The Mahopac indoor track team hit the ground running at the league championships Jan. 19 at the Armory, earning three league titles and multiple podium finishes while breaking a pair of school records along the way.
The girls finished second overall while the boys team placed fourth.
Led by Cara O’Halloran, Olivia Spinella and Kira Waring – who each took home an individual league title – the Wolf Pac girls proved to be a force, producing standout performances across several distance events.
O’Halloran delivered a dominant effort in the 1,000 meters, winning the event to claim a league title while setting a new school record. Evangelina Doupis placed third, Alyssa Settembrini finished sixth and Cadence McGuire took seventh.
Waring’s league championship came in the 1,500-meter race, which saw two Mahopac runners on the podium thanks to Summer McDermott’s strong third-place finish. Aurelia Moser (sixth), Anyssa Zieler (eighth) and Monica Aquino (10th) rounded out a strong team effort in the 1,500.
Zieler and Aquino showed their versatility by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 3,000, but that race belonged to Spinella, who earned the league crown in the 3,000 meters with a personal-best performance.
In a joint email to Mahopac News, coaches Janet Bauer and Gianna Merante said the overall results reflected the continued growth of the program and strong performances across multiple event groups.
“The girls have really proven to be a force to be reckoned with in our league,” they wrote. “Cara O’Halloran had a tremendous night with a new school record in the 1,000 meters and a league title, Kira Waring took first place in the 1,500 and Olivia Spinella became a league champion in the 3,000 with a huge personal best.”
In other results, Dasani Castro placed sixth in the 55, Ella Biolchini finished fourth in the 55 hurdles, Luciana Abney placed fifth in the 300 and second in the 600, Gianna Hartmann finished third in the 600, Nora Furfaro placed eighth in the 600 and Saoirse McGregor finished ninth in the shot put.
The coaches said the highlight of the meet came in a school record-setting performance in the 4x800 relay, where Olivia Spinella, Gianna Hartmann, Kira Waring and Cara O’Halloran came home in 10:23.02.
“The biggest news of the night was the girls 4x800 breaking the school record, which is such a remarkable feat,” the coaches said. “We are so proud of them and their hard work, and we’re excited to see this program continue to expand and reach new goals.”
On the boys side, Joseph Pellegrino led the sprint group with fourth-place finishes in both the 55-meter dash and the 300 meters. Michael Oteng followed with a fifth-place finish in the 55 and seventh in the 300 while Noah Hewitt placed seventh in the 55.
Jack Rothman turned in one of Mahopac’s top all-around performances, finishing fourth in the 600 meters and placing second in the high jump. Kelvin Cabrera placed fifth in the 600, Thomas Baron finished sixth and Kyle Haase and Aiden Dicob placed eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 1,000 meters. Tyler Long earned a fourth-place finish in the 1,000 while Alex Zamrzla placed second in the 1,600 with a personal-best performance. Brendan Duffy added a sixth-place finish in the shot put.
The boys relay teams also contributed to the overall standings, with the 4x400 and 4x800 relays each finishing third.
Bauer and Merante said they were extremely proud of the team, which delivered a strong performance despite some adversity along the way.
“On the boys side, our sprinters really put on great performances, with Joey Pellegrino and Noah Hewitt leading the pack, along with some of our newer faces like Michael Oteng and Christopher Flanagan,” the coaches said. “The relay did not go the way we intended, but they will continue to work on handoffs to make their performances more seamless. They have had such a powerful season thus far and have kept their composure, and we hope to see them continue to grow.”
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