Blue Devils Duo Ranked Among Top In Nation
/By Chris Mellides
cmellides@longislandergroup.com
Huntington Blue Devil Katie Reilly maneuvers around the defense. Photo by Jim Hoops
Huntington High School seniors Taylor Moreno and Katie Reilly are no slouches on the lacrosse field. The Blue Devil teammates have made the Top 30 list of female lacrosse recruits in the country for 2015, and are raring to take their athleticism to the collegiate level.
The list was compiled by Inside Lacrosse Magazine for this year’s Top Young Gun Seniors rankings. Moreno was ranked No. 15 on the list, while Reilly came in at No. 16.
Word of the duo’s athletic achievements has spread quickly, with colleges across the country scrambling to recruit them. Despite the many requests, the two Huntington athletes have decided which colleges they’ll be attending following graduation, and both are in the process of applying. Moreno has made the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill her choice, where she will play goalie for the Tar Heels, and Reilly has verbally committed to Princeton University, where she’ll be playing midfield for the Tigers.
Neither has selected an academic major.
“Being ranked 15th in the country is a huge honor,” Moreno said. “It just shows that all the time and hard work I’ve put into the sport has paid off.”
She added that she looks forward to UNC and being able to join such a great team.
“They’re a strong, well-rounded program that has high expectations for their athletes and I’m looking forward to bringing my game to a whole new level,” she said.
The two Huntington star athletes also compete in other school sports, and bring to them the same skill that earned them accolades on the lacrosse field.
Moreno is an All-State soccer goalie who was responsible for nine shutout games last fall. She is also the reigning Suffolk Division II long jump champion.
Last fall, Reilly led Huntington in scoring in soccer and received All-County honors. She’s expected to start as point guard for the Blue Devil girls’ basketball team this winter.
In lacrosse, Reilly has led Long Island in assists during her sophomore year at Huntington with 85, and tallied 34 goals with 53 assists as a junior last spring.
When Reilly discovered that she made Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s Top 30 list for national female lacrosse recruits, she described hearing the news for the first time as “unreal.”
“I’m so lucky and appreciative that I was ranked so high,” Reilly said. “I am looking forward to the upcoming season and, hopefully, a few more in college.”
