Virginia “Ginny” Pickering died June 2. She was the loving mother of James, Maureen, Colleen and the late Michael; the cherished grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of 12.

Ms. Pickering was a former member of Williston Park and Cutchogue Fire Department ladies auxiliaries, a member of the Irish American Society of the Hamptons. She celebrated her 100th birthday with family who will miss her loving kindness and positive spirit.

The family will receive visitors Friday, June 22, from 7 to 9 p.m. at O’Shea Funeral Home in Hampton Bays. A Mass will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at St. Rosalie’s R.C. Church in Hampton Bays.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hampton Bays Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance.

This is a paid notice. 

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Southold Town is continuing to develop a potential code change to address issues residents have with helicopter noise. 

The town’s helicopter noise steering committee, Town Board liaison Bob Ghosio and local pilots are expected to meet Friday to get closer to developing a comprehensive and balanced draft law, Mr. Ghosio said at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.

Steering committee member Teresa McCaskie said there should be concerns on how the air industry is expanding, bringing increased air traffic, and the effects that has on the community.

The discussion is all in an effort to protect the local quality of life, limit noise, ensure safety and avoid potential environmental issues, Ms. McCaskie said.

“It all can be discussed. It all can be worked out, and it can be done respectfully, but they’re coming,” Ms. McCaskie said. “They’re at our doors.”

One concern raised is helicopter companies that promote wine tours which bring customers from Manhattan to the East End. Wings Air Helicopters is currently promoting a North Fork winery tour that will fly from Manhattan and land at the Mattituck airport, where a sedan would be waiting to take them to wineries. Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he notified airport owner Paul Pawloski, who told him that tours are not permitted and that he would contact the company.

Seaplane trips are also being promoted and have been noticed increasingly, Ms. McCaskie said. Mr. Ghosio said he has been looking through existing codes of other East End towns on how they address helicopters and seaplanes.

Ms. McCaskie suggested that one approach the town could look into is to have an understanding with companies that quieter aircraft be used or permits be issued to helicopters or seaplanes. She and Mr. Ghosio mentioned that East Hampton Town is asking that Stage 3 helicopters, which have noise reduction designs, be used.

kzegers@timesreview.com

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Charles J. Umbach of Greenport, formerly of Cutchogue and Garden City, died May 31 at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport. He was 86. 

The son of Charles and Catherine (Lally) Umbach, he was born May 10, 1932, in Brooklyn.

Mr. Umbach worked as an insurance adjuster with Cardinal Claim Services, Inc.

Family members said he enjoyed golf. He was a past member and president of North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue.

Predeceased by his daughter, Catherine Giammarino, Mr. Umbach is survived by his wife, Nancy, of Greenport; his sons, Richard of Malverne and Michael of Oregon; his sister, Sister Anne and one grandchild.

The family received visitors June 3 at Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue. A funeral Mass was celebrated June 4 at Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church in Mattituck. Interment took place at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury.

Memorial donations may be made to Dominican Sisters of Amityville, 555 Albany Ave., Amityville, NY 11701.

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Judy Ricciardi, longtime resident of Southold, died June 5, 2018. She was 70.

Born April 29, 1948, in Brooklyn to Ruth (Beckenstein) and Burton Hastings, Judy was a graduate of C.W. Post College, where she attained her bachelor’s degree.

Judy married the love of her life, Michael Ricciardi, on Nov. 5, 1977, in Lodi, N.J. and together they eventually made their home in Southold. She worked for the Social Security Administration in Riverhead as a claims representative for 30 years.

Judy was a wine lover. She liked working at Pellegrini Vineyards, where she spent five years as a wine instructor and taught visitors how to enjoy and respect fine wine.

She loved all animals and called her dogs her four legged children.

Judy appreciated the beauty of the North Fork. She spent countless days on the beach.

Judy is survived by her husband, Michael, and her brother, David Hastings of Andover, Mass.

Judy’s family has chosen to remember her life privately.

Memorial donations in Judy’s name to the North Fork Animal Welfare League, P.O. Box 297, Southold, NY 11971 would be appreciated.

DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold is assisting the family.

This is a paid notice. 

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Handoffs may be the Mattituck High School girls 4 x 100-meter relay team’s greatest strength. That’s ironic because a handoff nightmare spelled the end of its season last year.

Because of a handoff outside the exchange zone, the Tuckers were disqualified in last year’s state track and field meet. As painful an experience as that was, it sowed the seeds for this season.

Mattituck has once again qualified a 4 x 100 team to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships. This time the Tuckers are looking for medals and redemption.

With a season-best time of 50.56 seconds, Mattituck finished 10th overall in the preliminaries at the Section XI Championships at Comsewogue High School Friday. That wasn’t enough to qualify the Tuckers for the finals, but it earned them a place in the state meet as Suffolk County’s top Class B team.

“I was ecstatic,” Mattituck senior Meg Dinizio said. “It’s big.”

That time sliced 13/100ths of a second off the time that freshman Nikki Searles, freshman Bella Masotti, junior Miranda Annunziata and Dinizio ran for second place in the recent Division III Championships. More importantly, it earned them a ticket to the state meet that will be run Friday and Saturday at Cicero North Syracuse High School. Junior Abby Heffernan will accompany that foursome as an alternate.

“We have some redemption that we want,” said coach Chris Robinson.

That’s a reference to last year’s exchange foul-up.

“It really stuck with me all year,” Dinizio said. “You don’t want that to happen. You don’t want that to be how you go out. So, it’s like a redemption year. It’s definitely like a trigger for all of us because it was very painful.”

Freshman Nikki Searles hands the baton to freshman Bella Masotti in the 4 x 100 relay Friday at Comsewogue High School. (Credit: Joe Werkmeister)

The Tuckers didn’t pout about that disappointing showing, though. They did something about it. They practiced handoffs — again and again and again. They even passed the baton to each other while taking turns during a recent interview session.

“We worked on handoffs more than anything else, honestly,” Searles said. “We’re not perfect, but we’re pretty close. We’re getting better.”

Dinizio, who will be making her fourth appearance in the outdoor state meet, said: “We’re definitely right there. We have little things here and there, but it’s to the point where now we’re just being meticulous. We just want it to be perfect. We’re not the fastest girls in New York. We’re not. The handoffs [are] really what makes our team as good as we are.”

Dinizio and Masotti are the two returning members of last year’s relay team. With the graduations of Alya Ayoub and Amy Macaluso, the two available positions were filled by Annunziata, an alternate last year, and Searles, who ran for Mattituck’s “B” 4 x 100 team last year. Annunziata said the addition of Searles has made a “big difference.”

That foursome gained valuable experience working together this past winter as a league champion 4 x 200 relay team indoors, clocking 1:52.93.

