Mahopac Cross County Shows Grit at Sectionals

MAHOPAC, N.Y.—The Mahopac cross country team closed out the 2024 season at the Section 1 Cross Country championships on Nov. 11 at Poughkeepsie’s Bowdoin Park in a gut check of a meet that saw strong individual performances and—on the girls side—some of the best results the program has seen in years.

“The day was filled with triumph and heartbreak,” coach Kelley Posch said.

The boys team started the day led by Brandon Kumrow, who ran a personal record on the course.

“Brandon ran a brave race and really put his nose in it trying to claim one of the five qualifying spots for the state meet,” Posch said. “I’m really proud of him for calling his shot and going for it. He was really aggressive with his start and put himself in a position to take a chance. Unfortunately, he came up a few places shy—but he did put up a new personal record on the course. His confidence has grown so much and it’s going to be exciting to watch that continue during the track season.”

Posch was especially proud of the way the runners stepped up and pulled together in the face of adversity throughout the fall.

“In the second half of the season, we had a couple of key runners on the boys side get injured with non-running related activities and that void was felt today on the starting line for sure,” Posch said. “But the rest of the team stepped up and ran tough.”

For the girls, their performance at the Sectionals put a stamp on a landmark campaign.

“The girls team closed out the best season Mahopac has had in a very long time,” Posch said. “As a team they placed sixth in the Class A division out of 20 teams, and 15th out of all 63 teams in Section 1.”

Like Kumrow, Kira Waring had a strong start in the hopes of qualifying for states.

“She really made up a lot of ground in the hills,” Posch said. “She thrives on a tough course. Unfortunately, in the last mile she took a fall that left her pretty beat up and though she courageously got back up she had a lot of ground to make up. And she truly did fight back, but she ended up one place shy of qualifying. Her resilience and that of the team was truly commendable.”

“Although we would love to be competing next week at the state meet, there is so much to be proud of from this season,” the coach continued. “The future is bright and we are looking forward to next year already.”