Mattituck long jumper looks to qualify for girls track and field state tourney

When Rhianna Lutz shows up to track meets with two pairs of cleats — one pair pink, the other blue — opponents know that the Mattituck High School senior means business.

Lutz showed just that for the Tuckers in their 73–51 victory at Babylon last Thursday. She won all three events in which she competed in the Suffolk County VIII meet, namely, the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the long jump.

“I’m happy with it,” Lutz said about her performance. “I wish I could have done better in the long jump, but it is what it is.”

That’s what you get from a perfectionist.

Throughout her years competing, Lutz has realized that every little bit helps.

“The pink spikes are my sprinting spikes,” she said before boarding a school bus for a long trip back to Mattituck. “I just feel like they’re really lighter. But my blue spikes, I feel like they have more bounce with them, so it’s better for me with jumping.”

Wearing her pink cleats, Lutz captured the 100 in 12.9 seconds and the 200 in 27.2. She bolted out to the lead in both races and won going away.

In the final event, Lutz won the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 11.25 inches in her blue cleats. She came so close to jumping to her all-time best but fouled twice in three attempts, so her best leap of 17–7 did not count.

“I think I could have definitely done better,” she said. “Those jumps that I fouled were probably going to be PRs.”

Her greatest improvement has been in the long jump.

“At the beginning of the season, I was only jumping mid-15’s. I didn’t really see myself going anywhere past, but once I hit 16 one time, and then I’ve hit 17. I think I’m ranked first in the county and first for Section XI, Division III, so I’m very happy with that,” she said.

It has been quite a memorable school year for Lutz, who has been an athlete for all seasons.

She played on the Mattituck/Southold/Greenport girls soccer team, which clinched its first playoff berth in five years.

She was also a starter on the basketball team that reached the county Class B finals, while competing in indoor track at the same time.

And now she is excelling outdoors for the Tuckers (2–3, 2–3), especially against the Panthers (1–5, 1–5).

Girls track coach Chris Robinson called her his “most consistent” athlete.

Lutz recorded three goals and an assist for the soccer team and averaged 5.8 ppg in basketball. She might be best remembered for twice scoring the winning the basket with the game on the line over a 17-day span. Lutz tallied her only points of the contest off a layup with 3.9 seconds remaining, her only basket of the night, in a dramatic 37–36 home win over Babylon on Jan. 8. She later completed a 12-point game, scoring with less than one second left in a 46–44 win at Smithtown Christian on Jan. 25.

When asked about her most memorable moment, Lutz said it was when the MSG soccer team clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five years with a 2–1 win over Babylon on Senior Night on Oct. 22.

“We weren’t sure if we were going to make to the playoffs. It was just a really big win for us,” she said.

That quote alone will tell you much about her mindset: team honors over individual honors.

Lutz, who will graduate next month and attend the University of South Carolina as a history major this fall, isn’t quite finished with her high school track career just yet.

She plans on competing at the county Small School Championship at Mount Sinai High Thursday, May 29, and hopes to book a spot in the state championships at Comsewogue High on Thursday, June 5, through Friday, June 6.

Lutz had hoped to reach the state indoor track championships but could not qualify because she did not participate in enough meets during the regular season.

She will be driven at the outdoor meet for several reasons.

“Last year at counties, I pulled my hamstring in the 100, so I wasn’t able to jump,” the senior said. “I was a little disappointed. I was ranked high in the long jump, and I wasn’t able to compete. That’s why I’m trying to get back and try, hopefully, to win counties and make it to states.”