“I don’t know if we have the fastest four girls in the county, but I think that what we do well, we do really well,” Robinson said. “I’m super proud of them. They’ve worked tirelessly to get to where they’re at and I told them they should be proud of the position they’re in. They earned it.”

Memory of last year’s critical mistake still stings, but the Tuckers are grateful for the opportunity to imprint a happier memory.

“It’s tough when you get on that stage and something like that happens,” Robinson said. “It’s tough to swallow. It stayed with them. I think it was definitely motivation for them this year not to let that happen again.”

Redemption is waiting at Cicero North Syracuse.

“It’s like we have a second chance,” Masotti said, “to not just prove to everyone else, but to prove to ourselves that we can do it and not have what happened last year.”

Notes.

Greenport/Southold junior Emily Russell finished 14th in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches.
In the boys 3,000-meter steeplechase, Greenport junior Mateo Arias was 14th in 10:52.04.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: From left, Mattituck’s 4 x 100-meter relay team of junior Miranda Annunziata, freshman Nikki Searles, freshman Bella Masotti and senior Meg Dinizio (Credit: Bob Liepa)

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Southold High School will have a new principal next month. 

Terence Rusch, currently an assistant principal at Division Avenue High School in the Levittown School District, will begin his new position July 1. He will replace current principal William Galati, who has been appointed principal at George W. Hewlett High School in Nassau County. 

Mr. Rusch, 33, said he’s excited to become a part of Southold’s tight-knit community.

“My first goal is to just get to know the students,” he said. “That was one of the driving factors for me, that it was a tight knit community and I’d have the opportunity to get to know people, to know every student at graduation, to get to know families.”

Mr. Rusch, who currently resides in Bayside, Queens, said he’s also looking to continue providing enrichment opportunities for Southold High School students. He has plans to move east before the school year begins. 

“You do a lot of research when you’re applying for positions about districts and the community and it’s just a district that does everything it can to help their kids — to help them progress and it has families in the community as a whole that support everything the district’s doing,” he said.

Mr. Rusch noted that Southold’s size makes it different from Division Avenue, where he has worked since 2014. Before becoming assistant principal there in 2016, Mr. Rusch was the high school’s special education chairperson. 

Before that, he was a special education teacher for six years at Great Neck Middle School. He also coached volleyball within that district. 

His most formative job, he said, was one of his first, working at a camp called the Anchor Program with students and adults with disabilities. 

Mr. Rusch graduated from Chaminade High School, where he played hockey and volleyball.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and composition from Fairfield University, a master’s degree in childhood education and teaching students with disabilities from St. John’s University and an advanced certification in educational leadership and administration from Queens College. 

“For me, it’s always been about how can I expand my ability to help more people,” he said. “As a teacher, you have your classroom and your teams; as chairperson, I had my whole department. It was always about how can I help more and more people.”

Mr. Rusch was approved by the Board of Education at its May 23 meeting after being unanimously endorsed by the selection committee — a group of eight or nine stakeholders, including a student, parent and middle and high school teachers — according to Superintendent David Gamberg. 

“We’re very excited,” Mr. Gamberg said. “I wish Mr. Galati the best of luck in his new endeavor, and I think Mr. Rusch will fit in very well with the Southold learning community. I think the students appreciate his enthusiasm and the staff very much welcomes his energy and interest in making the best out of what we have here.”

nsmith@timesreview.com

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Based on concerns expressed during a public hearing Tuesday night, Southold Town Board members decided to hold off on approving a local law that would require the owners of rental properties to obtain town permits.

If passed, the proposed law would require the owner of such properties to follow a permit application procedure, adhere to property maintenance guidelines and allow proper inspections of the property. It would also subject them to fines for violations. The law would not be enforced until Oct. 1, in order to give everyone time to apply for the permit.

Attorney Pat Moore argued that this law would affect the rental community tremendously because some houses that were updated or changed without permission before the town had strict laws would have to go through the lengthy process of legalizing them. 

“I want to also address the impact to our administrative cost and to our tax base,” Ms. Moore said. She compared Southold to the towns of Riverhead and Southampton, which have multiple code enforcers. Southold has 3.5 code enforcement positions.

Town attorney Bill Duffy said that making people legalize illegal renovations is not a good argument against a permit requirement. Supervisor Scott Russell added that while Riverhead and Southampton may have more code enforcement staff, they also have much larger parcel counts, so Southold actually has more administrators per parcel.

Another concern was the requirement that rental properties have a survey and a certificate of occupancy. Mr. Duffy said that if those documents are already in place, there would be no need to complete another survey.

“The survey thing, to be honest, is presenting a concern to me right now,” Mr. Russell said. “We don’t have a very good inventory of surveys in town government.”

Some residents favored the proposed law. Anne Murray of East Marion said it was “a long time coming.”

“I think it’s a very, very good step the town is taking,” she said.

Thomas McCarthy of Southold, one of many real estate agents in the audience, expressed disappointment that no one had reached out the real estate community to get its opinions on the law, since they will be heavily affected by the legislation.

Mr. Russell said the meetings were posted in the local newspaper and on the town website, and there had been news articles about it.

“We do everything we can to try and get the public into the process,” Mr. Russell said. “The problem is that it doesn’t seem to engage anybody until the process is already in the public hearing phase.”

Councilman William Ruland added that these conversations need to take place during the planning phase, before the law is drafted. The idea was first formed in November in response to local fire departments’ concerns about encountering unexpected floor plans when entering homes during emergencies.

“The concern I’m sure you’re trying to address, which is overcrowding, I think for the most part that’s the minority,” Ms. Moore said to the board. “If there are one in a thousand that are that type of situation, you have the other thousand you’re going to impact.”

Mr. Russell acknowledged that the local law needs more thought and planning, but said enforcement of rental laws is necessary to ensure the safety of the community.

“Every resident in Southold Town is a stakeholder of this code,” Mr. Russell said. “There are absentee landlords that are putting people’s lives at risk. How do you go after the few bad actors if you don’t hold everyone to the same standard?”

The board decided to keep the public hearing open to written comment for two more weeks, after which it will meet again with code enforcement again to discuss the law in greater detail.

rsiford@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Attorney Pat Moore spoke out during the hearing Tuesday. (Rachel Siford photo) 

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Decked in a green cap and gown, Harry Ramos couldn’t hold back tears as he reminisced on his past four years at Bishop McGann-Mercy High School.

The recent graduate, who had tossed his cap only minutes earlier, was celebrating with his social studies teacher, Dianne Scanlon, who choked back tears as well.

The two were sharing a bittersweet moment — pride at Harry and his classmates’ achievement, but sadness as it marked the final graduating class for the East End’s only Catholic high school.

