By S. Quinn DeJoy and J. Murrer 

Jun. 17, 2015:  The Bronxville Broncos' colors may be blue and gray, but this past weekend at the New York State Track and Field Championships, their color turned to gold. The Bronco girls brought home gold medals with wins in the 4x400m relay, the 4x800m relay, and the 1500m. The state meet, held at the University at Albany-SUNY, featured the top track and field athletes from across New York. Bronxville competes in Division 2, which is composed of small high schools with student enrollment below 600. 

The Broncos kicked off the state meet on Friday with the 4x400m relay. Caroline Kirby, Laura Holland, Kirsten Ircha, and Kaitlin Ryan won the event, with a time of 3:56.84, breaking a 2006 Bronxville school record. Ryan, just a sophomore, is the oldest member of this young Bronco relay team; Holland and Kirby are freshmen and Ircha is just an eighth-grader. 

On Saturday, Bronxville won its 20th state championship in the 4x800m, with a season-best time of 9:02.52. The relay team, Hilary Rizzo, Holland, Delia Hayes, and Ryan, also won the Federation championship, which is awarded to the top finisher in public, private, and parochial schools of all sizes. Rizzo, Holland, and Ryan will be returning next year, but it was the last high school race for Hayes, who will be running for Boston College in the fall.  

"It was pretty bittersweet," said Hayes, "but I couldn't have asked for a better ending. There was really such a deep field this year in this particular race that we went in with no expectations to come out with the win. We knew if we did our best, it would put us in a great position." 

The Broncos did better than their best. Hayes (2:19.2) and Rizzo (2:17.5) gave the team a strong start, and Holland (2:16.6) and Ryan (2:09.1) finished it off with personal records. 

"We were seeded third, as one of the girls on Suffern has run a 2:03," said Ryan, "but everyone on our relay ran really well." 

Ryan's anchor leg made all the difference in a race that included three top teams from Section 1, Bronxville, Suffern, and North Rockland. 

"We were in about fourth place and North Rockland had a bit of a gap on us," said Hayes, "but at the end of Kaitlin's first lap, we knew she would get it. Kaitlin just blew everyone away." 

Ryan's performance at states was outstanding. Not only did she anchor both relays, but she also won the 1500m, giving this Bronxville tenth-grader three gold medals. At states, she set personal records in the 4x400m, the 4x800m, and 1500m, and her state-winning time in the 1500m (4:29.71) places her third all-time for Bronxville. She joins an elite group of Bronxville girls who have won gold in the 1500m: Catha Mullen (2000), Tori Flannery (2006), and Mary Cain (2011). Ryan will complete her outdoor season next week at the Junior Nationals in Eugene, Oregon. 

Bronxville senior Vivian Mroz, who competed in the 100m high hurdles, finished eighth, with a time of 16.07, the second-fastest time ever for a Bronxville hurdler. Mroz was also the first Bronco to ever qualify for states in the pole vault. Kirby, who ran the 400m intermediate hurdles, placed ninth, with a time of 67.29. 

The 4x100m relay team (Margot Richards, Caroline DePaul, Alisa Fominykh, and Sophie Kohlhoff) finished in eleventh place, with a time of 50.74. 

It was a tremendous season for the Bronco girls, who won league, sectional, county, and state championships. It has been said that Bronxville is the fastest square mile in the country. It just might be true. 

Go Broncos.

Pictured here (rotating):  The 4x800m state champions: front row (L to R): Delia Hayes and Laura Holland, back row (L to R): Kaitlin Ryan and Hilary Rizzo; the 4x400m state champions (in blue t-shirts): front row (L to R): Laura Holland and Kirsten Ircha, back row (L to R): Caroline Kirby and Kaitlin Ryan.

Photos by J. Ircha