The Lt. Ray Enners Award is presented annually to the most outstanding high school lacrosse player on Long Island's Suffolk County, New York by the Suffolk County Boys Lacrosse Coaches Association, Section XI Athletics. The recipient best exemplifies courage, teamwork, skill and leadership. The award is named in memory of Raymond Enners.
Lt. Enners was raised in Farmingdale, New York and attended Half Hollow Hills High School, part of the Half Hollow Hills Central School District, located in Dix Hills, New York. He was voted to the 1963 All-Long Island lacrosse team. Lt. Enners later excelled at lacrosse at the United States Military Academy. During his 1967 senior year, Lt. Enners was an NCAA Honorable Mention All-American. He was inducted posthumously into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame during 2004.
While leading a platoon in Vietnam, Lt. Enners was killed in combat on September 18, 1968. Lt. Enners received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart for extraordinary heroism in combat in South Vietnam. During 2016, Richard W. Enners, Lt. Enners' younger brother who also is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, authored the book, Heart of Gray. The book details the story about his brother, Alpha Company, 1-20th Infantry, 11th Brigade, and Lt. Enners' courage and sacrifice in Vietnam.
Half Hollow Hills High School (now known as Half Hollow Hills East High School) retired Lt. Enners' number 26 lacrosse jersey. At the same 2019 ceremony, the school retired the number 21 lacrosse jersey worn by alumnus James Metzger, the 1977 recipient of the Lt. Ray Enners Award.
This award is one of three that have been named in memory of Lt. Enners. The others are the Lt. Raymond Enners Award presented to the NCAA National Player of the Year in men's lacrosse and The Lt. Enners–Chris Pettit Award presented each season to Army's offensive most valuable player.
Year Winner Position HS All-American School Coach 1970 Mike McCormick Attackman Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 1971 Richard Meister Defense Yes Deer Park Warren Deutch 1972 Frank Urso Middie Yes Brentwood Bob Hoppey 1973 Bob McGuire Attackman Yes Huntington Aaron Littman 1974 Bill Carpluk Middie Yes Central Islip George O Leary 1975 Bill Brown Attackman Yes Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 1976 Peter Predun Middie Yes Harborfields Mike Liese 1977 James Metzger Attackman - Middie Yes Half Hollow Hills Lou DiBlasi 1978 Albert Ray Middie Yes Copiaque Walter Reese 1979 Robert MacAneney Attackman Brentwood Ross Peter Murray 1980 Glen Mohrman Middie Yes Half Hollow Hills Stan Kowalski 1981 James M. Smith Middie Yes Comsewogue Ken Reese 1982 Tom Gunderson Middie Yes Smithtown East Lou Antonetti Sr. 1983 Chris Walker Defense Yes Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 1984 Chris Garvey Middie Yes Half Hollow Hills Doug Mayer 1985 Scott Reh Middie Yes Rocky Point Mike Bowler 1986 Jonathan Reese Middie Yes West Babylon Rich Burns 1987 Steven Randby Goalie Yes Half Hollow Hills Doug Mayer 1988 Joe Matassa Middie Yes Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 1989 John Banks Goalie Yes Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 1990 Joe Romeo Goalie Comsewogue Bob Woods 1991 Chris Theofield Attackman - Middie Northport Bob Macaluso 1992 Mike LaRocco Goalie Yes Smithtown West Ralph Pepe 1993 Greg Cattrano Goalie Yes Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 1994 Al Hernandez Defense Yes Whitman Bob Howell 1995 Jay Negus Attackman - Middie Yes Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 1996 Will Campbell Attackman - Middie Yes Sachem Rick Mercurio 1997 Justin O'Connell Defense Yes Sachem Rick Mercurio 1998 Nick Russo Attackman - Middie Yes Comsewogue Pete Mitchell 1999 Kevin Cassese Middie/Faceoff specialist Yes Comsewogue Pete Mitchell 2000 Peter Vlahakis Middie Shoreham-Wading River Tim Rotanz 2001 Nick Miaritis Attackman - Middie Yes Ward Melville Joe Cuozzo 2002 Matt Miller Middie Yes William Floyd Victor Guadagnino 2003 Larry Cerasi Attackman Middle Country Ken Budd 2004 Jeff Strittmatter Attackman - Middie Yes Rocky Point Mike Bowler 2005 Pat Perritt Attackman Yes Sachem East Rick Mercurio 2006 Chris Ritchie Attackman Yes Mount Sinai Jason Sanders 2007 Justin Turri Attackman Yes West Islip Scott Craig 2008 Dwayne Stewart Attackman Copiaque Jim Konen 2009 Kevin Sabo Attackman - Middie Westhampton Beach Ralph Pepe 2010 Nicky Galasso Attackman Yes West Islip Scott Craig 2011 Luke Miller Middie William Floyd Desmond Magna 2012 Sam Llinares Attackman - Middie Yes Hauppauge Jim Konen 2013 Tim Rotanz Attackman Yes Shoreham-Wading River Tom Rotanz 2014 Kieran Mullins Attackman - Middie Yes Islip High School Keith Scheidel2015 John Daniggelis Attackman - Middie Yes Smithtown East Jason Lambert2016 Gerard Arceri Middie/Faceoff specialist Yes Smithtown East Jason Lambert2017 Chris Gray Attackman Yes Shoreham-Wading River Mike Taylor2018 Zach Hobbes Middie Yes Ward Melville Jay Negus2019 Conor Calderone Face-off Specialist/Middie Yes Smithtown West Bobby Moltisanti Jr.2020 No Award Competition suspended due to pandemic2021 Ryan Bell Attackman Yes Smithtown West Bobby Moltisanti Jr.2022 Joey Spallina Attackman Yes Mount Sinai Harold Drumm2023 Andrew Miller Long Stick Midfielder Yes Northport Larry Cerasi2024 Matt McIntee Attackman Yes East Islip Tom Zummo2025 Anthony Raio Middie Yes Half Hollow Hills West Connor Hagans
For more information about Lt. Enners and the Suffolk County high school award named in his honor, see the June 15, 2016 Suffolk County Lacrosse Coach's Association Awards Program, page 19.
References
External links Suffolk County Ray Enners Award Winners official website