“We wanted it to be about them because we wanted them to have their special moment to shine,” Ms. Scanlon said of the Class of 2018. “It was a little bit overshadowed. I’ve been here 12 years and I’ve never, ever worked in a place like this. Where there’s a feeling of community, a feeling of love. You could feel it in that room tonight.”

The class of 90 students heard speeches from their valedictorian and salutatorian — Olivia Valle and Isabella Sorgi — reminding them that although the school will not remain, what they have learned and who they have met at Mercy will always be with them.

• See more photos below

The Diocese of Rockville Centre announced in March that the school would close at the end of the 2017-18 year. At the time it cited decreasing enrollment and rising costs as two factors contributing to the decision.

Prior to reading the list of graduates, Dean of Students Charles Bender broke from script and took a minute to speak to the students.

“I love this place and I love you guys,” he said. He was met with cheers, applause and choruses of “I love you too.”

Students, their families and faculty celebrated an early afternoon Mass before the graduation ceremony began at 5 p.m. In between, the graduating seniors adorned their caps and gowns with tassels and took their last selfies together in Mercy’s halls.

The stage that students strode across to accept their diplomas was decorated with a sign that read “Monarchs Forever 1956-2018.”

Many students agreed they were excited to be graduating, but felt sadness about the inability for them to return to the school to visit former teachers when home on college breaks.

“It feels really good,” Sarah Dern said. “It also feels kind of surreal. It’ll hit me later … it feels unbelievable to be honest. It feels like [the school] will still go on for years and years.”

Sarah was also the recipient of the Catherine McAuley Christian Leadership Award – one of two awards that the recipient was surprised with during the ceremony. The other was the Bishop McGann “Serve the Lord with Gladness” Award, which went to Robert Halversen.

Teachers Ann Corraro, who taught French at Mercy for 13 years, and Sandy Bertolotti, who taught Latin for 32 years, described the evening as tough, but one of the most beautiful graduations during their tenure.

Although everyone’s time at Mercy has come to a close, the spirt of the school will never be forgotten.

“Unfortunately this graduation is not just about the Class of 2018. It is for everyone who is losing their home base,” Olivia said in her speech. “It is not just a goodbye for seniors. It is a goodbye for everyone who has ever bled green and gold. We are the underdogs, but we know how to win. Even if there’s no building to drive past, or football game to go watch, we will turn to each other and we will always be able to feel the presence of Mercy.”

Photos by Nicole Smith

nsmith@timesreview.com

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The Pleasantville Panthers had their pawprints all over this one.

Except, perhaps, for the first quarter.

For Mattituck/Southold, the start to its first ever New York State Class D semifinal was as good as could be hoped for. The Tuckers shot out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1. Parker Sheppard was controlling faceoffs and Shawn Howell was making saves.

But Pleasantville, which had lost three straight state semifinals to Cold Spring Harbor, lived up to its impressive record and No. 1 ranking in the New York State Sportswriters Association Class D poll. A 10-1 second-quarter run sent the Panthers on to a 20-7 victory Wednesday at the University at Albany.

Declan McDermott brought Pleasantville (20-1) four goals, helping the Panthers to Saturday’s state final against Chenango Forks or Penn Yan Academy at St. John Fisher College in Rochester.

Max Kruszeski fired in three goals, giving him 64 for the year, while Ethan Schmidt added two for Mattituck (12-7).

Those first three Mattituck goals by Schmidt, Kruszeski and Greg Hauser proved to be a mirage, though.

“We kind of caught them offguard in the beginning of the game, but from there I think their team kind of took it,” Mattituck coach John Amato said. “We ran into a juggernaut. They have 12 seniors who have been playing together since they were freshmen.”

“They figured us out on the faceoffs, then they kind of pressured us,” he continued, adding, “Their offense is phenomenal. Everyone can dodge and shoot.”

Amato knew Mattituck faced a tough challenge from Pleasantville, but the Panthers were even better than he thought they would be, he said. “They’re going to be the state champion.”

Mattituck’s game plan was to win faceoffs, hold the ball and limit Pleasantville’s possessions. Much easier said than done.

“A team like that, it’s hard to execute any kind of a game plan,” said Amato.

The loss marks the end of what may be considered the greatest season in the team’s history. It was a season that saw the Tuckers claim their first Suffolk County and Long Island championships.

Wednesday’s defeat “doesn’t take anything away from our guys and what we’ve done this year,” Amato said. “I’m extremely proud of them because they made school history, winning our first county and Long Island championships. I think the experience this year really set the bar high for Mattituck lacrosse. It sets the bar high and I think the younger group is going to make next year’s team even more hungry.”

Mattituck, ranked 10th in Class D by the state’s sportswriters, bids farewell to five seniors: attack Ryan Herrmann, midfielder Justin Tobin, defender Jacob Dominy, defender Riley Peterson and Howell.

But Kruszeski, a junior, will return next year along with six starting sophomores.

“Throughout this whole run, I felt that our team just wanted it and they never let up,” Amato said. “They never didn’t believe. They just believed the whole time and they weren’t expecting losing.”

Photo caption: Mattituck senior Ryan Herrmann pictured in the Tuckers’ Long Island Championship game last Saturday. (Credit: Bill Landon)

bliepa@timesreview.com

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Listings prepared for Times Review Media Group by Suffolk Research Service, dated April 9-15, 2018.

AQUEBOGUE (11931)

• Potato Acres LLC to Zaweski, Mark, Tuthills Ln (600-46-1-40.1), (V), $433,000

• Raisch, W & B to 733 Dune Road LLC, 13 Harbor Rd (600-113-2-26), (R), $1,023,750

CALVERTON (11933)

• SRBH lots LLC to Castro, Mariano, 50 Kerry Ct (600-81-1-17.6), (V), $150,000

• Wivczar, N by Executor to Villas at Roanoke II LLC, 84 Penny Dr (600-97-2-9.1), (V), $95,000

• Wivczar, N by Executor to Villas at Roanoke LLC, 72 Penny Dr (600-97-2-9.2), (V), $95,000

CUTCHOGUE (11935)

• Todd/Stallbaumer, N to Marin, Daniele, 4505 Alvahs Ln (1000-101-2-23), (R), $495,000

• McKenna, Leskody, et al to Wisniewski, Ryszard, 1455 Beebe Dr (1000-103-4-2), (R), $465,000

FISHERS ISLAND (06390)

• Bailey, J to KVT 1 LLC, 0 Pvt Rd Off E End Rd (1000-12-2-6.15), (R), $3,750,000

FLANDERS (11901)

• Goodale III, J to Blake Realty LLC, 51 Riverside Ave (900-143-2-10.1), (R), $200,000

• US Bank National As to JAG Property Management, 31 Glen Ave (900-148-4-29), (R), $285,922

