Weekly Recap: April 7-13
Bad weather washed out the CVC Relays this weekend, but a few local athletes braved the rain at other meets and produced some noteworthy performances. Plus, further below are the top finishers from a couple of midweek, FAT-timed meets.
South County Stallion Invitational
Lawrenceville took a few of its top racers down to Lorton, Virginia, on Saturday for the South County Stallion Invitational. Despite the drizzly weather, they dropped some spectacular fast early-season times. See full results here.
In the boys 800m, Ayodele-Joa Griffith – who was already one of the top mid-distance runners in Mercer County – broke through to another level when he crushed the 800m field to win by over 3 seconds in 1:54.73. That’s a PR by almost 1.5 seconds. Showcasing his strength, he ran almost perfectly even splits of 57.1 and 57.5. Also impressive is the fact that it was his second race of the day! He ran a 4:47.30 1600m just a short while earlier.
In the boys 110mH, Corey Woodson ran a county-leading 15.65 to take 6th place. Woodson also placed 15th in the 300mH with a 45.76.
On the girls side, Sofia Swindell led the way with a dominant victory in the 100m hurdles, running 14.51. That was almost a full second ahead of 2nd place, and it’s #2 in New Jersey this spring.
In the girls 400m, Jael Gaines took 2nd place in a very fast 57.16, which was a PR by over 1 second! That’s currently NJ #3. Her teammate Rhianna Scott also went sub-60, running 59.44 for 4th place overall.
Freshman Yasmin Willie also got some more good experience against tough competition, doubling back from a 5:51 1600m to run a 2:33 800m.
Hill Relays
Lawrenceville and Peddie crossed into Pennsylvania to compete against some MAPL rivals at the Hill Relays. See full results here.
In the boys events, Peddie loaded their SMR team and they came away with the win in a quick 3:42.42. That’s just three seconds off their NJ #5 time from the Prep Relays last week. Lawrenceville dominated the DMR in 11:29.66, winning by 50 seconds over the George School.
Lawrenceville’s Ayo Britto won the high jump after matching his PR of 6-4 from last week. In the discus, Lawrenceville’s Ben Lahlou (1st in 143-11) and Peddie’s Parker Hamilton (2nd in 123-10) went 1-2 in rainy conditions. The rain didn’t stop Hamilton from also launching a throw of 52-2 to win the shot put. That’s his first time over 50’ outdoors, and it’s just a foot off his PR from this past winter.
On the girls side, Tessa Hughes added to her large collection of Peddie school records by running a 47.16 in the 300m hurdles, winning by over three seconds. Peddie was also victorious in the DMR in 13:30.33, winning by over 20 seconds. The Lawrenceville SMR team took 2nd place in a tight race against the George School. Their time of 4:29.51 is #1 in Mercer County this season.
In the field events, Peddie’s Aubrey Fraasch edged Lawrenceville’s Reagan Daly in the discus, 83-5.5 to 82-2. Lawrenceville freshman Madison Boone won the shot put in 30-2.5.
Midweek Meets
Before the rain got too bad, Pennington and Peddie raced at the Blair Academy Invite on Wednesday. See full results here.
On the boys side, Pennington’s Seamus Manning had a nice double, winning the 400m in 54.42 and then taking 2nd place in the 20m with a 24.62. In the boys 100m, Pennington sophomore King Liu blitzed a 11.74 to dominate his heat and take 2nd place overall. In the longer races, Monte Huffman won the 800m in 2:15.67, and Peddie’s Theo Salapatas won the 3200m in 11:30.21.
On the girls side, Pennington’s Layla Griffin ran 14.02 for 2nd place in the 100m, and Peddie’s Imani Jones took 3rd place in the 200m with a 28.80. In the field events, Pennington’s Angelyn Payne went 29-4.25 for the win in the triple jump. Pennington’s Eden Ashiavor won the shot put in 27-6, just ahead of Peddie’s Aubrey Fraasch in 27-1.
On Thursday night, Robbinsville brought their distance crew to Cherokee High School for the Night of 3200’s. See full results here. On the boys side, Nish Seshadri took 4th place in his heat with a 10:09.82, a 10-second PR. Their girls were led by Julie Meddahi (12:04.47) and Kellianne White (12:24.67), who both also came home with PRs.