Mackenzie Mesuch attended Most Precious Blood school when she was in elementary school and basketball championships were always played at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh.

Now, for the next four years, it’s going to be her home school as the Wallkill High School senior runner recently committed to attend the Mount and run on the women’s track team. She decided she was going to attend the school in December and in the spring committed to running on the track team.

“It’s a little crazy because when I played there, I never thought about going to school there,” she said. “Now it’s a cool thing because it’s somewhere I’ve always come.”

Mesuch, who during the spring ran the 200- and 400-meter dashes and the 800-meter run will join a Knights’ track team that like everyone else saw their spring season canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I always knew I loved the sport, but my final season being taken away made me realize how much more I appreciated the sport and I wanted to continue having it in my life,” Mesuch said. She doesn’t run during the indoor season as she plays basketball, so unlike many track athletes, she couldn’t say she had the winter season, at least.

She cemented her decision during a spring Zoom call with Mount track coach Fred Callo.

“I loved it from the second I said, ‘hello’,” Mesuch said. “I’m upset that I haven’t been able to see anyone in person yet. They’re all very excited and I’m happy to have them as my coaches.”

Mesuch’s track career began when she transferred to Wallkill from Most Precious Blood and her mother convinced her to play a sport in the spring, so she experimented with track.

She said she started by running the 200-meter dash, and “loved it” in eighth grade. The next year she went up to the 400 and then she was eventually “talked into” running the 800.

“There was a little bit of a hesitation,” said Wallkill track coach Eric McLaud, who coaches her events. “She went to work at it. She wanted to get better at it. She made the girls’ around her that much better because the girls around her knew she wasn’t going to stop.”

Everything Mesuch has accomplished on the track has come through hard work.

“She’s not a naturally gifted track athlete,” Wallkill track coach Eric McLaud said. “Everything she’s done, she’s done through hard work and I was so happy to hear that she’s running at Mount Saint Mary.”

As a freshman, her 800-meter time was over 3 minutes and she’s knocked it down to where she runs under 2:40. Her 400 time is around 70 seconds.

“That work ethic allows her to go faster than those kids who we think have more natural ability,” McLaud said. “She doesn’t want to lose. She goes 100 percent. She gets after it. It’s that way in practice. She’s never quit on anything I’ve asked her to do.”

While she’s looking forward to joining the Mount’s track team, she is equally excited about staying home. As the oldest of four sisters, she wanted to stay close to home so she could still see them play.

Next year, will be the first time in as long as he can remember that she won’t be playing basketball.

“It’s going to be a little weird,” Mesuch said. “But I will definitely stay involved with basketball because of my three younger sisters. I’ll be at every game watching. It will be weird not playing.”

Even though she’ll be tethered to home, she’ll miss her coaches and friends that she’s made in Wallkill. McLaud said he will miss her smile and work ethic.

“I remember when I would come into the school and she would be there saying, ‘hello’ every morning,” McLaud said. “I’ll miss that a lot.”