By S. Quinn DeJoy and J. Murrer

Jun. 5, 2019:  The school year is winding down, but the Bronco athletes are still going strong. The girls’ lacrosse team will head to SUNY Cortland later this week to compete in the state semifinals, and fifteen members of the boys’ and girls’ track and field teams will compete at the New York State Championships in Middletown on Friday and Saturday. Last week, Bronxville tennis player Liam Krall competed in the state tournament at the Billie Jean Tennis Center in Flushing.

Girls’ Lacrosse

The girls’ lacrosse team before boarding the bus for the regional final. Photo by Jane Ircha.

The Bronxville girls’ lacrosse team will face Section 3’s Skaneateles in the state semifinals at SUNY-Cortland this week. Both teams easily advanced to the semis, with Bronxville defeating Section 2’s Johnstown 19-2 and Skaneateles earning a decisive 18-3 victory over Section 10’s Salmon River.

Bronxville and Skaneateles have met twice before in recent years. The Broncos lost both games in overtime, but this year they hope to walk away with a win.

“We will play Skaneateles on Friday at 9:00 am,” said Coach Sharon Robinson. “They beat us in double overtime in the 2017 final and in overtime in the 2016 semifinal. It should be a great game!”

The Broncos, who have appeared in the state tournament for the past six years, have yet to win a state title, but this could be their year.

“This team has been amazing!!” said Robinson. “We are working hard and really excited to compete this weekend. We are young and strong and have come a long way this season. The girls are fired up to finish strong with two big wins!!”

If the Broncos win on Friday, they will play in the state finals against the winner of Mattituck/Palmyra-Macedon on Saturday at 4:30 pm.

Track and Field

For a small school, Bronxville’s outdoor track and field team always has a big presence at states. Bronxville competes in the small school division (Division 2) at states, but often Bronxville athletes are competitive against larger schools, too.

This spring, Matt Rizzo is ranked No. 1 in the state in the 800m for both public and private schools of all sizes, and the girls’ 4x200m relay team, Eve Balseiro, Alisa Kanganis, Milly Koenig, and Sabrina Mellinghoff, just earned the top ranking among all New York State public schools at the Eastern States Invitational. The girls’ time in the 4x200m, 1:44.06, just set a new Bronxville School record.

 
The Bronxville 4x200m relay team takes first place at Easterns, breaking the Bronxville School record. Photo by David Ryan. 

In previous years, the first-place finisher at the state qualifiers was guaranteed a place at the state championship, but this year the rules were modified to also include those athletes who meet a super-qualifying time.

Under the new rules, if an athlete achieves a particular standard at any time during the season, the athlete automatically qualifies for the state meet provided he or she runs at the qualifying meet. This new rule gives more athletes a chance to compete at the state level.

Five Bronxville boys qualified for the New York State Championships: Matt Rizzo will compete in the 800m, Alex Rizzo will run in the 1600m, and Seamus Watters has qualified for two events, the 110m and the 400m hurdles. The Rizzo brothers along with Jack Kochansky and Tim McGrath will run in the 4x800m relay.

For the first time in many years, two Bronxville girls will compete in field events. Freshman Milly Koenig qualified for states in the long jump (16-03.75), and sophomore Jules Gravier qualified in the pole vault (9-06.00).

Milly Koenig, who won the long jump at the state qualifier meet. Photo by David Ryan. 

The Bronxville girls swept the relays at the state qualifiers. The 4x100m (Sabrina Mellinghoff, Milly Koenig, Alisa Kanganis, and Eve Balseiro), the 4x400m (Koenig, Ava Downs, Kanganis, and Balseiro) and the 4x800m (Natalie Weiner, Maeve Sullivan, Clio Dakolias, and Caroline Brashear) will also head to Middletown this weekend.

Balseiro won the 400m (57.64) at the Section 1 State Qualifiers and has a good chance to win a Division 2 title. Mellinghoff qualified for states by running a 25.76 in the 200m at Easterns.

Sabrina Mellinghoff wins the 200m at Easterns to qualify for states. Photo by David Ryan.

Although many of Bronxville’s top runners did not qualify for states, the Bronxville girls had strong performances this past weekend. Senior Emma Mandanas set a PR in the 1500m and broke the 5:00 barrier for the first time in her career despite being tripped 200m into the race. Senior Bella Dibbini ran a season-best time in the 800m (2:37.17) and placed third overall in the pentathlon, and senior Natalie Weiner had a season-best performance in the 3000m.

“Over the past two weeks, a number of seniors have run their final races in a Bronxville uniform,” noted Coach David Ryan. “Lyric Abbott, Gigi Chrappa, Andrea Shephard, Sophia Sulimirski, Emma Mandanas, and Bella Dibbini have been an integral part of the cross country and/or track teams over the past six years. All of these athletes will be greatly missed by their coaches and teammates.”

Tennis

Liam Krall competing at states at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. Photo by Chris Doyle. 

