(This drill took place on July 30th at the Central Islip track. Full results of the drill can be found at www.NYSDrillTeams.com)
The 49th Annual Central Islip Invitational Tournament started off without a cloud in the sky. With the addition of temporary bleachers by the arch and larger than usual bleachers by "The Shack" the crowd seemed sparse. The addition of numerous bleachers in "The Bullpen" area had the opposite effect on the south side of the track. All of these improvements are in preparation for the New York State Championship Drill to be held at this track on Saturday August 20th. I am sure on that day all viewing areas will be at full capacity to watch the always impressive Hoboes defend their State Championship title on their home track.
3-Man Ladder started off with a bang. The host team of the drill led off the competition with a time of 6.20. This time also instantly became the fastest run in this contest for 2011. The Roslyn Highlanders were next to place, coming off their win at the TONH/TOB drill were also looking to make a mark on this day ran a 6.56. East Islip – with friend of the Drill Team Blog, Josh Kasin running third man – completed the event with a time of 6.46. The Islip Wolves who recently re-acquired their motorized climber and third man Billy Moon ran a 6.71. The Hempstead Yellow Hornets and their new line up of JoJo Simone, Kevin Rugg and Twan put up a time of 6.32 which put them in second place. The only Old Fashion Drill Team to participate was the Miller Place Extinguishers. The team co
nsisted of Chris Lall, Matt Muller and student of our sport Rob Bruccoleri. Rob grasped the top rung
to stop the clocks at 6.97 which at the time was fifth place. Their hopes of placing in this event were crushed when The North Lindenhurst Piston Knockers ran a 6.63 taking fifth place away from the Extunguishers. The North Baylon Taildraggers put up their best time of the year with the time of 6.71 and should definitely be proud of that run.
Results of the 3-Man Ladder contest:
1st - Central Islip
2nd - East Islip
3rd - Hempstead
4th - Roslyn
5th - North Lindenhurst
Motor Hook and Ladder Class-B did not begin as exciting as the 3-Man contest. The first team to run a 5 was the Sayville Blue Jays, who put up their best time of 2011 with a time of 5.77. The Copiague Yellowbirds, who had a disappointing 3-Man Ladder run put up a time of 5.13. It was said by the radio crew that Billy "Mr. Happy" Hothan is determined to get his team in the 5.0 time range. The East Islip Guzzlers who had 4 points coming into this event ran a 5.28. Glenwood was in the 5's with a 5.94 but did not place. The Bay Shore Redskins' thrower layed the ladder in nice and gentle and helped them achieve a time of 5.44. Islip had their veteran climber Billy Moon back on the rail and looked like he never skipped a beat helping the Wolves run a 5.21. Even with a very uncharacteristic slip on the ladder by 8-time state champion Michael Marra, The West Sayville Flying Dutchmen ran a 5.41.
Results of the Motor Hook and Ladder Class-B contest:
1st – Copiague
2nd – Islip
3rd – East Islip
4th – West Sayville
5th – Bay Shore
Motor Hook and Ladder Class-C was expected to be an event with some impressive times, but due to the misjudgments by some drivers on this newly paved track caused the C-Cars to slide under the arch. Central Islip ran first and put up a time of 9.19. The only 8 was run by the crack racing team from East Islip who put up a time of 8.89. You could almost hear the day’s competitors say “Uh-oh, boys” as they realized that they had better find their ‘A’ game come the hose events if they wanted to compete. Bay Shore put up a time of 9.61 while Islip added onto the 4 points from the previous contest, taking second place with a 9.11. Hempstead rounded out the top five with a 9.34. Copiague, Glenwood and North Babylon all had nice runs in the 9’s, barely missing out on scoring in the contest.
Results of the Motor Hook and Ladder Class-C contest:
1st – East Islip
2nd – Islip
3rd – Central Islip
4th – Hempstead
5th – Bay Shore
Motor Hose Class-C started out with the second uncharacteristic run of the day. This one was by the Hoboes who got an OT. St. James almost ran the same time as they did at The Suffolk County Drill but were off by 1/100ths of a second with a fifth place time of 13.04. The tournament leaders from East Islip and their nozzle-man Eric Flynn came down the track and took third place with a time of 12.40. This added to their 3-point lead over Islip and Central Islip. Bay Shore's always exciting Paul Susskind coupled the hydrant in an expeditious fashion and due to the quick work of the nozzle-man they scored second place with a time of 12.37. The Westerners from West Hempstead scored their only points of the day by running a 12.33 for first place. West Sayville rounded out the top five with a 12.56 for fourth place.