GREENPORT (11944)

• Pisacano, S & Hinrichs to Polena, Sotir, August Ln (1000-53-6-46.10), (V), $585,000

• JV Realty Holding to 622 First St Greenport, South St (1001-4-6-32), (C), $275,000

• JV Realty Holding to 110 South Street Greenport, First St (1001-4-6-34.6), (V), $380,000

JAMESPORT (11947)

• US Bank National As to Harbes, Peter, 33 Circle Dr (600-68-4-21), (R), $277,555

• Deutsche Bank Nat to MJW Properties LLC, 158 8th St (600-90-2-22), (R), $300,000

MATTITUCK (11952)

• Tuthill, H Trust to Fine, Gerald & Nancy & Michael, 75 Blossom Bend (1000-115-5-17), (R), $450,000

• Eckert, L Trust to Forchelli, Rosaria, 1635 Meadow Beach Ln (1000-116-7-8), (R), $1,475,000

PECONIC (11958)

• Bohner, R & E to Fredericks, George, 1105 Mill Rd (1000-74-2-10.5), (V), $215,000

RIVERHEAD (11901)

• Young, A by Admrs to Corwin, Denise, 77 Sound Shore Rd (600-6-3-1.2), (V), $245,000

• Young, A by Admrs to Corwin, Denise, 95 Sound Shore Rd (600-6-3-1.3), (V), $245,000

• Pearson, C to Martinez, Jaime, 1903 Cedar Path (600-18.1-3-117), (R), $325,000

• Breitner, J Trust to Kenney, William, 147 Foxglove Row (600-45-6-27), (R), $635,000

• Eure, T by Referee to Christiana Trust, 192 Ellen St (600-65-1-29.26), (R), $455,782

• US Bank National As to 315 Path Riverhead LLC, 315 Doctors Path (600-65-4-20), (R), $225,000

• Silverman Realty As to JS Riverhead LLC, 780 Old Country Rd (600-82-3-17), (C), $500,000

• Silverman Realty As to Theo Associates LLC, 780 Old Country Rd (600-82-3-17), (C), $150,000

• Fannie Mae to 87 Sandy Court LLC, 4 Osprey Ave (600-105-1-11), (R), $170,000

• Uhlinger, T & K to Regional Asset Management, W Main St (600-119-2-19), (V), $5,000

• Lull, C by Admr to Schur, Russell, 106 Riverside Dr (600-129-6-10), (R), $320,500

SHELTER ISLAND (11964)

• DeSanctis, M & E to Engle, Christopher, 45 New York Ave (700-6-4-8.1), (R), $849,000

• Kramer-Metraux, L & M to Gentile, David, 171 D N Ferry Rd (700-7-3-21.1), (R), $1,300,000

• JPMorgan Chase Bank to Clark, Richard, 152 N Ferry Rd (700-7-4-55.3), (R), $655,250

SOUTH JAMESPORT (11970)

• Deckinger, M to Aiuto, Thomas, 3805 Soundview Ave (1000-94-1-20), (R), $1,100,000

SOUTHOLD (11971)

• Wieczorek, R & R to RK3 Estates LLC, 835 Tarpon Dr & 57-1-39.002 (1000-53-5-8), (R), $1,680,000

• McEvoy, P to Mohr, Christopher, 58945 Route 25 (1000-56-2-9), (R), $385,000

• Kuhl, C by Admr to Molloy, Paul, 555 Founders Path (1000-64-2-36), (R), $420,000

• George, C to Bell, Jeremy, 225 Harper Rd (1000-70-4-40), (R), $737,996

• Page, D & Shinn, B to Shebeest Southold LLC, 1854 N Bayview Rd (1000-70-12-39.3), (R), $1,315,000

• Kramkowski, J to Lehnert, William, 795 S Harbor Rd (1000-75-4-4), (R), $285,000

• Herrmann, Goyette & Dun to Dunne, Stephen, 225 Goldin Ln & 135-1-18 (1000-135-2-15), (R), $330,000

(Key: Tax map numbers = District-Section-Block-Lot; (A) = agriculture; (R) = residential; (V) = vacant property; (C) = commercial; (R&E) = recreation & entertainment; (CS) = community services; (I) = industrial; (PS) = public service; (P) = park land; as determined from assessed values in the current tax rolls.)

The post Real Estate Transfers: June 7, 2018 appeared first on Suffolk Times.

One day before he was set to tee off at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass last month, reigning U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka aggravated a left-wrist injury while out on the practice range. 

The world’s No. 9 ranked professional golfer threw his club down in frustration and made a beeline out of the practice area.

“I was in excruciating pain,” the 28-year-old Floridian said in a telephone interview last week. “And I couldn’t get the feeling in my hand to come back at all. I thought, ‘Oh man, here we go.’ ”

Mr. Koepka made his way to a golf cart and headed out of the practice area.

“I needed to get to Marc,” he said.

This is the world in which Cutchogue physical therapist Marc Wahl operates. A high-stakes sports environment where athletes at the very top of their game — men with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line every weekend — turn to him when something isn’t quite right with the bodies they use to earn a living.

Mr. Wahl, a 1983 graduate of Mattituck High School and the former owner of North Fork Physical Therapy, spends about 30 weeks of the year on the PGA tour, working full time with seven professional golfers who rely on him for physical therapy services while out on the road.

For players like Mr. Koepka, who will attempt to defend his U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton next week, Mr. Wahl is the person whose input keeps him off the sidelines and at the top of his game.

“He’s a part of every decision that goes into my body,” Mr. Koepka said. “He’s on the phone and texting with my doctors. I actually speak with him more than anybody else.”

The fruits of Mr. Wahl’s labor can be spectacular for both him and the athletes he works with, a list that also includes 2016 PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker and tour pros J.B. Holmes, Sean O’Hair, Branden Grace and Brandt Snedeker.

So when he saw Mr. Koepka headed for him at the Players last month, Mr. Wahl could see the concern but he didn’t panic.

“My niche has become, ‘I’ll get you to the tee,’ ” he said. “I don’t have an explanation for that. There is some place I go between art and science.”

In this instance, the science involved snapping a bone back into place where Mr. Koepka has been dealing with a tendon issue that caused him to miss this year’s Masters tournament.

Some of the graphs he uses to measure movement in a player’s swing. (Credit: Courtesy Photo)

The art was on display over the next four days. Mr. Koepka finished the tournament tied for 11th at 11-under-par. He went from “excruciating pain” Wednesday to a course-record 63 on Sunday.

It’s been a long journey for Mr. Wahl, 52, from local physical therapist to a commodity on the tour.

A fan of the sport, he took some courses on golf exercise as he worked to develop a new focus for himself, a process that took about a decade to develop. In the early 2000s he took a specific course with Titleist where he learned about kinematic sequence.

