Bronxville Athletes Medal in Four Relay Events at State Championships
The Bronxville 4x800 relay teams win bronze medals at states: (l to r) Julian Gonzalez, Grant Patterson, Will Hogue, Matthew Jensen, Jesse O’Gorman, Ella McCalla, Carina Winiecki, and Emerson Dennis. Photo by Andrew Hogue.
By J. Murrer and S.Q. DeJoy
March 11, 2026: Over the weekend, the Bronxville girls’ and boys’ indoor track and field teams competed at the New York State Championships at the Ocean Breeze Track on Staten Island. Seventeen Bronxville athletes received a full send-off at school on Friday morning as they departed for the first day of competition.
“Qualifying 17 athletes to compete against the best from around New York in the state championship is a huge accomplishment,” said Coach Brian Halling. “Watching 16 of them come together across four separate relay events and earn medals is truly special.”
Elementary school students holding up signs for the track and field athletes as they leave for the NYS State Championship. Photo by Anthony Vaglica.
On the first day of competition last Friday, the boys 4x400m relay team—seniors John Sekula, Javier Tomala-Reidel, and Spencer Martin along with junior Grant Patterson—finished 4th in Division 2 with a season-best time of 3:30.23.
Later that evening, the girls 4x400m matched that performance, also placing 4th with a time 4:08.50. With that time, senior Kara Kochansky, junior Eva Mihova, sophomore Drake Benton, and freshman Beatrice Hogue qualified for the US Indoor National Track and Field Championships this coming weekend.
The Bronxville girls’ 4x400m relay team at states: (l to r) Beatrice Hogue, Drake Benton, Eva Mihova, and Kara Kochansky. Photo by Andrew Hogue.
The boys’ 4x400m relay team on the podium at states: Grant Patterson and Javier Tomala-Reidel (back l to r) and Spencer Martin and John Sekula (front l to r). Photo by Andrew Hogue.
On Saturday, the Bronxville 4x800m relay teams delivered stand-out performances. The boys’ 4x800m relay placed 3rd at the State Championships in 8:05.99. The relay—led by senior captains Julian Gonzalez and Will Hogue and including junior Grant Patterson and sophomore Matthew Jensen—also qualified for the US Indoor National Track and Field Championships in Boston this weekend.
Not to be outdone, the girls’ 4x800m relay also captured a bronze medal with a time of 9:45.56. Juniors Ella McCalla, Carina Winiecki, Emerson Dennis and sophomore Jessie O'Gorman paced the effort.
“It was really awesome to be able to get to Ocean Breeze after a long hard winter season and perform how we did—especially setting a season best relay time of 9:45,” said Winiecki. “We were all definitely super happy with our performance.”
John Sekula, who placed 2nd at the Section 1 State Qualifiers in the 55m hurdles with a time of 7.80, finished 18th against schools of all sizes with a time of 7.91. Zijun Xu, who placed 2nd in the weight throw at State Qualifiers with a throw of 58-6.75, finished 27th against schools of all sizes with a throw of 51-1.75.
The Broncos hard work paid off this season despite many challenges. Even with injuries and cold, snowy weather, both teams captured their respective league and sectional championships. The boys’ team also won the Westchester County Championship for the second year in a row.
Springs sports officially begin this week, and the track and field teams head into the outdoor season with strong momentum.
“With spring season starting, I’m positive that our relay has a lot more to give,” said Winiecki. “We definitely aren’t done yet, and spring offers us new opportunities to get better.
Go Broncos.
