, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a section of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“There’s no general knowledge about organ donation out there,” Siems said. “A lot of people don’t know what it is, there’s a lot of myths and misconceptions.”
He encouraged local residents to come to the event and learn more about signing up to become an organ donor. Race registration costs $25 for adults and $10 for students. All proceeds will go to LiveOnNY. Register online at www.LivingSimplyFit.com/5k.
Harborfields students came together to share their feelings on school shootings and gun violence Wednesday, rather than walking out.
Harborfields High School hosted a student-organized HF commUNITY Summit in the gymnasium at 10 a.m. March 14 rather than participating in National Walkout Day, a planned demonstration in which students across the United States exited schools in protest.
“Our schools are very safe and not just because we have enough security guards, cameras or buzzers,” said Superintendent Francesco Ianni in his March message to the community. “Our schools are safe because we believe in the importance of letting children speak about their feelings and emotions as a result of the events that surround us. We are always there to support and guide our students in appropriate freedom of expression.”
Harborfields principal Timothy Russo said the schoolwide event was scheduled after he was approached by many students who expressed a desire to “do more than simply walk out of a building and congregate somewhere,” in an undated letter to the community. Student organizers led the summit that allowed any students to publicly speak about the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida Feb. 14 that killed 17 people and the ensuing, heated national discourse.
“No one should feel so unsafe in a place of such community and security,” said student speaker Sophia Braunstein. “Regardless of what political ideology you stand for, I think we can all agree that America has a problem.”
Braunstein, a senior, remembered how she was in seventh grade when the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings occurred that killed 20 children and six adults in 2012.
“I was left with a fear that never left,” she said. “The day after the Parkland shooting, that same feeling resurfaced and my anxiety grew so bad I asked my mom several times to leave school.”
Braunstein said even she could see the differences in the national discussion in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, where the victims were elementary school students, compared to Parkland’s high school students who are utilizing social media to call for change.
“For students in Harborfields who feel discouraged by adults saying you shouldn’t have a voice, or we don’t know what we are talking about, don’t be,” Braunstein said. “History repeats itself.”
She cited the leadership shown by the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African-American students who, escorted by federal troops, led the desegregation of public schools at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957. Braunstein’s comments also touched on college students impact on public opinion of the Vietnam War in the 1960s.
“We can be and will be the generation that can say we ended mass shootings in America,” she said.
Olivia Espinoza, a student at Harborfields, said she really enjoyed hearing the passionate speeches from her peers Wednesday.
“This rally showed a beautiful side of our generation that isn’t afraid to stand up for what we believe in, contact our local senators, participate in protests and marches, and make a difference in the world,” Espinoza said. “I am confident we are on the road to change.”
Harborfields school administrators were not immediately available for comment on the event.
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