The best way to describe it, he explains, is when you see videos of athletes hooked up to machines that trace their movement for animation in video games. Except he’s using such a machine to help golfers guard against and navigate through injuries.

He doesn’t want to change their swing, that’s not his area of expertise, nor something he’d advise. Instead, he’s measuring through graphs a golfer’s movements and working to help them get the most out of their bodies.

“If someone has an inefficient golf swing, but they’re making money doing it, they want to keep that,” Mr. Wahl said. “My job is basically changing the oil and changing the tires, not trying to pull the motor out and put a new transmission in. I’m just trying to keep it bright and shiny.”

In 2006, Mr. Wahl made an initial investment of $30,000 to obtain the machine he uses for kinematic sequencing.

As a physical therapist with four offices on the East End — including Cutchogue and Riverhead — he tried incorporating some of what he learned about golf on a local scale. He quickly learned though that most golfers do so for recreation and aren’t necessarily willing to put in the time and money to follow a program developed for them by a physical therapist.

Mr. Wahl said he did, however, have some believers in the local golf pro ranks and he credits Laurel Links professional Steve Haggerty with encouraging him to keep up with what he was trying to do.

“I certainly would not have done what I’ve gone out and done without somebody like him saying to me, ‘This is really special what you’re doing, don’t quit.’ ” Mr. Wahl said.

His first opportunity to work with a tour regular came with Irish golfer Graeme McDowell in 2008. The pair met up in Los Angeles, where Mr. Wahl shared with the golfer what he had been working on.

“I showed the correlation between this graph and their lack of strength or range of motion of an area and I could quickly correct it because I was a manual therapist,” he said of his early work with Mr. McDowell and others. “They could see a change right away. It struck a chord with a lot of people and I started coming out more to make my manual skills useful.”

A decade later, this is entirely how Mr. Wahl makes a living, trading in the rates insurance companies reimburse health care providers for the type of compensation some of the world’s most famous athletes are willing to pay to make sure their bodies run right. This includes non-traditional practices like cupping.

Mr. Wahl focuses most of his attention on the seven pros he tours with, but also helps when other golfers have an issue. World Top 25 players Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar have all come to him when dealing with physical issues.

Mr. Wahl, right, with Jimmy Walker and the PGA Championship trophy in 2016. (Credit: Courtesy Photo)

Mr. Koepka said the personal attention he’s able to get from Mr. Wahl — because he’s choosy about his clients — sets him apart on the tour.

“He could [work for] 15 to 20 guys if he wanted to,” Mr. Koepka said. “He likes it to be more personal though, so he can be more thorough.”

Since he went to full time on the tour, Mr. Wahl has seen dramatic changes in his lifestyle. He learned after some time he didn’t like the grind of flying, renting a car and staying in hotels. He now travels along with his partner — Mattituck native Hanna Senesac — in an RV.

The couple, who is expecting a child together this summer, stay at campgrounds along the way and spend their downtime foraging for wild food and spring water, making friends who enjoy nature as they make their way to and from the towns and cities along the PGA highway.

“There is a circus kind of rat race out here — it’s a traveling circus — and I try to divorce myself from that so I stay healthy enough to stay out here,” he said. “We collect about 120 gallons [of natural water] every couple of weeks from different places throughout the country. It’s a little different.”

Coming back to Long Island for the U.S. Open, where Koepka, Walker, Grace and Snedeker will all play (two more of his players were aiming to qualify this week), provides a bit of a break from the road for Mr. Wahl. It also gives him a chance to see family. His mother, Irene, still lives in Cutchogue and he said he misses his children, Sarah, 16, and Sam, 10, dearly.

But after taking this week off, he’ll be to Shinnecock bright and early each day next week. On the week of a tournament where he’s on site, his days can often start at 5 a.m. and end at 7 p.m. It’s a grind he says is worth it, and he’s made memories that would be impossible to forget, like Mr. Koepka’s win at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, Wis., last year and at the 2016 Ryder Cup.

The 2016 season also brought Mr. Wahl his favorite moment on the tour as he watched Mr. Walker win his first major, edging Jason Day on the final hole at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., for the PGA Championship.

In a Golf Channel interview after the victory, Mr. Walker was asked about how he’s resurrected his career after several peaks and valleys early on, including injuries. He gave Mr. Wahl, with whom he’s worked since 2010, the credit.

“He really helped keep my body feeling really good,” the now 39-year-old golfer said. “He worked on my neck, which is where my problem area was and he’s kept all that feeling really, really solid. It’s allowed me to go work and work hard.”

When Mr. Walker walked away from the 18th hole at Baltusrol, he found Mr. Wahl and the two shared an embrace. Looking back on a video Titleist shot of that moment, Mr. Wahl said it still gets him every time.

“That brings tears to my eyes,” he said. “That one ran pretty deep.”

The quest to create more great memories and build on a career that has enabled him to travel the country working with people at the top of their profession continues this week at Shinnecock, a 25-mile drive around the Peconic Bay from where it all began in Cutchogue.

Top Caption: Marc Wahl at home in Cutchogue with the motorcycle he uses along with an RV to travel the country while on the PGA Tour. (David Benthal photo)

gparpan@timesreview.com

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Cardboard and tape. That’s all Mattituck High School physics students could use to craft boats used to loop around a buoy several yards out from the beach Wednesday near the Mattituck Yacht Club on the Peconic Bay.

It was the 12th annual physics regatta, an extra credit project that is one of many events that marks the end of the school year for seniors at Mattituck. Students constructed boats of different shapes and sizes. One group went for paddleboard-style raft.

“This might be the nastiest seas we’ve ever had,” physics teacher Steve DeCaro said. “It made it that much more difficult.”

Facing the elements, some boats didn’t stand a chance, Mr. DeCaro noted. The bay was rough as students fought to paddle against the wind and some whitecaps, but a few vessels held up for the trip back to shore.

This included a one constructed by this year’s valedictorian Alexandra Talbot, who will continue a passion for sailing at Tufts University this fall where she plans to study mechanical engineering.

“It was tiring. It was fun, but the waves were hard,” Alexandra said.

Cavan Gardner and Sam Dickerson also made it through the course with their boat made of sonotube, which sat on the water like pontoons, and boxes they picked up from Mullen Motors. It took them about fours hours to build.

Before they left beach, another battle ensued, after a student brought out a cooler filled with water balloons.

“It’s a great little way for use to end the year,” Mr. DeCaro said. “Any time we can get them outside the classroom thinking about physics, it’s good seeing them outside the classroom. We live on an island and it’s a lot of fun being over by then water.”