Results of the Motor Hose Class-C contest:
1st – West Hempstead
2nd – Bay Shore
3rd – East Islip
4th – West Sayville
5th – St. James
Motor Hose Class-B only had one run in the 7-second range. Once again East Islip took 5 points by running a 7.94 and giving them an even greater total point lead on the competition. West Sayville ran an 8.01 for second place and Hempstead – utilizing the skills of the experienced team of JoJo Simone, Ralph Fraile Jr., Billy Falk and Matt Spinelli – ran an 8.25 for second place and 3 more points. North Lindenhurst's 8.27 bested Copiague’s 8.30 and the Taildraggers, running last, ran an 8.28 pushing the Yellowbirds just out of the points.
Results of the Motor Hose Class-B contest:
1st – East Islip
2nd – West Sayville
3rd – Hempstead
4th – North Lindenhurst
5th – North Babylon
Always able to compete at the top level in the Efficiency contest, the ever-ready team from Central Islip ran a 9.05. Port Washington obtained their first points of the day by running a 9.42 for fifth place. Bay Shore, who are always on the hunt for more points, ran a 9.29 for third place. West Sayville – who have been competing in Firemen’s Tournaments since the 1800's - attempted to best Central Islip but came up short with a time of 9.16. North Lindenhurst rounded out the top five with an energetic run of 9.38 gaining the Piston Knockers fourth place. St. James, North Babylon, Hempstead and Copiague were all just outside the top five with runs that were only off by a few hundredths of a second.
Results of the Efficiency contest:
1st – Central Islip
2nd – West Sayville
3rd – Bay Shore
4th – North Lindenhurst
5th – Port Washington
Motor Pump was by far the most exciting contest of the day. Central Islip came through the timing lights, ran a 5.88 and kicked off the event with a fervor. A few teams received OT’s and a few 9's were run before tournament leader East Islip came to the line. Nozzle-man Eric Flynn came bolting off the back of the truck with his eyes fixed on the target. What else can I say but the truck revved, the water came out and the target tripped. A boisterous "TIME!" came out of announcer Bill Rowse's mouth and everyone in attendance perked up...
“Five! (dramatic pause) point EIGHT!! (even more dramatic pause) SIX!!!"
This gave them a .200ths of a second faster run than Central Islip. Bay Shore and their 71-year old Class-B truck performed like the day it began its racing career propelling the Redskins to first place with a time of 5.76. When West Sayville came up to the line they not only took first place in Motor Pump but they also put themselves in second place for the day. At this point, the tournament win was sealed for the East Islip Guzzlers. The Drill Team Radio crew of Artie Susskind, Pat Cooke and Scott Magin began to hand out congratulations to the team.
The top five for the day with one contest to go, looked like this:
East Islip – 22 pts.
West Sayville – 16.5 pts.
Central Islip – 15 pts.
Bay Shore – 13.5 pts.
Hempstead – 9 pts.
Now a battle for second through fifth place was “ON.” Central Islip ran a 21.96 to the delight of the “Hoboe Nation” who had set up shop in the new bleachers right next to the arch. Bay Shore ran their best Bucket time of the year with a 22.48. West Sayville ran a 21.47 while Hempstead ran a 21.28 and North Lindenhurst ran their third 21 of the season with a 21.34. These four 21's were just giving us a preview of what's to come at the State Drill where it is possible that a 22 in buckets will not be enough to secure any points.
Results of the Bucket contest:
1st – Hempstead
2nd – North Lindenhurst
3rd – West Sayville
4th – Central Islip
5th – Bay Shore
With 22 points, the East Islip Guzzlers became the third different team to win a Suffolk County Points Drill this year. It took the combination of three third-place and two first-place finishes to put the them in the overall top five for the fourth time this season. Rounding out the top five for the day were West Sayville (19.5), Central Islip (17), Bay Shore (14.5) and Hempstead (14.)
Photos courtesy of Mike Heller from Fire News
We are all looking forward to a return trip to the Central Islip track on August 20th for the State Drill. This drill further proved that there are plenty of teams with the potential to take over for a day and bring home the win. It’ll be exciting to see who brings their ‘A’ game when it’s time to battle for the top prize in the sport.
We’ll see you all there…can’t wait!
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