Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country Runners Head to States, Football Faces Dobbs Ferry in Sectional Final, and Field Hockey Loses in Regionals
The girls’ cross country team displays the Class C Championship plaque. Photo submitted by Charlotte Murray.
By. S.Q. DeJoy and J. Murrer
Nov. 12, 2025: The Bronxville girls’ cross country team had a decisive win at the Class C Sectional Championship at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls on Saturday. The Broncos scored 28 points and their closest competitor, Pleasantville, scored 47.
Mia Horgan won the Section 1 Class C title with a time of 19:27.00. In the overall merge across schools of all classifications, Horgan placed an impressive fourth. Just a freshman, Horgan is making her second trip to the New York State Championships. In 2024, Horgan placed 6th at states, and the Bronxville girls’ team finished as the state runner-up after losing a close race to East Aurora.
“We lost to East Aurora by two points last year,” said junior Carina Winiecki. “They graduated a lot of their team so we are feeling pretty confident about states, but there are a couple of teams rising up. Voorheesville has a really strong team this year.”
Mia Horgan on the podium after winning the Section 1 Class C Championship. Photo by Charlotte Murray.
Winiecki placed 5th at sectionals in a time of 21:07.80 and was followed by junior Ella McCalla (7th, 21:44.10), freshman Elizabeth Conlon (8th, 21:45.80), junior Emerson Dennis (11th, 22.01.30), 8th-grader Odessa Dennis (12th, 22:08.10), and junior Eva Mihova (14th, 22:29.10). Horgan, Winiecki, McCalla, Conlon, Emerson Dennis, Odessa Dennis, and Mihova along with alternate Quinn Sheehan will be headed to the NYS Championship this coming weekend.
The top five finishers on the podium: Mia Horgan, center, and Carina Winiecki in the fifth spot on the left. Photo by Charlotte Murray.
Senior Eva Mihova on the race course at sectionals. Photo by Charlotte Murray.
“We are so proud of the girls this season,” said Coach Alex Barraco. “Something really extraordinary about the season is how our young girls have been performing. Mia won sectionals, and Elizabeth and Odessa have improved so much throughout their first season to be serious contributing factors on our team. All of the girls work really hard and have done so throughout the season, which now shows in their performances. This race and their qualifying for states was all of their hard work paying off.”
Winiecki and McCalla, who competed at states in 2023 and 2024 and Emerson Dennis who competed at states last year, are seasoned veterans on the team. Winiecki enjoys the role of mentoring the younger runners.
“I think this year, honestly, we have had so many new young people rising up to the varsity team that I had to take leadership,” said Winiecki. “I love teaching the freshman and 8th graders all about it. I also love teaching middle schoolers about cross country. I like how they bring the energy.”
The girls’ cross country NYS Championship race will take place in Queensbury, N.Y. on November 15th. Photo by Charlotte Murray.
Boys Cross Country
The boys’ cross country team won the Class C Westchester County Championship in October, scoring 26 points to Irvington’s 43. At Sectionals, however, the tables were turned with Irvington defeating Bronxville by just three points.
“Our performance at Sectionals was a bit disappointing,” said senior Julian Gonzalez. “We were feeling confident in ourselves as our progress throughout the season was evident. Of course, this is not the ending we wanted, but that’s just the nature of the sport. You can put everything on the line and still come up short.”
Matthew Jensen was the first Bronco to cross the finish line placing 2nd in the Class C race in a time of 17:06.4. Jensen, a sophomore, will be returning to states this year. He made his first appearance at states as an 8th-grader and placed 20th at states last year.
“The race at sectionals was a good race for me I think,” commented Jensen. “We had a very successful season so far, and we were the team to beat at sectionals. Unfortunately, you just lose sometimes and that’s the reality of the sport.”
Gonzalez placed 5th in the sectional race with a time of 17:36.30 and will compete as an individual at the New York State Championships along with Jensen and senior Will Hogue, who placed 9th in 17:49.60. Gonzalez and Hogue have been running varsity cross country and track since 7th grade and have made multiple appearances at the state championships during their high school years.
Also competing at sectionals were junior Nate Deutsch (7th, 17:44.10), sophomore James Conlon (17th, 18:28.60), 8th-grader Sam Greenfield (21st, 18:43.60), junior Grey Gaston (30th, 19.17.60), and junior Sean Ahn (40th, 20:10.80). There were 113 runners in the Class C race.
The Broncos have had an impressive run in the past several years. They won the State Championship in 2022 and were the state runner-up in 2023 and 2024.
“We are incredibly grateful for our coaching staff for their utter dedication and care for us as athletes,” said Gonzalez. “I am incredibly proud of the program we have developed, and I am confident the young people on our team will continue to foster this competitive culture for generations to come.”
Football
After receiving a bye in the quarterfinal round of the Class C sectional playoffs, the top-seeded Broncos defeated No. 4 Putnam Valley 48-7 to advance to the sectional final against Dobbs Ferry. The Sectional Championship game will take place at Mahopac High School on Saturday at noon.
In the game against the Tigers, the Bronco offense and defense proved to be overwhelming. Bronxville’s Brian Formato scored four touchdowns including two punt returns at the start of the game. Brady Dolan scored on two interceptions, and Thomas Freeman added a touchdown on a pass from Theo McMurray.
The football team (8-0) has overpowered its opponents all season long, but the Sectional Championship game against Dobbs Ferry is uncharted territory as the Broncos and Eagles did not meet during the regular season.
The Broncos began the season with impressive wins over top Class B teams including No. 1 Westlake (35-13), No. 3 Sleepy Hollow (35-13), and No. 4 Pearl River (41-21). They continued to rout their opponents each week defeating Putnam Valley, John Jay-Cross River, Tuckahoe, and Valhalla. Dobbs Ferry has also had a strong season, posting seven wins with losses only to Westlake (31-7) and Class D Tuckahoe (26-13).
The Broncos won the Class C Sectional Championship in 2023 with a win over Westlake. Bronxville last met Dobbs Ferry in the sectional semifinals in 2016 when Dobbs Ferry defeated the Broncos 42-38.
New York State Public High School football playoffs continue for the next three Saturdays with the State Championship games taking place on December 6th. A week from Saturday, the Section 1 Class C Champion will face the winner of Section 9 at Arlington High School at noon.
Field Hockey
The Bronxville field hockey team won the Class C Championship and went on to play Rondout Valley in the regional semifinal last Wednesday. In that game, the Broncos were unable to stand up to the Rondout Valley Ganders who were last year’s semifinalist in the State Championship. The Broncos were able to keep the Ganders from scoring in the first quarter but Rondout Valley came out strong in the second quarter scoring three goals in a short period of time and adding one more before halftime. The final score was 6-0. The Broncos ended their season with a record of 16-4.
Go Broncos.