Photo credit: Kelly Zegers

kzegers@timesreview.com

Mattituck students Peter Pugliese, left, and James Clementi. (Credit: Kelly Zegers)

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A new business that’s taken over a vacant storefront in downtown Riverhead will challenge visitors with one not-so-simple task: escape from a locked room in under an hour. 

At Escape Quest, friends in groups of two to eight must find clues, solve puzzles and discover secrets that will help them get out of one room, then another, within the time limit, said manager Anzhelina Shtenger. The renovated space at 120 West Main St., formerly part of a furniture store, is currently awaiting final inspection by the town fire marshal and could open in about two weeks, pending that approval, Ms. Shtenger said.

Ms. Shtenger’s parents, Aleksey and Natalia, of Middle Island, decided to start the business after noticing the popularity of escape rooms in other countries, such as Russia, England and Lithuania.

“It’s really, really popular around Europe,” Ms. Shtenger said. “It’s not as popular around here, which is why when we came back from our vacation we thought, oh, only a few were open at the time so we wanted to open one up ourselves.”

While several escape room locations are scattered across Long Island, in places like Ronkonkoma and Yaphank, the Shtengers and the friends they partnered with wanted to bring one to the East End.

Partner Saulia Truncinskas, of Flanders,  appeared before the Riverhead Town Board in April 2017 as the business applied for a special permit to convert the retail space to a recreational use. At the time, board members showed interest in an idea that would bring a new downtown attraction to a vacant storefront. 

For younger escape room sleuths, ages 7 to 12, the premise is that friends are playing a board game, similar to Jumanji, traveling to different parts of the world or even outer space. But they become trapped and must escape before Mom picks them up for dinner. 

The games offer more than locks and keys or combinations, also using electronics as part of the puzzles, Ms. Shtenger said. They have different themes such as “Mysterious Mansion,” “Poseidon’s Jewel,” “Explorer’s Adventure” and “Cannibal Lair.”

Escape Quest will be open seven days a week and reservations, which are required, can be made online at escapequestli.com. Hours vary, as do costs, which depend on group size.

kzegers@timesreview.com

Photo caption: The Poseidon’s Jewel room at Escape Quest. (Kelly Zegers photo)

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She was writing from San Francisco with news of a discovery in her family tree. Way back, three great-grandfathers ago, she wrote, she had an ancestor named Notley Lee.

“My mother is from the Lee family in the Tongan Islands,” her recent email to an editor at The Suffolk Times began. “I am still wondering where and how my great-great-great grandfather came to Tonga and settled in the Village of Navutoka.”

Tonga is an archipelago in the South Pacific, south of Samoa, closer to New Zealand than to Hawaii, and on the far side of the world from eastern Long Island.

Makeleta Anderson was writing from her home. She said Notley Lee was an American Indian — born and raised on what’s now the Shinnecock Nation reservation in Southampton. It seemed improbable — a Shinnecock Indian in the South Pacific!

The epic saga of the whaling industry, which brought hundreds of millions of dollars to eastern Long Island between about 1800 and 1860, has been told in history books, novels and movies. Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” the story of a captain obsessed with killing the white whale that took his leg, was inspired by the true story of the Essex, which sank in the South Pacific in 1820 after being struck by a vengeful sperm whale.

Included in the story of the whaling industry is that men of color — Indians and free black men — signed on to dozens of ships and plied the world’s oceans, often on voyages lasting more than three years. Five Lee brothers from Shinnecock — Milton, Ferdinand, Notley, Robert and James — were among them, sailing out of Sag Harbor, Greenport and whaling ports in New England.

“It is not a very well told story that men of color were such a big part of the whaling story,” said Sandi Brewster-Walker, who grew up in Amityville and is of Montaukett heritage on her father’s side. She has done extensive research and has written about Indians and free black men who worked in the industry.

“The work was terrible and dangerous, but whale oil was so important and so profitable,” she said, adding that she knew the story of the Lee brothers. “Why Notley left the ship and stayed on that island is not clear. But he never came home to Southampton.”

According to a 2016 article in the Long Island History Journal by Nancy Shoemaker, Shinnecock men were well represented on whaling vessels. For example, the Pioneer left New Bedford in 1862 with Notley and Garrison Lee aboard, as well as five other Shinnecock men — Russell Bunn, Abraham Cuffee and Moses, Joshua and Israel Kellis.

It was in 1871, when Notley and Garrison were aboard the Abraham Barker, that Notley jumped ship in the Tongan islands with two other crewmen. The captain of the boat retrieved the others, but Notley Lee stayed behind. Garrison stayed on board. It’s not hard to imagine how he felt as the ship pulled away, knowing his brother had been left behind — thousands of miles from their home in Southampton.

Horton Point Light in Southold. (Rachel Siford photo)

Before oil was pumped out of the ground in Pennsylvania in 1859, the oil of oils, the best of the best, was the pure oil found in the head of a sperm whale. Thousands of whaling vessels sailed the world’s oceans in search of whales to kill. On Long Island, Sag Harbor and Greenport were the main whaling ports, with small operations in New Suffolk and perhaps Jamesport. 

The industry made ship owners and captains wealthy, as is evidenced by the beautiful homes they left behind in Sag Harbor, Shelter Island and the North Fork. Crew members received tiny portions of the overall value of oil. But, unlike conditions on land for free black men and Indians, life aboard a whaling vessel was a meritocracy — if you were good, you moved up in the ship’s ranks.

While these crews went out into the oceans to kill whales, what they brought back was light — light that illuminated cities and towns. Among the most successful captains was Henry Green, who was born in Sag Harbor, had ships outfitted in Greenport and built a home that still stands on Main Road in Peconic.

“In terms of dollars, the whaling industry brought in huge amounts of money,” said Michael Butler, general manager of the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum. “It was the main center of employment and the main funding for the local economies. It made a lot of people very wealthy — in today’s dollars, hundreds of millions.

“We also know that probably 30 percent of whalers and sailors were people of color,” he added.

On board the Pequod, Melville’s fictional boat in “Moby Dick,” the harpooners were Queequeg, from an island in the South Pacific; Tashtego, a Wampanoag Indian from Cape Cod; and Daggoo, a black man.

With the loss of their brother to the South Pacific, the four other Lee brothers, sailing on different boats, eventually returned to Southampton. The whaling industry had died out, and they needed new lives and new ways to support themselves.

Shinnecock land up through 1859 included everything from the current boundaries of the Nation’s reservation all the way north, across the Shinnecock Hills to Peconic Bay — land that is now home to world-famous golf courses, and where the U.S. Open will be played later this month.

The tribe lost all the land north of the current reservation — some 3,500 acres — when the New York State Legislature broke a lease signed in 1703 between the tribe and the Southampton trustees. The breaking of the lease allowed the Long Island Rail Road to extend its line from Patchogue, across the Shinnecock Canal and over the Shinnecock Hills to Montauk.

