2012 N.Y. State Drill Hosted by Main-Transit F.D.

by Stewy Michels

Roslyn's 1st Place 3-Man Run

It was cool and breezy at the Main-Transit track for the 8:00 AM start of the 2012 New York State Drill. Monk from Spencerport got the day started as teams lined up for 3-Man Ladder and fans made their way up into the stands and it didn’t take long for the Islip Wolves to make the first “statement” run of the day. Their 6.42, their best time so far this season, gave them an early lead in the contest and got the growing crowd buzzing.  Copiague and West Hempstead had good runs but Islip’s time held until Central Islip got their turn and tied them with a 6.42 of their own only to be knocked out of the top spot by Roslyn with a time of 6.38. Just like that, we were underway and the day was moving along quickly.

At this point, Ralph Fraile took over announcing duties and the B-Trucks made their way to the starting line for B-Ladder. After a short “breakdown” the Wolves stayed hot and followed their 3.5 points up with a great B-Ladder run that netted them another 2nd-place finish and 4 more points. Islip's veteran climber, Billy Moon, looked like his old self out there on the track. North Lindenhurst and Hicksville had two good runs and Bay Shore was able to capitalize on their re-run (digital error) to post a time of 5.40 which was good enough for 1 point. West Sayville looked poised to take the top spot but Michael Marra slipped and the Dutchmen were suddenly 0-2 in two of their best contests. With the door officially ajar, the West Hempstead Westerners took advantage and put up a run of 5.19 and grabbed themselves 5 points.

The Flying Dutchmen easily take 1st Place
in C-Ladder with a time of 8.80

The Wolves were riding high with two consecutive 2nd-place trophies and a chance to take a nice early lead in the drill. As we mentioned earlier, Islip had their veteran climber on the ladder and even though he slipped initially, he was able to get his team a re-run when he faked out the officials at the top of the ladder. I have no idea if it was intentional or not, but as he jumped for the top rung he hesitated just a bit before grabbing hold. That hesitation was enough to throw the officials off and get the team a re-run. Of course the team was able to capitalize and they managed another 2nd-place finish with a time of 8.96. West Sayville got back on track with a blazing run of 8.80 followed by the Westerners with a 9.04. It looked like Roslyn and Central Islip would tie for 4th place, but that wasn’t the case. At the completion of the contest there was some confusion with the announced times and it turned out that some of the faster C-Trucks had not had the proper times reported due to the cone-time restrictions. Five teams incurred varying cone-time penalties: West Islip, Central Islip, Port Washington, West Sayville and North Lindenhurst. Once the proper times were announced, the crowd was informed that Central Islip’s time would be 9.13 instead of 9.09. That difference pushed them into 5th place in the contest.

TOTAL POINTS AFTER 3 CONTESTS
ISLIP	11.5 Pts.	WEST SAYVILLE	5 Pts.
BAY SHORE	1 Pt.	WEST HEMPSTEAD	9 Pts.
NORTH LINDENHURST	3 Pts.	CENTRAL ISLIP	4.5 Pts.
COPIAGUE	2 Pts.	ROSLYN	7 Pts.
HICKSVILLE	2 Pts.

With ladders out of the way the officials and local committee began the water test. Fans took advantage of the break in the action to grab a bite to eat, stretch their legs or even get their nails done if they wanted too.

You don't want to miss the State Drill
because of a nail appointment.

One festive group decided to decorate a nearby pine tree to brighten up the grounds...

By now the stands were mostly filled up with a healthy mix of hardcore race fans and curious passersby. The time of the water was set at 4.67 and it was time for C-Hose to be run.

Chris Treglia goes smooth into the hydrant as the
East Islip Guzzlers set a new State Record

The fans were treated to a new announcer, Scott Magin from Spencerport. (He's no stranger to these parts.) Islip had a chance to build on their early lead but failed to put up a competitive time and no one else put together a good run until North Lindenhurst came down the track and ran a 12.90. East Islip had been quiet so far but everyone was expecting them to make some noise in the hose contests, and they did not disappoint. “GENERAL JUDGES!” The crowd went nuts; many fans had them hand-timed at just under 12 seconds and they weren't off by much. The Guzzlers crushed the previous record of 12.15 with a new record of 12.00. The Guzzlers were pumped, the crowd was buzzing and the days’ first record run (hint, hint) was on the scorecard. Roslyn and West Hempstead followed in 2nd and 3rd place and both teams had now scored in all four events. The Hoboes seemed to get back into the race with a run of 12.27 which would have given them 2nd place, but the officials pulled their hose after the run. Both Central Islip and North Lindenhurst ended up being disqualified because of fast hose. The Westbury Turtles and Lindenhurst Snails scored their first points of the day as they took their place in the top five.

