Amity High School track team completes flawless season
The Amityville Memorial High School boys track team has had a stellar season, during which cooperation, teamwork, and the pride of running on a newly renovated track all played a role in the team achieving League 6 Championship status, and making it to the New York State finals. At the state level, the team ran the third fastest 4x4 out of all the competing schools in attendance. According to the Armory Track and Field Association, the Amityville Boys Track Team is ranked seventh in New York State, an honor to the athletes and their coach, Reynolds Hawkins. Hawkins, who attended Amityville schools since the second grade, ran track, and has been a school social worker and track coach in the district since 1996, credits the athletes' success not just to the positive rapport he has established with the team, but also to the skills each member possesses. "There is a lot of talent here in Amityville," Hawkins stated. "You can't make something out of nothing."
In addition to their championship status and state ranking, the team and its members have a long list of accomplishments that demonstrate their dedication and determination, two attributes that helped Hawkins make his mark as track runner in Amityville, and that have trickled down to the runners he now guides and coaches.
Hawkins, who attended Florida A&M University, where he was All-Conference in Cross Country and Track, has taken the team to his alma mater to show them the possibilities that could lie ahead with hard work and focus. The team is also aware of their coach's status, and his many accomplishments in track and field, including holding the New York State freshman two mile record for 27 years, the AMHS mile and two mile record, and the junior high school 800 and 1600 meter records.
As a coach, Hawkins has led district athletes to a record of 86 and four for the past 13 years, and was named League Coach of the Year for 11 years and is a nine-time County Coach of the Year recipient. "The key is getting the athletes to buy into you," Hawkins stated. "They see what can be accomplished and it becomes more real to them." As for the track team, they agreed. "It was a season to remember," stated one team member. "It was the longest season, but we achieved the most ever, and that made it worthwhile."
Shown in the top photo is Amityville Memorial High School varsity track team with, left, Coach Reynolds Hawkins and Coach Jerry Pollack, and right, Principal Dr. Scott Andrews and Interim Director of Athletics Tony Cerullo.
Members of the Amityville Memorial High School varsity track team presented a gift to Coach Hawkins that commemorates his record of success as a track and field coach in the district.
Shown in the photo at left, Coach Pollack presented Coach Hawkins with the plaque that displays the many records he has set with the district's track teams over the years, which will be added to the many other displays of talent in the physical education wing of the high school.
