They'll both compete in Division I next year.
Before they get there, Horace Greeley's Niko Wright (UConn) and Stepinac's David Davitt (Penn) are working on adding to their already substantial high school track resumes.
They certainly did that this winter.
The two, who share The Journal News/lohud Westchester/Putnam Boys Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year award, each won gold at the state indoor track and field championships.
Davitt ran the season's fourth-fastest time by a high school student in the country by winning the state Federation (all schools - public and private) indoor 600-meter championship.
Like Davitt, Wright ran a personal-best time in winning the boys state Federation 55-meter title with another gold earned for the public win. He also won state Federation and state public gold as a member of Greeley's indoor 4x200 relay squad.
Wright said there was no clear favorite in the state 55 championship since the top 11 runners entered had all logged quick, 6:41-6:55, personal-best times. After running 6:41 to reach the final, he crossed in 6:37 for the win.
Wright had initially committed to run next year for Binghamton but rethought things after the state championships, deciding on UConn because of its mix of "academics, track and social life." He plans to study data analysis.
Before heading to Storrs, he's looking forward to a final, strong spring outdoor season at Greeley, hoping to improve on his times in both the 100 and 200, events he ran at last year's outdoor state championships.
Davitt, meanwhile, benefitted when his coaches decided to change his training a bit, concluding he wasn't, after all, a mid- or long-distance runner.
"I dread long runs," said the Yonkers resident, who has run for Stepinac since his freshman year and for years prior to that competed in CYO meets.
His parents are from Ireland and ran for Team Ireland at last summer's European Youth Olympics in Slovenia.
While he may have excelled this winter at the 600, he's primarily an outdoor 400 hurdler and open 400 runner, and those are the events for which Penn recruited him.
The 400 hurdles is his favorite event and he placed second in it in the state Fed championship last spring, posting the second fastest time of any New York high school athlete that season.
Penn was one of more than 20 Division I schools to recruit Davitt, who said he "had a blast" playing both baseball and basketball before giving up both to focus on track.
"I couldn't try to juggle all three getting to a higher level," Davitt said.
Davitt made seven college visits, narrowing his list to the University of North Carolina, Princeton and Penn before choosing Penn in part because it has a philosophy, politics and economics major that's "almost like three (majors) in one."
Coach of the Year
Steve McKenney and Billy Rose, Horace Greeley — McKenney and Rose, who shared the Quaker boys coaching duties, led the team to its third straight Westchester County indoor boys team title. With 12 teams scoring, Greeley also captured the Section 1 Class A boys team title.
The rest of the Westchester/Putnam boys all-star track and field team
55
Second team — Justin Hargraves, Sr., Iona Prep
Honorable mention — Tyriek Henry, Sr., Mount Vernon
55 hurdles
First team — Wyatt Gravier, Jr., Bronxville
Second team— Angel Cuevas, Jr., Lakeland/Panas
Honorable mention — Alexander Wong, Sr., Horace Greeley
300
Second team— Seamus Finn, Sr., Horace Greeley
Honorable mention — Andrew Fasone, Sr., Somers; Karran Riley. Sr., Mount Vernon
600
Second team— Ryan Temistokle, Jr., New Rochelle
Honorable mention — Arjun Ojha, Sr., Somers; Will Squarek, Sr., Rye
1,000
First team — Miles Chamberlain, Sr., Briarcliff
Second team— Anderson Krasner, Jr., New Rochelle
Honorable mention —Aiden Meza, Sr., Somers
1,600
First team — Kieran McBride, Jr., Bronxville
Second team— Bobby Mayclim, Sr., Lakeland/Panas
Honorable mention — Tommy Flynn, Sr., Iona Prep
3,200
First team — Ryan Sykes, Fr., Horace Greeley
Second team— Tommy Flynn, Sr., Iona Prep
Honorable mention —Bobby Mayclim, Sr., Lakeland/Panas
High jump
First team — Wyatt Gravier, Jr., Bronxville
Second team— Nate Alvarez, Sr., Stepinac; Zaire Spellman, Jr., Stepinac
Honorable mention — Steve Dowdy, Jr., Iona Prep
Long jump
First team — Sam Madu, Sr., Stepinac
Second team— Manasi Simpkins, Jr., New Rochelle
Honorable mention — Steve Dowdy, Jr., Iona Prep
Triple jump
First team — Justin Hargraves, Sr., Iona Prep
Second team— Adande Nartey, Jr., Iona Prep
Honorable mention — Isacc Evams., So., New Rochelle; Chris Somersel, Jr., Iona Prep; Demetrius Wells, Sr., Hen Hud
Pole vault
First team — Aaron Bell, Sr., Sleepy Hollow; Rylan Toner, Jr., Horace Greeley
Second team— Michael Weyne, Jr., Horace Greeley
Honorable mention — Aidan Keating, So., Iona Prep; Ben Kasoff, Sr., Irvington; Spencer Walden, Jr. Horace Greeley
Shot put
First team — Eric Mulqueen, Jr., Iona Prep
Second team— D'Andre Shephard, Sr., Mount Vernon; Gannon Traymore, Sr., Pleasantville
Honorable mention — Ryan Kelmendi, Sr., Briarcliff; Ethan Weiss, Sr., Briarcliff
Weight throw
First team — Daniel Ye, Jr., Horace Greeley
Second team— Eric Multqueen, Jr., Iona Prep
Honorable mention —Aiden Kayizzi, Sr., Pleasantville; Gannon Traymore, Sr., Pleasantville
4x200 relay
First team — Horace Greeley (Niko Wright, Sr., Ben Ho, Jr.; Kyle McKenney, Sr., Seamus Finn, Sr.)
Second team— Iona Prep (Declan McCauley, Sr., Ty'Qwell Shipmon, Sr., Landen Wiley, So., Terron Johnson, Jr.)
Honorable mention — Stepinac (Oliver Arius, So., Josh Genwright, Jr., Ian Thomas, So.,, Zaire Spellman, Jr.)
4x400 relay
First team — New Rochelle (Ryan Temistokle, Jr., Manasi Simpkins, Jr., Isaac Evans, So., Obinna N'Joku Sr.)
Second team— Somers (Arjun Ojha, Sr., Sam Parsons, Jr., Aiden Meza , Sr., Andrew Fasone, Sr.)
Honorable mention — Mount Vernon (Omarion Seymour, Jr., Tyriek Henry, Sr., Elijah Holman, Jr., Karran Riley, Sr.)
4x800 relay
First team — Iona Prep ((Peter Winter, Sr., Quin O'Grady, Jr., Michael Rynne, So., Tommy Flynn, Sr.)
Second team— New Rochelle (Anderson Krasner, Jr., Isaac Maiese, So., Karun Kulamavalavan, Jr., Jackson O'Rourke, Fr.)
Honorable mention — Briarcliff (Miles Chamberlain, Sr., Michael Cherubini, So., Luke Dennis, Sr., JP Kuhn, Sr.)
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.
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