Many members of Shinnecock Nation, which is now federally recognized, consider the land to have been stolen out from under them with fraudulent petitions they say were signed by dead people.

Artifacts inside Horton Point Light. (Rachel Siford photo)

“I remember the day when Capt. Louis Scott, Austin Rose and Capt. Jeter Rose drove on the reservation,” a Shinnecock man named David Killes testified under oath during a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing in 1900. He said one of the men had told his father “…the petition is going to Albany tomorrow and he said to my father, ‘Are you going to sign it?’ He said, ‘I told you I would never sign it.’ He said, ‘Luther [my uncle], are you going to sign it?’ He said, ‘I will never sign it.’ But they forged the names and put them on.”

Once the Hills were no longer under a lease with the tribe, Austin Corbin, president of the LIRR, planned to build a hotel and summer colony on the site. While those plans did not materialize, he and a group of investors started the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club there.

This was the world to which the Shinnecock whalers, including the Lee brothers, returned. In December 1876, 11 Shinnecock men joined together to help salvage a ship, the Circassian, that had run aground off Bridgehampton in a storm. It was dangerous work, with the boat stuck on sand and awash in a nearly frozen sea.

As the ship broke apart, people onshore heard the Shinnecock men singing hymns, including a favorite, Nearer, my God, to Thee. Ten of them perished, including Robert Lee. The others were David Bunn, Franklin Bunn, Russel Bunn, William Cuffee, George Cuffee, Warren Cuffee, Oliver Kellis, John Walker and Lewis Walker.

Nearly all had been whalers, and their deaths — a little known piece in the history of Long Island — shattered the tribe, its legacy still felt today. A monument to their lives stands today on the reservation.

Mary Treadwell, whose three children are descendants of the Robert Lee who perished on the Circassian and the Notley Lee who lived out his life in the Tongan islands, said: “These stories are not taught. But we don’t forget.”

swick@timesreview.com

Part I: Before anything else, there was ice

Part II: Long before the ‘first families’

Part III: When English arrive, Indians disperse?

Part IV: So, who was really here first?

Part V: Slavery, an ignored part of our history

Part VI: Slavery on Shelter Island, a story not hidden away

Part VII: When was Cutchogue’s Old House built?

Part VIII: The Revolution ‘tore families apart’

Part IX: For one loyalist, all would be lost

Part X: From growing divisions within Southold, River Head town is born

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Dorothy Madeleine Norfolk passed away May 22, 2018 at San Simeon by the Sound in Greenport.

Her loving daughter, Karen and son-in-law, Dennis were with her at the time of her passing,

Dorothy is survived by her daughters, Karen Roses and Wendy Scafa; her granddaughters, Dana Forlenza, Aspen Scafa and Riona Scafa and her great-grandson, Angelo “Geno” Forlenza.

This is a paid notice. 

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South Jefferson did a remarkable job of defense, face guarding Mattituck/Southold’s Riley and Mackenzie Hoeg in Friday’s New York State Class D girls lacrosse semifinal. The Hoeg sisters, who have combined for 155 points this year, were held to no points.

That’s right. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

But there was one Hoeg South Jefferson didn’t account for.

And she was the one who saved the day for Mattituck.

Claudia Hoeg, a cousin of the other two Hoegs, isn’t normally in the spotlight on a team loaded with goal scorers, athletic midfielders and rock-solid defenders. But Friday was Claudia Hoeg’s day, and in the final second, the junior was at her best when her team needed her most.

With Mattituck clinging to a 7-6 lead, the Tuckers turned the ball over with 15 seconds left. Following a timeout, South Jefferson began possession deep in its own end. The Spartans connected four passes, including the last one, Sydney Roderick’s feed to Mia Buckingham on a two-on-one, with Lauren Zuhoski the lone defender. Buckingham took a point-blank shot from about four meters from the goal, but Hoeg was equal to it, coming up with a last-second save, clinching Mattituck’s first berth in a state final in dramatic fashion.

“She was pretty close,” Claudia Hoeg said after her six-save performance at SUNY/Cortland. “There were no defenders nearby so it was kind of a little nervewracking. It was a low shot. I kind of put my stick down and hoped for the best.”

Mattituck senior midfielder Chelsea Marlborough, who had two goals and two assists, said, “I’ve never been more proud of her.”

Mattituck (14-5) advances to its first state final Saturday against Bronxville (18-4) in a rematch of last year’s Class C semifinal, which Bronxville won by six goals. That was Mattituck’s first state semifinal appearance.

Mattituck faced a stiff test from South Jefferson (17-4), playing in its first state semifinal. South Jefferson is ranked first in Class D by the New York State Sportswriters Association poll and Mattituck is ranked second. The game was as tight as the difference between those rankings.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Marlborough.

With Hoeg’s goalkeeping and the backing of a defense with Alex Beebe, Ashley Burns, Brianna Fox and Zuhoski, Mattituck held South Jefferson to single-digit scoring for only the fourth time this year.

Marlborough picked a spot in the upper right corner to give Mattituck a 7-5 lead with 11 minutes, 13 seconds left to play.

Mattituck appeared to have extended that lead to three goals when Francesca Vasile-Cozzo put a shot in the net off a Marlborough pass with 3:05 to go. But that goal was disallowed after Vasile-Cozzo’s stick, as well as that of a teammate, was ruled illegal.

South Jefferson still had life. A free-position goal by Roderick made it a one-goal game with 1:53 remaining.

Riley Hoeg won the ensuing draw, with Jane DiGregorio (one goal, one assist) collecting the ball. Later, Zuhoski came up with a big loose ball with less than a minute to go.

A uniform violation by South Jefferson gave Mattituck the ball to start the game, but it was the Spartans who scored on their first shot through Molly Hall, setting up her hat trick. That was South Jefferson’s only lead.

Mattituck scored on its first three shots, with two goals by Julie Seifert and one by Maddy Schmidt.

South Jefferson never allowed Mattituck to build a lead of more than two goals.

“That was as equal a game as you could get,” Mattituck coach Matt Maloney said. He added: “I think we answered any type of run that they went on. Nothing was more than two goals. That’s huge. The draws were back and forth. We competed. They never were able to dominate any area of the game — nor were we.”

Roderick had two goals and one assist, with Savannah Fish and Megan Whitley also scoring for the Spartans.

Kaitlin Tobin had a goal for Mattituck.

It was Claudia Hoeg’s last save, more than anything, though, that this game will be remembered for.

“That was quite the 15 seconds,” Maloney said. “I really was disappointed that we gave up a shot, but hey, Claudia picked us up.”

