(This drill took place on June 25th at the Ridge track, hosted by the Selden Fire Department. Full results of the drill can be found at www.NYSDrillTeams.com)
With picture perfect weather, the 2011 Selden Invitational, the second Suffolk County Points Tournament of the season, saw the return of motorized racing to Suffolk after a two week layoff following the Long Island Invitational at Lindenhurst.
After some minor technical difficulties with the lights, 3-Man Ladder began. East Islip, making their season debut after skipping Lindenhurst, set the first time of the day with a 6.69, a time that stayed in first for all of one team, as Central Islip followed that with a 6.48. The only team to threaten this would be Copiague with a 6.53, as both North Lindenhurst and West Sayville saw their hopes of besting C.I. fall short with slips on the ladder. West Hempstead and North Babylon rounded out your top five.
B and C Ladder belonged to West Sayville, setting a new best time for the year in B-Ladder with a 5.01 and winning C-Ladder with an 8.91. After a slip in B-Ladder, Central Islip responded with a third place run of 9.13. East Islip took fourth in B-Ladder and second in C-Ladder to put themselves into second overall on the day so far. Going into the water test, the top five were separated by only 4 points, with West Sayville leading the pack with 10 points, East Islip with 9, Central Islip with 8, Copiague with 7 and North Lindenhurst with 6.
Following the water test, which established the water time for the day at 4.75, C-Hose kicked off and proved to be as competitive as the tournament was shaping up to be. A 12.71 by East Islip would prove to be only good enough for sixth place. An improbable shot by West Sayville which saw nozzle-man Frank Miller fall on the hose, get up and smack the target, would take first and set a new best time for the year with a 12.28. North Lindenhurst, after having there hose pulled and tested, took second with a 12.29. Central Islip took third with a 12.45 and Islip and West Hempstead would tie for fourth with a 12.62, the first points for the Wolves on the season as they go through a rebuilding phase.
B-Hose would begin to separate the contenders from the rest of the pack. Central Islip took first, with a new best time for the year of 7.69, just missing establishing a new state record by .04 seconds off the reset time. West Hempstead would help Central Islip gain on West Sayville by besting the Dutchmen’s 7.81 with a 7.74 for second place. Brentwood took fourth with an 8.75 and Bay Shore would round out the top five with an 8.99. A fight to the finish was definitely developing as West Sayville now led C.I. by 2 points, 18 to 16.
Efficiency would prove to be the turning point of the day. Central Islip would put the pressure by running an 8.77, setting not only the time to beat for the day but also the best time for the year and a new track record. No one would approach this, as second place would be seven-tenths off C.I.’s time, North Babylon with a 9.47. West Sayville would surrender their lead to CI after a fourth place run. Hagerman took third with a 9.53 to earn their first points of the season, with East Islip taking fifth.
With Central Islip Leading by one, Motor Pump loomed crucial. C.I. was unable to hit the target and received an overtime, opening the door for West Sayville to retake the lead they lost after efficiency. They were unable to take advantage however, running a 9.67, allowing Bay Shore to pick up 5 with a 6.07 and moving them into contention for a top five spot for the day. East Islip took second with St. James, North Babylon and Copiague completing the top five in Motor Pump.
The tournament would come down to Buckets. Leading West Sayville by one, Central Islip would be the first to run and hoped to be able to put the pressure on the Flying Dutchmen. And put pressure on them they did, setting a new state record in the contest. Following a delay to test the timing equipment and the barrel, the tournament resumed as all of Central Islip’s buckets were being tested. West Sayville’s only shot now to tie for first place would be to beat C.I.’s yet to be announced time. There were unable to do so, running a 21.71, which was good enough for third. North Lindenhurst would take second to the Hoboes new Bucket state record of 20.21 with a 21.24, allowing them to tie East Islip for third on the day with 14 points. West Hempstead would take fourth to lock up fifth place for the day with 10.5 points. St. James completed the top five in Buckets.
The 2011 Selden Invitational proved to be the most exciting tournament of this young season so far, and a good look at what the main storyline for this season appears to be. Two mighty powers fighting it out while at the same time fending off all other combatants looking to too claim the throne. The season continues June 30th at the Joe Hunter Memorial Drill in Hempstead and the Suffolk County season continues with the Suffolk County Championship at Ridge on July 9th.
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