Mercer County Girls Rankings for October 30

The latest rankings from Track Mercer! Here are 7 girls teams and 10+ girls who have risen to the top of Mercer County. Results at the CVC Divisional Championships and the CVC Championships get the most weight in today’s rankings, though regular season-performances are not entirely discounted. These rankings also include non-CVC schools, which require a little more speculation since they don’t go head-to-head with CVC teams as often anymore.

Think that I missed or underestimated someone? Let me know in the comments below or on social media!

Note that these rankings were written before the Prep State Championships. Read the boys rankings here.

Girls Teams

#1 Princeton

Princeton only continues to solidify why they are one of the best teams in the state, as evidenced by their outstanding 29 points and 19:29 team average at the CVC Championships. Kajol Karra and Grace Hegedus have been all-state caliber all year, but now others like Eowyn Deess are developing into major individual players, too. They’ll be exciting to watch in November!

#2 West Windsor-Plainsboro North

At the CVC Divisional Championships, West Windsor-Plainsboro North narrowly beat Hopewell Valley, 44-51, and they extended their lead over the Bulldogs at the CVC Championships, 59-80. In that second performance, the Knights broke their Thompson Park school record with a team average of 20:10, helped by huge races from Allison Lee and Zui Chinchalkar. Sara Secora and Juliette Halpin recently arrived on the scene and are already among the best in the area.

#3 Hopewell Valley

Hopewell Valley has a very deep team: they put all seven girls in the top 30 at the CVC Championships, and, although they finished behind the WW-P at both CVC meets, the Bulldogs’ fifth girl beat the Knights’ fifth girl both times. Their #1 runner Claire Dumont can match one of WW-P’s low sticks, too. These two teams will have a close showdown at sectionals!

#4 Wilberforce

Wilberforce took third place at the XC Fall Classic two weeks ago at Thompson Park with a team average of 21:38. That same average would have gotten them 4th at the CVC Championship. And that was even without key contributor Eve Szeliga, who is now back in their lineup.

#5 Lawrenceville 

Lawrenceville has a young and talented team: their top 7 consists of four freshmen, two sophomores, and a junior. That lineup averaged 20:38 on the Peddie Golf Course two weeks ago, and it just beat Wilberforce 28-33 in the Mercer Prep Quad Meet last week.

#6 West Windsor-Plainsboro South

West Windsor-Plainsboro South was fourth in both the divisional merge and the CVC Championships. At the CVC Championships, they put four girls in the top 30 and averaged a minute faster than they ever averaged at Thompson Park last year. At divisionals, they put a different fourth girl in the top 30 of the merge. So they have potential to drop that Thompson Park average even more if they’re all on at sectionals. 

#7 Allentown

Allentown finished just behind WW-P South at both CVC meets, but they were without frontrunner Emilia Wroblewski for the latter championship meet — and if she had run there, they would’ve likely come out ahead. In other words, the Redbirds are within range of the Pirates and could top them with a strong performance at sectionals.

Girls Individuals

#1 Allison Lee (WW-P North) ran 18:27 at the CVC Championships, which was a school record by 9 seconds and one of the fastest times anyone has run at Thompson Park in the last five years. Her 17:28 at the divisional meet is still the second-fastest 5K that anyone from New Jersey has run this year!

#2 Kajol Karra (Princeton) continues impressing in every meet. At the CVC Championships, her 18:54 for 2nd place broke her Thompson Park PR by over a minute – and also broke the Thompson Park school record. 

#3 Grace Hegedus (Princeton) stopped the clock at 18:59.9 for 3rd place at the CVC Championships. It’s entirely possible that she also goes 18-something at Holmdel later this year, especially given that she ran 19:27 at Shore Coaches almost a month ago.

#4 Zui Chinchalkar (WW-P North) showed incredible physical and mental resilience at the CVC Championships, where in the last mile she was dropped by the leaders, then caught by a chaser, but then surged ahead again in the final stretch to take 4th in a new Thompson Park PR of 19:05. The senior is one of the most accomplished runners in the area, and that experience shows.

#5 Claire Dumont (Hopewell Valley) displayed her own form of mental toughness at the CVC Championships, when she ran in no-man’s land for over two miles and then still managed to catch part of the lead pack and crush her Thompson Park PR by over 50 seconds. A week earlier, she soloed an outright 5K PR of 18:26 to win the Valley Division race.

#6 Laura Sallade (Wilberforce) opened her season with a 19:08 at the Jerry Hart Invitational, where she finished behind Karra and Hegedus but well ahead of the rest of the Princeton girls. She was 2nd at the XC Fall Classic with a Thompson time of 19:36 – which would have been right about 6th at the CVC Championships – and her Holmdel time at Shore Coaches was just two seconds behind Dumont.

#7 Izzy Meth (Lawrence) did not run the divisional meet so that she could focus on rounding into championship form, and it’s clear that it’s working. At the CVC Championship, after leading the chase pack for two miles, she was able to power away from everyone but Eowyn Deess en route to 7th place in 19:43.

#8 Eowyn Deess (Princeton) had spent much of this year as Princeton’s 5th girl, so to see her drop a 19:32 for 6th place at the CVC Championships was incredible. That’s the kind of performance that can jumpstart a virtuous cycle of confidence and success.

#9 Rosemary Warren (Princeton) ran 19:52 for 8th at the CVC Championships, a 16-second improvement from her time at the XC Fall Classic. It looks like the decision to have her get Thompson Park experience at that meet rather than run the Manhattan Invitational paid off.

#10 Alaina Sabo (Notre Dame) has run 19:02 twice this season, as well as 20:06 at Thompson Park. She went out very aggressively at the CVC Championships but was still able to hold on and kick for 12th place in 20:10.

There were so many talented girls to choose from, so it’s a large bubble this week.

Bubble (in no particular order): Siena Rivera (Hightstown) has had no problem jumping up to the full 5K this postseason, getting 4th at divisionals in 19:15 and 9th at the CVC Championships in 20:01. … Teagan Walker (Ewing) finished right behind Sabo at both CVC meets these past two weeks. … Princeton’s Sevanne Knoch and Florica Eleches-Lipsitz finished a few seconds ahead of both Sabo and Walker at the CVC Championships. … Phoenix Roth (Princeton) was the Tigers’ #7 on Thursday but she’s been as high as their #3, including on the all-important Holmdel course. …. Matilda Kardhashi (Peddie) ran 18:54 on the Peddie Golf Course in a recent dual meet.