Even Marlborough had doubts when she turned around and saw South Jefferson converging on the Mattituck goal in the final moments.

“I was mentally preparing for this OT and then everyone was around Claudia,” she said. “I couldn’t see what happened, and then she stood up and I was like, ‘Oh my God. We made it!’ ”

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Mattituck/Southold players celebrate following their first state semifinal win Friday over South Jefferson. (Credit: Bob Liepa)

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Peter Kenneth Ewald, Sr. of Peconic Landing in Greenport, formerly of Glen Cove, died June 7, 2018, at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. He was 94.

Born in New York City on Sept. 4, 1923, to Bertha (Eckert) and George F. Ewald, Sr., he graduated in 1941 from DeLaSalle Institute in New York City and later received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Ph.D. from New York University. His dissertation was on the Decennial Reapportionment in New York and in 1966 he received his Honorary Doctor of Laws from Philathea College in Canada.

In his professional career, he had been an Instructor at New York University School Business; advisor to Alexander Hamilton Institute on Investments; assistant professor at NYU School of Business where he was also Dean of Students; Dean of the Graduate and Undergraduate Schools of Business at St. John’s University; provost and chief academic and administrative officer of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and professor of finance and chairman of the finance department of the C.W. Post Campus School of Business.

Prior business activities included being a consultant on demographics to clients such as the New York Telephone Company, Adams Consolidated Industries and Union Square Savings Bank; a portfolio advisor to Alexander Hamilton Institute in New York City and was a founder and director of the Real Estate Practitioner’s Institute of Long Island at C.W. Post Campus, which is the largest educational real estate program on Long Island.

Professionally and civically, he was previously a member of the New York State Democratic Committee and director of College & University Democratic Clubs in the State of New York; he ran speakers campaigns for Democratic Mayor Candidates and was a speaker of Tammany Hall; elected Man of the Year by the Students of C.W. Post Campus; past chairman of District 6, Nassau Council of the Boy Scouts of America; past honorary chairman of the Long Island Festival of the Arts; past trustee of the Long Island Theatre Society and past director of the Long Island Association of Commerce and Industry.

In the community, he was a volunteer at North Shore University Hospital at Glen Cove; a lecturer in the Hutton House Lecture Series at C.W. Post Campus; an associate trustee of NSUH-LIJ Health Care Systems; co-president with M.C. Ewald of the Auxiliary of NSUH at Glen Cove where he later served twice as president; the first male ever elected to the position.

He was a past member of the Eastern Finance Association and Financial Management Association and author of books on Political Science and articles on financial articles.

Predeceased by his first wife, Mary Carolyn (née Madden) in 2001; he is survived by his second wife Mary Anne (née Lubanko); two sons, Peter K. Ewald Jr. (Doretha) of Michigan and Robert F. Ewald (Christine) of Smithtown and four grandchildren: Christopher and Marissa and Jessica and Sarah.

The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, June 11, at St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport. Interment will follow at Locust Valley Cemetery in Locust Valley, NY.

Memorial donations to the Kanas Center for Hospice Care, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978 would be appreciated.

DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold is assisting the family.

This is a paid notice. 

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Baseball isn’t the only sport that features scoreboard watching. Scoreboard watching is a habit at the New York State track and field championships, too.

After the Mattituck girls 4 x 100-meter relay team completed its heat Friday afternoon, the four Tuckers and coach Chris Robinson all converged on the track infield and stared at the large scoreboard at Cicero North Syracuse High School’s Michael J. Bragman Athletic Complex as results from the two Division II heats were flashed on the big board.

They stared in dead silence.

“That’s kind of how it always is at these meets because you can’t really tell,” Mattituck senior Meg Dinizio said. “At these meets you’re so focused on just getting there. You can’t even talk to the people around you. It’s totally tunnel vision. So you don’t know what time you were in. You don’t know what place you were in really, except if you were in first.”

Nikki Searles watched intently. “I wasn’t really praying,” the freshman said. “I was just anxious because I was hoping to be sub-50” seconds.

What the Tuckers saw was that they had finished third in their heat in 51.15 seconds. They later learned that they had finished ninth overall, seventh among public schools, falling short of a place in Saturday’s final.

What was obvious, though, was Mattituck had failed to seal an automatic qualification by a mere 25/100ths of a second. That was the difference between the Tuckers and Poly Prep, which took second in the heat and eighth overall. The top two finishers in each heat qualified for the finals along with four other teams with the next-best times.

It was thatclose.

“It was real close,” Robinson said. “Literally, fractions of a second separate everybody, so you got to be on your game and, you know, they feel bad and they’re hurt but it’s because they’ve worked so hard that it’s an upsetting feeling.”

Searles and fellow freshman Bella Masotti ran the first two legs for Mattituck while junior Miranda Annunziata handled the third leg before handing off to Dinizio. Dinizio, competing in her fourth outdoor state meet, passed two runners.

“They all put me in a great position to be able to close out,” Dinizio said of her teammates.

Mattituck ran a season-best 50.56 in the Section XI Championships preliminaries seven days earlier at Comsewogue High School.

“I think we all ran the best we could have,” Searles said. “Some of the handoffs could have been a little better.”

She cited her handoff to Masotti, in particular. “At first it hit her fingertips,” she said. “It wasn’t as solid as it could have been.”

In an event like the 4 x 100, every millisecond counts. A single second can mean everything.

“When you come to a meet like this you really have to be at your best because everybody’s great,” Robinson said. “These teams are coming from all over the state to compete for the same thing you are and any little error, any little mishap can cost you. They ran well. It wasn’t our best day but they did a great job.”

Tapestry Charter was first overall in 48.86. Seven other teams broke 50 seconds.

To qualify for the state meet is an achievement in itself. Athletes and teams don’t make it to this meet unless they’re really good. Masotti called the competition Mattituck faced “insane.”

The foursome made the trip along with an alternate, junior Abby Heffernan. Last year Mattituck’s 4 x 100 relay team of Alya Ayoub, Amy Macaluso, Masotti and Dinizio reached the state meet, but didn’t finish the race. They were disqualified for a handoff outside of the exchange zone.

Following Friday’s race, Masotti said: “It was kind of disappointing because it wasn’t a [season-best time], but I don’t know. We did a lot in the season to get here and it was definitely worth it to run at the state meet.”

Searles enjoyed her first state meet experience.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s way better than any other meet ever. You would think there would be a ton of pressure, but it doesn’t feel like that much. It was fun.”

Robinson said: “They did an amazing job this year. Just to get to this point is a success all around.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Mattituck senior Meg Dinizio, second from left, charges toward the finish line, bringing the Tuckers third in their heat in the 4 x 100-meter relay Friday in the state meet at Cicero North Syracuse High School. (Credit: Bob Liepa)

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