Blue Devil Honored By Young Leaders Club

Katie Reilly is flanked by Young Leaders coordinators Kevin Zaharios and Kevin Thorbourne.

Rising Huntington High School senior Katie Reilly was recognized with a special award for her academic and athletic achievements at the Young Leaders annual dinner at Crestwood Manor in Fort Salonga last Thursday night.

Young Leaders is a Huntington-based club that encourages young people to engage in community service.

Proceeds from this year’s Young Leaders dinner are dedicated to the John Bosco Memorial Scholarship Fund. A member of Huntington’s Class of 2012, Bosco was struck by a car and killed in January while crossing a street in Florida during a vacation with his family.

A participant in the Young Leaders club, Bosco played lacrosse for the Blue Devils. He was studying at SUNY College at Oneonta at the time of his passing.

Young Leaders co-founder Kevin Thorbourne told a crowd of 125 that Bosco was a unique individual, with the ability to quickly win over people of all ages and rally them behind a good cause. He noted his academic interests, including chemistry, and drew some parallels with Reilly, who was “offered” by Princeton University as a sophomore to play NCAA Division I lacrosse for the Tigers.

Thorbourne ran down some of Reilly’s attributes and accomplishments, including working as a summer camp counselor, before calling the teenager to the dais and presenting her with a lacrosse stick in honor of Bosco.

Verbally committed to Princeton, Reilly is pursuing formal admission to the Ivy League school early this fall. She was an All-County player and high scorer for Huntington’s girls soccer team last fall.

On the lacrosse field, Reilly led Long Island in assists as a sophomore with 85. She led Suffolk in total points with 134. A two-time All-County player, she notched 34 goals and 53 assists last spring as a junior.

Reilly was also the Suffolk League IV basketball Rookie of the Year as a freshman. This winter, she is expected to start at point guard for the Blue Devils.

“Katie has made good use of her time at Huntington High School and is a wonderful role model for the children of the community,” Thorbourne said