Recap of the Joe Hunter Drill

by Dan Laverty

The drill began with Joe Hunter’s lifelong friend Matt Spinelli thanking everyone for coming and welcoming everyone in attendance. A lone bagpiper played at the bottom of the arch before the first team was called to the line.

Thirteen teams lined up for 3-Man Ladder. The first team on the line were the West Sayville Flying Dutchmen. The Dutchmen have won this drill two times in the past and were looking to win it again. In the below picture you will see the Dutchmen’s Mike Marra getting ready to make the first of his four climbs up the arch (3-Man, B-Ladder, C-Ladder & Buckets). With the Tenney Brothers running first and second in front of Mike, the Dutchmen ran a 6.50.

In the below picture you’ll see exactly what the first man is supposed to do. I guess Jake has been reading the blog because he did an excellent job of getting out of the way while not blocking the officials' view. David Miller and Dan Murphy followed Jake up the ladder for a time of 6.24.

With the Drill Team Radio crew: Lenny Gombert, Artie Susskind, Kevin Candido (also Chief Judge for the Drill), John Burke, Fred Bencivenga and myself watching the Yellowbirds ran a textbook shot.

The Roslyn Highlanders were called off by Stan Dybus Jr. Stan watched as Charlie Patino, Greg Brown and Ronnie Presti put up a time of 6.46. The Islip Wolves ended the contest with a time of 6.47. Heavy Kevy was chased up the ladder by Jake Moran and friend of the blog Josh Kasin. Josh has not been given the chance yet this year to defend his SIDE BY SIDE COMPETITION CHAMPIONSHIP but instead boogied up the ladder for a time of 6.47. The Copiague Yellowbirds rounded out the top five in 3-Man Ladder with a run of 6.76

3-MAN LADDER RESULTS

FINISHED	TEAM	TIME
First	Central Islip	6.24
Second	Roslyn	6.46
Third	Islip	6.47
Fourth	West Sayville	6.50
Fifth	Copiague	6.76

Lenny and I discussed the 3-Man Ladder event as "The hardest working man in racing" Anthony "A-Rock" Raccomandato looks down onto the course to make sure the lights are placed on the proper lines for B-Ladder.

Dave Banks seems to be standing at attention as he waits for the 1961 Ford that his team obtained from the Centereach Hose Jockeys many years ago to come to the starting line. If you look in the background of this picture you will see Matt Spinelli, Robert Scott Noonan and Matt’s son Joseph attempting to predict what the Dutchmen might run in B-Ladder.

The ladder team consisting of Richard Quenzer, Dave Banks, Ryan Huguenin and Mike Marra were driven to the patch by first year driver Frank Miller Jr. The Dutchmen were only 22/100ths of a second away from their State Record of 4.82 with a time of 5.14. Where else can 22/100ths of a second mean so much? It always amazes me the minute amount of time that separates a run from being a State Record and from being just another run.

Driver Brian "Mole" Butler shows us his game face.

The Ladder went into the ground a little crooked but Redskin veteran Paul Susskind straightened it out to help "Skippy" Lyman reach the top for a run of 5.54.

Westbury Turtles’ ladder team of Joe Knobbi, Matt Rodden and the Ingram brothers got together to put up a run of 5.49. The Westerners filled filled out the top five with a run of 5.60.

B-LADDER RESULTS

FINISHED	TEAM	TIME
First	West Sayville	5.14
Second	Hempstead	5.40
Third	Westbury	5.49
Fourth	Bay Shore	5.54
Fifth	West Hempstead	5.60

The Dutchmen ran an impressive time of 9.16 and The Piston Knockers followed that up with a 9.16 also. These two teams had to wait for eight other teams to go before they knew if they were going to be tied for first place or not.

Mike Marra grasps & holds as A-Rock stops the clock.

Bay Shore’s ladder went into the ground straight on this C-Ladder run to give them a time of 9.37. Westbury gave their all in an attempt to beat the 9.16 that was up on the Joe Hunter Memorial Scoreboard but came up a little short with a time of 9.24. Here's a shot of the Westerners on their way down the course. They finished with a time of 9.21, giving them third place in the contest.

The St. James Wildcats didn't fare as well as the received a No Time for digging outside the safety zone, Rule 13.03.

C-LADDER RESULTS

FINISHED	TEAM	TIME
First (Tie)	West Sayville	9.16
First (Tie)	North Lindenhurst	9.16
Third	West Hempstead	9.21
Fourth	Westbury	9.24
Fifth	Bay Shore	9.37

Heading into the hose contests the point totals were as follows:

• West Sayville - 11.5
• North Lindenhurst - 4.5
• Central Islip - 5
• Bay Shore – 3
• Hempstead – 4
• Copiague – 1
• Westbury – 5
• Roslyn – 4
• West Hempstead – 4
• Islip – 3

Ten out of thirteen teams had scored so far with St. James, Lindenhurst and North Babylon on the outside looking in.

