Dynamic duo leads West Hempstead

West Hempstead’s boys’ track and field roster ran 25-deep this spring, but there’s no doubt the Rams were led by the dynamic duo of senior Justin Boatwright and junior Teyvon Hall.

Boatwright captured the Nassau Class A title in the 100 meter dash, while Hall brought home the crown in the Long Jump at the county championship meet May 23-24 at Westbury High School. Both came back a week later at the same site and made valiant bids to get to the state meet but fell just short in the qualifier.

“Those two guys carried us,” West Hempstead first-year head coach Rob Gewirtz said. “They’re great athletes and close friends. They’re also tremendous football players.”

It was an injury during football season that limited Hall to “about 60 percent” this spring, Gewirtz estimated. Hall suffered a broken toe in October and underwent surgery that kept him out of action until the final stages of the winter track season. “It was a huge process getting him up to speed,” Gewirtz said. “He hardly ran the 100 this year and just concentrated on the Long Jump, but he still won the county meet at much less than 100 percent.”

Hall, who traveled 21 feet on his winning jump, has a career-best of 23-7. He finished third in the event at the State Qualifier meet at Westbury on May 30. “I rank Teyvon up there with two of the best athletes I’ve ever seen come through the school,” said Gewirtz, recalling former State track champion Elvis Lewis, who attended Villanova, and football star Bo Ehikioya. “He’ll take a little time off to rest the toe again before training for football,” he added. “He loves football.”

Boatwright was another key piece to the Rams’ run to the football playoffs and like Hall contributed mainly out of the backfield. This spring, in addition to being county champ in the 100, he placed third in the 200. Last year, he was second in the 200 and third in the 100, and this past winter Boatwright just missed making the state meet in the 55. “Justin’s a combination of strength and speed,” Gewirtz said. “He’s a powerful runner with that inner toughness it takes to win. He quietly goes about his business and wants to be great and succeed.”

A big part of the track program for three years, Boatwright also won the Division 3B title in the 100 and handled the anchor or third leg of the 4-x-100 relay.

West Hempstead totaled 31 points in the division meet. In addition to Boatwright and Hall winning events, senior Jason Steiner, who is headed to the Naval Academy, finished fourth in the 400 meter run, senior George Jamalyha was third in the Discus, and senior Andrew Kenny took fifth in the Discus.