Millrose Games 2025: Bartlett, Swindell, Lawrenceville 4x4 make Mercer County history
Girls Mile
The Millrose Games have been attracting the world’s best middle-distance runners since the meet began in 1908. The marquee event, the Wanamaker Mile, has been a staple of the international pro circuit for a century. So when the meet added a boys mile in 1974 and a girls mile in 1984, those became some of the most prestigious races a high schooler could hope to compete in. The lucky individuals who receive invitations get to face the best competition from across the country while also getting to share the track – and the national broadcast window – with some of the greatest runners in the world.
One of those lucky individuals this year was Lawrenceville’s Blair Bartlett! She’s just the second Mercer County girl in at least the last twenty years to get invited. The other was Lawrenceville’s Charlotte Bednar, who ran a Mercer County record of 4:53.08 in this race in 2020. (On the boys’ side, the 2010 race featured both WW-P North’s Jim Rosa and WW-P South’s Sam Macaluso, and in 2019 Sean Dolan ran the Mercer County record of 4:09.55 at Millrose.)
Bartlett received an at-large invitation a couple of weeks after running a PR of 4:54.15 to take 3rd place at the Millrose Trials mile on January 8th. She led the first 1409m of that race, and at the time I wondered how much faster she could run if given the chance to sit in a pack with a larger group of fast girls. With Bartlett having that opportunity at the Armory on Saturday – plus having another month of training under her belt – we got our answer: much, much faster.
Bartlett absolutely shattered the Mercer County record, running 4:48.36 for 6th place at the Millrose Mile! That’s #12 in the United States this year and #7 in New Jersey ever! As usual, Bartlett raced confidently and assertively, running in 3rd place throughout the first two laps. Although a couple of girls passed her in the last lap, it should be noted that she still finished with a negative split (2:24.4, 2:23.9) off a hot opening pace. She was also the top sophomore in the race.
Bartlett’s performance at Millrose was spectacular, cementing her place among the best runners in Mercer County history. With two more years ahead of her, this could be just the start of her rewriting the New Jersey record books.
Girls 4x400m
Barlett wasn’t the only Lawrenceville girl making Mercer County history at Millrose – the Big Red’s 4x400m team also obliterated the county’s 4x400m record! Lawrenceville already held the prior record with a 3:55.85 from 2023, but this year’s team left that time in the dust with a 3:50.17! That’s #11 in the United States this year and within the top 20 performances in New Jersey all-time.
The record-breaking team consisted of Sofia Swindell, Jael Gaines, Yasmin Willie, and Rhianna Scott. Swindell led off with a 56.45, and her teammates followed up with splits of 58.28, 58.07, and 57.39. To put those splits in perspective, only four other Mercer County girls have gone under 58.5 in the last 10 years, and Lawrenceville had four split that time back-to-back!
Girls 300m
Three hours before leading off the record breaking 4x400m, Sofia Swindell made some history of her own in the 300m. She placed 2nd in her heat and 5th overall with a time of 38.08, which is #4 in New Jersey history! It’s also US #7 this year. It’s not officially a Mercer County record — Athing Mu went 37.36 in 2020 while running for the Trenton Track Club — but the fact that Swindell is so close to the Trenton legend is a testament to how amazing her run was.