On a hot day at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing, the top high school tennis players in New York competed for a state title. Bronxville’s Liam Krall advanced to the third round of play before losing 6-4, 6-2 to Peter Hatton from Jamesville-Dewitt. It is the second year in a row that Krall competed at the state tournament. The varsity tennis team finished the season 6-3 in league play and 6-6 overall.

Go Broncos.

Pictured at top (rotating): The Bronxville 4x200m relay team at Easterns (L to R): Sabrina Mellinghoff, Ava Downs, Alisa Kanganis, and Eve Balseiro (photo by David Ryan); the Bronxville girls’ lacrosse team after winning the regional final against Johnstown (photo by Jane Ircha). 

By S. Quinn DeJoy and J. Murrer

May 29, 2019: Bronxville High School athletes brought home multiple sectional championships last week.  The Bronco girls' lacrosse team won the Class D Sectional Championship with a decisive 18-3 victory over North Salem, the boys' and girls' track and field teams won Class C sectional titles, and junior Liam Krall won the Section 1 singles title in tennis.

Girls' Lacrosse

Lacrosse captains (L to R) Anneke Pulkkinen, Isabel Sondey, and Fiona Jones. Photo by Jane Ircha. 

The Bronco girls were the top seed in Class D and easily advanced to the sectional finals. No. 14 North Salem made it to the finals with upset victories over No. 2 Pleasantville and No. 3 Dobbs Ferry. In the Class D championship game last Wednesday, North Salem was the first to score, but shortly after that, the Broncos took charge and were up 14-1 by halftime.

Bronxville had nine different players score in the game, including Anneke Pulkkinen (4G), Isabel Sondey (4G), Hanna Bishop (3G, 4A), Kiki Tormey (2G), and Alex Doukas. Fiona Jones, Caroline Ircha, Jessie Sondey, and Grace McSherry had one goal apiece. Caitlin Mooney had five saves. Fiona Jones, who was named Player of the Game, won 13 of 16 draws in the first half.

The Broncos crushed Section 9’s Millbrook 16-1 in the sub-regional game yesterday and will play in the regional final against Section 2’s Johnstown on Friday at Mohonasen High School in Schenectady at 5:00 pm. The winner of the regional game will advance to the state semifinals at SUNY Cortland on June 7.

Tennis

Liam Krall advanced to the finals of the Section 1 Championships last week after defeating Bronxville teammate Charlie Nordahl in the semis.  Krall won the sectional title with a victory over Keio's Ryo Sakai 6-4. 6-7(4), 10-1.

"It was a hard-fought match that ended just as the sun went down," said Coach Chris Doyle.  "Both players are friends and showed excellent sportsmanship in the match."

Krall, who placed third at states last year, will compete in the state tournament on Wednesday at the Bille Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing.

Liam Krall (R) defeated Ryo Sakai (L) to win the Section 1 singles title. Photo by Chris Doyle. 

Track and Field

The Bronco girls, always the top contender in Class C, won their 22nd consecutive sectional championship with 12 first- or second-place finishes in 17 events. Highlights of the meet included Jules Gravier’s first-place finish in the pole vault with a season’s best jump of 10-0, tying the Bronxville School record. Milly Koenig won the long jump with a season’s best performance of 17-5.5, breaking the previous record of 16-10, which was set by Julia Thaler in 2002. 

Also winning sectional titles were Eve Balseiro (200m, 400m and 4x100m), Natalie Weiner (3000m, 4x800m), Caroline Brashear (800m), Marielle Dibbini (high jump), Molly Palma (4x800m), Ava Black (4x800m), Emma Mandanas (4x800m), Sabrina Mellinghoff (4x100m), and Alisa Kanganis (4x100m). Koenig also won sectional titles in the 100m and the 4x100m.

The boys’ track and field team participated in 17 events, placing first or second in twelve. Winning sectional titles were Matt Rizzo (800m), Alex Rizzo (1600m), Seamus Watters (110m hurdles, 400m hurdles), and Eric Fleisig (pentathlon).

Eric Fleisig in the long jump. Photo by Charlotte Rizzo. 

Seamus Watters jumping over the hurdle at sectionals. Photo by Charlotte Rizzo. 

Baseball

The Broncos advanced to the quarterfinals of sectionals with a 6-4 win over Irvington but fell to Albertus Magnus 10-3 last Wednesday. The team finished the season 14-8. Senior Zip Malley was named League Player of the Year and was also honored with All-Section recognition. Owen Jaquette received All-Section, Honorable Mention recognition, and Malley, Jaquette, Spencer Dessart, and Ethan Jaquette received All-League honors. 

Go Broncos.

Pictured at top (rotating): The Bronxville girls holding the Section 1 Class D Championship plaque (photo by Jane Ircha); the boys’ track and field team posing with the Section 1 Class C Championship plaque (photo by Charlotte Rizzo).