North Lindy beats Bay Shore's B-Hose time by .01 seconds 

The crowd was anxious for some action after waiting for the teams’ hoses to be tested following C-Hose and the roar of the B-Trucks was music to my ears as the long delay finally ended. Bay Shore was the first team to have a good run with an 8.02 but they were beaten out a couple of teams later when North Lindy edged them with an 8.01. West Sayville righted the ship (I'm sorry) with the first 7 of the contest, running a 7.90. That time didn’t last very long either as the two front-running Nassau teams posted better times pushing them to third. The Westerners took 1st with a time of 7.73 followed by Roslyn with a 7.89. Lindenhurst was in the top five again with a 4th place time of 7.96. North Lindenhurst held on for 5th pushing Bay Shore into 6th by just 1/100th of a second.

The Henrietta Ol' Henries show how
Efficiency is supposed to be run.

Monk was back announcing the drill and the soothing tones of his Western N.Y. voice inspired the Ol’ Henries to their first points of the day. They ran a 9.42 followed by Copiague with a 9.48. West Sayville had their mojo back and ran the contests’ first 8. This time their run held up and they finished first giving them a total of 15 points and getting them within striking distance of the lead. The Westerners failed to score for the first time all day and the Hoboes continued to struggle as Ryan Murphy (sorry buddy) missed at the hydrant in what is normally the teams’ best contest. Another Nassau team got into the scoring with the Rinky Dinks from North Bellmore taking 3 points just behind the drill-leading Highlanders.

TOTAL POINTSS AFTER 6 CONTESTS
ISLIP	11.5 Pts.	WEST SAYVILLE	13 Pts.
BAY SHORE	1 Pt.	WEST HEMPSTEAD	17 Pts.
HENRIETTA	2 Pts.	NORTH BELLMORE	3 Pts.
NORTH LINDENHURST	4 Pts.	CENTRAL ISLIP	4.5 Pts.
EAST ISLIP	5 Pts.	WESTBURY	2 Pts.
COPIAGUE	3 Pts.	ROSLYN	19 Pts.
HICKSVILLE	2 Pts.	LINDENHURST	3 Pts.

Central Islip en route to tying the Motor Pump State Record

Although there were two contests remaining, the drill was far from over. Motor Pump gave a couple of teams the opportunity to jump right back into the race and give them a shot to win it all. Islip got things started with a time of 5.79 only to be beat out by Bay Shore a few runs later. The Redskins’ 5.70 held for 1st place until the Hoboes came down the track and triggered the day’s second “GENERAL JUDGES!” The Hoboes tied the State Record with a time of 5.47 and got themselves back into the thick of it with a well-timed, great run. West Sayville closed the gap as well by gaining 2 points with East Islip taking home the 5th-place trophy.

With one contest to go, there were four teams (mathematically at least) with a chance to be crowned the 2012 New York State Champs. Roslyn (19) held a slight lead over West Hempstead (17) while West Sayville (15) and Islip (14.5) lurked just within striking distance. The dramatic stage was set and the crowd was on their feet. Islip had the first crack at making the rest of the teams sweat but they missed their mark, running a 29+. The Wildcats and Guzzlers did not want to be left out of the action and they secured points with runs of 24.13 and 23.32, respectively. The biggest surprise of the day came next as the Main-Transit Slo Pokes ran a 21.00 raising the bar for the rest of the teams hoping to score some points. The Slo Pokes have been the top Buckets team in Western NY all season long, but this was by far the best run they’d had all season. It was great to see the reaction when the time was announced. West Sayville had a chance to really put the pressure on Roslyn and West Hempstead but they failed to pull it off as well. It was now or never for the Westerners. Here’s a team that had not won a motorized drill since 1990 and here they are in position to take the lead in the State Tournament. Their time of 23.08 was good enough for 3rd place and put them in the lead, but we weren’t done just yet. Roslyn came to the line with a chance to close it out and crown themselves champs. They had battled all day long with the Westerners and they knew what they were up against and what they needed to run to secure the win. The last time they were in the top five at the State Drill was back in 2000 on this very same track and they were so close they could smell it. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be and the Westerner’s time stood. Game over.

The Westerners’ celebration began as soon as they had the drill locked up and I’m pretty sure it’s still going strong as you read this. You just could not have come up with a better finish to the season. I don’t think Hollywood could have scripted a better story: two teams, under the radar, fighting it out all day long while the supposed "favorites" struggled to stay relevant. This was no "David vs. Goliath", this was Rudy Reuttiger stepping into the ring with Rocky Balboa and laying the smack down. At the end of the day, it was the best team coming down the track. They picked the perfect time to run the best they have run in years and and it was awesome to get to see it shake out on the track. Congratulations Westerners!

THE WEST HEMPSTEAD WESTERNERS ARE YOUR 2012 N.Y. STATE CHAMPIONS

TOP FIVE - FINAL RESULTS - 2012 N.Y.S. DRILL
1ST PLACE	WEST HEMPSTEAD WESTERNERS	20 Pts.
2ND PLACE	ROSLYN HIGHLANDERS	19 Pts.
3RD PLACE	WEST SAYVILLE FLYING DUTCHMEN	15 Pts.
4TH PLACE (TIE)	CENTRAL ISLIP HOBOES	14.5 Pts.
4TH PLACE (TIE)	ISLIP WOLVES	14.5 Pts.

Photos courtesy of Kim Versheck and Stewy Michels. See more photos from this drill and others at The Late Night Buff Network.