Two teams who tied for first in C-Ladder contest found points a little harder to come by once the hoses got involved. West Sayville was not able to add to their point total with an uncharacteristic run of 19.18 while North Lindenhurst managed 2 points with a run of 12.69.

Bay Shore’s Paul Susskind coupled the hydrant with the capacity crowd looking and helped his team run a 12.72 for fifth place.

It was great to see the Yellow Hornets C-Truck out on the track and with the combined team of Hornets and Rascals they were able to put together a run of 12.62 for 3 points.

While going past the hydrant, the Wildcats’ hydrant-man was able to reach back and get water to the nozzle-man for a run of 12.60 which gave them the second place trophy for the event.

The Westbury Turtles came screaming down the course to drop of their crew for a first place run of 12.44 and first place in the C-Hose event.

West Hempstead wanted to show the crowd they had what it takes to take some points in C-Hose but the course took first place over the Westerners as evident in the below pic…OUCH!

As night descended on Wier St., West Sayville was first to run and they put up a time of 8.26. North Lindenhurst encountered some problems and their time was not competitive. The Hoboes' came down the track and ran the only 7 of the contest. Their run of 7.69 game them their second first-place trophy of the day.

The Hempstead Yellow Hornets again showed what practice can accomplish with a run of 8.85 and 3 points. The Lindenhurst Snails put up a time of 9.96 which gave them their only point on the night and the Westerners ran a 9.71 for 2 points.

Due to time constraints because of the inability to have motorized vehicles running after a certain time at the Hempstead track Motor Pump was run next.

West Sayville was not going to be outdone in this contest which was evident by their run of 6.55. This time was almost beaten by the next team to run but their time held up for 5 points.

North Lindenhurst took their turn and ran a time of 6.58, this gave them 4 more points.

The Hempstead Yellow Hornets combined team utilizing the South Hempstead Rascals B-Truck ran a time of 6.69 for 3 points.

The Westerners would not know it at the time, but his hand is signaling what place they would take in this event. The Westerners ran a 7.09 for another point and fifth place.

MOTOR PUMP RESULTS

FINISHED	TEAM	TIME
First	West Sayville	6.55
Second	North Lindenhurst	6.58
Third	Hempstead	6.69
Fourth	Central Islip	6.96
Fifth	West Hempstead	7.09

At the conclusion of the Motor Pump contest with Efficiency and Buckets to go the points total was as follows:

• West Sayvile – 20.5
• North Lindenhurst - 10.5
• Central Islip – 12
• Bay Shore – 4
• Hempstead – 13
• St. James – 4
• Copiague – 1
• Westbury – 10
• Roslyn – 5
• West Hempstead – 7
• Islip – 5

The Efficiency contest is totally different when run at night. The sun is not out to dry the course and teams are forced to take a slightly different approach. The one benefit of running Efficiency after Motor Pump is that some teams run the events in this order when they practice. Four teams completed runs under 9 seconds with West Hempstead at the top with an 8.62.

EFFICIENCY RESULTS

FINISHED	TEAM	TIME
First	West Hempstead	8.82
Second	Bay Shore	8.87
Third	Central Islip	8.90
Fourth	Islip	8.93
Fifth	Roslyn	9.54

The radio crew had a great view of the Buckets Contest

North Lindenhurst put up a time of 23.76 for first place. The Hoboes came pretty close with a time of 24.33. The Bay Shore Redskins were looking to place in this drill and almost did with a run of 23.78. The Copiague Yelllowbirds ran a 24.61 for fourth place and the Westerners ran a 25.04 for 1 more point on the night.

BUCKETS RESULTS

FINISHED	TEAM	TIME
First	North Lindenhurst	23.76
Second	Bay Shore	23.78
Third	Central Islip	24.33
Fourth	Copiague	24.61
Fifth	West Hempstead	25.04

Total points at the completion of the Drill:
Fourth Place (Tie) - Hempstead Yellow Hornets/South Hempstead Rascals with 13 points

Third Place - North Lindenhurst Piston Knockers with 15.5 points

Second Place - Central Islip Hoboes with 18 points

AND IN FIRST PLACE…WITH 20.5 POINTS…

THE FLYING DUTCHMEN FROM WEST SAYVILLE!!!!!!

The West Sayville Flying Dutchmen; Chad Leigh-Manuell, Ryan Tenney, Michael Marra, Frank Miller Jr., Richard Quenzer, David Banks, Ryan Hugenin, Robert Scott Noonan, Joe Quenzer, Kristy Banks, Doug Quenzer, Pat Garrett, Gary Schaum, Allen Newhouse, Bob Marra and Scott Schrader were joined in the above pic by Joe Hunter’s Family and Matt Spinelli.

All photos courtesy of Kim Versheck. See more photos from this drill and others over the Late Night Buff Network.