Riverhead High School A.D. steps down after successful run

After nine years as the director of health, physical education and athletics at Riverhead Central School District, Brian Sacks has decided to step down from the position to take a job closer to home at Plainedge High School in North Massapequa.

“I really loved my time here,” Sacks said. “I loved the community. I loved the coaches and the kids. I really think it’s a special and magical place. We went through COVID, we went through austerity with the budget cuts, we went through some ups and downs with the teams but I’m very happy and proud of the things I accomplished here. Whether it be adding new teams or adding new clubs or upgrading the facilities or hiring all the coaches we have now, it was part of a full body of work here at Riverhead. It’s bittersweet for sure.”

Athletes and teams the past two years in particular went to new heights — even historically significant heights — shattering school records and accomplishing things no team in Riverhead has accomplished before.

The softball team won their first Suffolk County championship in school history and won back-to-back league championships the past two years. They were the first team in Riverhead softball history to produce an undefeated league season.

Madison Marshak and Angelina Gust became the first Riverhead girls golfers to make it to the New York State championships. Colby Baran qualified for the New York Boys Golf Championships for two years in a row. The boys golf team has won five consecutive league titles.

The boys lacrosse team produced its best season in school history two years ago and won its first round playoff game. The boys basketball team made the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and won its first round playoff game as well.

Christopher Jones, Riverhead’s most decorated long distance runner in school history, walks away with five school records. Kayleanne Campbell, won multiple Suffolk County championships in the high jump and holds every school record relating to it.

Miiko Foster, a freshman, fought her way to become the first Suffolk County girls wrestling champion in school history. Riverhead baseball made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years and won a playoff game for the first time in 20 years. Matthew Zambriski threw the school’s first perfect game in school history this year.

“The coaches I hired are great people,” Sacks said. “They really led to the success here. I’m happy to have hired them, and they should hold their positions for many years to come regardless of what athletic director steps in after me.”

In short, things have turned around. The effects of cutting sports for a year as a result of the failed budget during the COVID era is now in the rear view mirror. Sacks led the charge in the rebuild.

“COVID was one thing because everyone was going through it,” Sacks said. “Everyone was in the same boat, so I [could] lean on other athletic directors at other schools to bounce ideas off of. The austerity year, the year after, that was the hard year. That was the year that our students didn’t have something that other students had. And because of losing sports, we lost a lot of our varsity student athletes and then siblings of those athletes as well. We had to play underclassman at the varsity level for years after that to simply field a team. So getting out of that was definitely one of my proudest accomplishments.”

Sacks was also able to bring in new sports and new teams over the years. There is now JV girls golf, JV girls tennis, JV boys tennis, middle school boys tennis, unified basketball and unified bowling. 

The future of Riverhead sports is bright. There’s nothing to rebuild anymore. But now a position needs to be filled. The school district hasn’t named a replacement, though many have put in for the job. Sacks will hold the position until July 15. 

“I think the next A.D. in Riverhead should be open to change and have a vision,” Sacks said. “Riverhead is an unbelievable place. Sports is the heartbeat of the area. The slogan of ‘We bleed blue’ is true and it’s real. I think the program is in a good spot. They just need someone to keep building what we have here.”