Mahopac girls repeat as league champs

The Mahopac cross country team competed at the League E championships on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Croton Point Park, and the girls stepped right to the top, taking first place for the second year in a row.

How big a jump in performance has the current squad made? The 2025 and 2026 league titles represent Mahopac's second and third in 39 years.

Senior captain Kira Waring won the race in 19:09, with junior Cara O’Halloran close behind in third place.

"The race was amazing!" Waring said. "I'm so grateful to be a part of this team and I'm so proud of what we've accomplished these past few seasons. We've been working hard in practice and I'm so glad we made it all worth it to become league champs for the second year in a row!"

Daniella Marks, Summer McDermott, and Evangelina Doupis rounded out the scoring five with Mikaela Polanco Cartmill and Aurelia Moser completing the varsity team. 

"We knew the girls had a good chance at winning today, but you always have to show up on that day and get the job done. I am most impressed by how strong our newer runners ran," coach Kelley Posch said. "Even though Mikaela was our sixth runner and her place didn't directly contribute to the team score [only the top five make up the team score], she made an important impact in our team score by displacing scoring members from the other three teams. She beat scoring members from Greeley, Fox Lane and Carmel so their scores were increased because their runners’ places had a larger number. Cara made a huge breakthrough to place third and she was closing in on second."

Although last year's win was the one that broke a decades-long title drought, Posch said repeating feels like an even bigger accomplishment.

"This win feels even sweeter because we were with teams that are closer to our size, and it feels like a fair playing field with more competition," she said. "We are in that part of the season where we are still putting in hard workouts, but also starting to increase the pressure of the performance with championship meets starting and I’m just really proud of how these girls ran knowing that they aren’t fresh. As we head later into the season and start to taper, I’m excited to see what they will accomplish."

Boys place third

Meanwhile, the boys also delivered a strong showing to finish third. Posch said she was "really happy."

"They weren’t too far off of second place and we were missing some key varsity runners due to injury so it put pressure on our other runners to step up and they did," Posch said, adding that freshman Ryan Davis and junior Matthew Frissora are hitting their stride.

"They’re putting together consistent strong efforts and it’s making a big impact on the team result," she said, adding that senior captain Thomas Baron and junior captain Alex Zamrzla have both improved their times since the start of the season.

"That bodes well as we head deeper into championship time," Posch added. "We hope to have our full squad back soon so we can be at our highest potential."

Baron said the Pac's "overall stellar performance" was all the more gratifying because the team did so "with two key runners" absent.

"Underclassmen Ryan Davis and Matt Dinezo both rose to the occasion," Baron said. "Ryan especially has begun to really shine as the season goes on, consistently dropping his times as a freshman. I see a very strong future for the cross country team as the freshmen and sophomores continue to develop exponentially. All of the boys did better today than our previous meet at Croton Point, showing the steady pulse of the team to perform when it mattered and the training paying off. Alex Z led the team, placing 8th overall, to help secure the boys placing third overall for leagues. As the team continues to improve, I’m excited to see the level of talent shine through as the important, harder meets emerge."

Posch's co-coach Janey Bauer added that the team's ability to rise to the occasion was a huge source of pride.

"After a week of tough workouts that challenged them both mentally and physically, they showed up when it mattered most," Bauer said about the first- and third-place finishes. "More importantly [than the result], they continue to trust each other, compete for one another, and prove their talent week after week.

"The work is paying off, and this team is just getting started in our successes."