By S. Quinn DeJoy and J. Murrer

Jan. 24, 2018:  At the New Balance Games held on Saturday at The Armory, the Bronxville boys’ sprint medley relay team qualified for nationals with a time of 3:38. The SMR relay placed fifth overall, with Alex Rizzo leading off in the 400m, Tommy O’Connell and Seamus Watters each running a 200m leg, and Matt Rizzo anchoring in the 800m. New Balance Indoor Nationals will be held March 9 to 11 at The Armory.

The boys’ distance medley relay, M. Rizzo (1200m), O’Connell (400m), Jack Kochansky (800m), and A. Rizzo (1600m), placed fourth in 10:34. They missed the national standard by 6 seconds. 

On Sunday afternoon, the track and field teams competed against Haldane, Edgemont, North Salem, and Pawling in the League 3B Championships. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams took home first-place trophies. 

John Ryan handing the baton off to Jack Kochansky in the 4x800m relay in the league championships. Photo by Charlotte Rizzo. 

The boys’ team scored 124 points, and North Salem was the runner-up with 69. 

Individual Bronxville winners included Tim Murray (long jump, 19-03.75), Jack Kiefer (weight throw, 41-05.75), A. Rizzo (600m, 1:24.98), M. Rizzo (1000m, 2:33.30), Avery Kane (shot put, 44-03.75), Watters (55 high hurdles, 8.77), and O'Connell (300m, 38.14). The 4x400m relay team, O’Connell, A. Rizzo, M. Rizzo, and Watters, also took first place in a time of 3:41.02.

There were many second- and third-place finishes for the Bronco boys, including Murray and Liam Heraty (high jump), Luke Redman and Griffin Garbarini (pole vault), O’Connell (triple jump), Kane (weight throw), Nathan Revadigar (shot put), Kochansky (3200m), and Kiefer (55m dash). 

Tim Murray attempting the high jump. Photo by Charlotte Rizzo.

The girls’ team won leagues, scoring 176 to second-place Haldane’s 53. The Bronco girls had five first-place individual finishes in track events: Natalie Weiner (1500m, 5:01.28), Caroline Brashear (1000m, 3:14.46), Laura Holland (600m, 1:40.33), Caroline Ircha (55m, 7.70), and Eve Balseiro (300m, 41.94). Balseiro’s time in the 300m ranks her number 2 all-time for Bronxville, and Ircha, who placed second in the 300m (42.43), ran the fourth-fastest 300m all-time for Bronxville.

Two Bronxville relays placed first: the 4x400m relay team (Andrea Shephard, Bella Dibbini, Patty Haggerty, and Betsy Marshall) and the 4x200m relay team (Ircha, Grace Randall, Alisa Kanganis, and Sabrina Mellinghoff).

The Broncos swept the field events with six first-place finishes: Caroline Kirby (high jump), Mellinghoff (triple jump), Amanda Shkreli (shot put), Marina Alfano (weight throw), and Molly Palma and Jules Gravier (pole vault).

Other Bronco Updates

Boys’ and Girls’ Skiing

The boys’ and girls’ ski teams opened the season last week with a slalom race at Camp Gaw in Mahwah, New Jersey. The top three finishers for the boys’ team were Jacoby Goodson (1:19.61, 4th place), Philip Meyers (1:27.61, 6th), and Damien Kaminski (1:31.56, 7th). For the girls’ team, Piper Gilliam placed first for the Broncos and second overall in a time of 1:19.1 and was followed by Martha Thomas (1:22.5, 3rd) and Katie McBride (1:24.4, 4th.) 

Boys’ Basketball

Senior Captain Eddy Connors, with Tim McGrath (#5) and Cory Ramundo (#2) in the background. Photo by Buzz McGrath.

The boys’ varsity basketball team won back-to-back games last week. On Thursday, they defeated Keio Academy by a score of 49-27. Alston Tarry led the scoring with 22 points; Billy Ramundo had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Liam Bishop added 8 points, and Eddy Connors dished out 7 assists in the win. 

On Friday at Pleasantville, the Broncos started slowly but ultimately won the defensive battle by a score of 34-29. Junior Tim McGrath was the high scorer with 11 points, which included six straight free throws to seal the win at the end of the game. The win over Pleasantville improved the team’s record to 7-5 overall and 4-1 in league play.

Boys’ Swimming

The New Rochelle-Bronxville swim team lost to number two Horace Greeley last week but had strong finishes in almost every event. Andrew Babyak won the 200 and 500 free, Tim Cushman won the 100 free and placed second in the 200 IM, New Rochelle’s Michael Lawson won the 50 free and placed second in the 100 butterfly, and Mark Sears won the diving. The 200 free relay team, Finn Seibold, Babyak, Lawson, and Cushman, placed first in a time of 1:39.59, and the 400 free relay, Cushman and New Rochelle swimmers Sam Stevens, Jonathan Carson, and Michael Cohen, placed first in 3:45.53.

Go Broncos. 

Pictured at top (L to R): Coach Ian Clark and the 4x400m relay team, Alex Rizzo, Seamus Watters, Matt Rizzo, and Tommy O'Connell.

Photo by Charlotte Rizzo