Elwood-John H. Glenn High School recently recognized three student-athletes – senior Ben Ross and juniors Joey Mammolito and Tyler Ziminski – for their outstanding athletic, academic and leadership successes.
Ross, who plays both offense and defensive tackle for John Glenn, was selected by the Suffolk County Football Association as the winner of the prestigious James LaBue Award for the top scholar-athlete in Suffolk County for football. He has been a three-year starter for the Knights on both offense and defense, and was selected captain for the 2023 season. This year, Ross was selected as team captain and led Glenn to a 7-1 regular season. In individual honors, he earned All-County status and the Conference 4 Leadership Award, and was a finalist for the SCFA’s Thomas Cutinella Most Outstanding Leadership Award. His academic record is equally exceptional, earning a 99.37 GPA and scoring a 1,550 on the SAT. Ross is John Glenn’s Business Club president and Italian Club vice-president, and a member of the school’s Natural Helpers, Freshman Buddies and Community Service clubs. As an Eagle Scout, he serves as a senior patrol leader, leading 55 youth Boy Scouts. He also helped organize and facilitate the football team’s recent food drive for the Town of Huntington food pantry.
“Ben’s work ethic and dedication is beyond reproach,” said Dave Shanahan, Elwood’s athletic director and head football coach. “He is certainly one of the hardest workers that I have coached during the past 29 years. Ben is respected by his coaches, teammates and teachers. He will also spend hours working with the freshman and sophomores in our program to help build relationships with younger players in our program and to help them develop football skills as well. Ben's leadership skills this past year have been instrumental in helping John Glenn’s football program have a very successful season. Many of our games this past year were won by a touchdown or less, and the coaching staff on numerous occasions pointed out that Ben’s extra effort during the games played a major role in allowing the Knights to prevail.”
Mammolito, a star point guard, second-year starter and team captain for the Knights, was named one of Newsday's preseason Top 100 boys basketball players on Long Island for 2023-2024, a highly coveted honor. His stats as a sophomore last year warranted his selection. While maintaining an exceptional 4.0 GPA, Mammolito averaged 12.7 points and 4.5 assists, and was unanimously voted the Suffolk County Basketball Coaches Association’s league Rookie of the Year.
Ziminski, recognized as one of the best goalies in Suffolk County, recently became the first John Glenn boys soccer player to achieve All-State status as a junior. His other accolades this season include League MVP, All-County and All-Conference. Ziminski’s outstanding play helped propel the Knights to a 16-2 season and the league championship title, only losing in the Suffolk County semifinals to the eventual county champions.
“This year, my coaches have been pushing me quite hard, and I’ve been pushing myself,” Ziminski said. “I feel like next year I’m going to work even harder and keep up with their expectations.”
“It’s definitely a tremendous honor to be recognized for doing well in both athletics and academics,” Ross said. “I’d like to thank my family for supporting me, as well as all my great coaches and teachers for helping me along the way.”
“I feel the same as Ben,” Mammolito said. “I’m truly grateful for the support I have from my family and coaches, and look forward to the future.”
“We appreciate what these student-athletes have been able to do, both on and off the field,” Principal Corey McNamara said. “And we are happy that they are being recognized for their leadership qualities and tremendous efforts. Keep making us proud.”
“It’s great to see such success in multiple sports, from soccer to basketball to football,” Athletic Director Dave Shanahan said. “These guys really set the cultural tone for our athletics programs. They are good kids, and other athletes see them doing right, which really helps the school in building the culture. Not only are they excellent on the field, but they’re even better people, and are exceptional in the classroom, outside the classroom and in the community as well. These are three great kids here.”
Date Added: 1/9/2024