Weekly Recap for November 2: Lots of big meets besides sectionals!
NJSIAA Sectionals wasn’t the only big meet taking place last week! Non-public schools in Mercer County were plenty busy, with some teams even having two championships meets in four days. Here are some of the best performances you should know about.
NJISAA Prep State Championships
Last Wednesday, Blair Academy hosted the Prep State Championships, which were split between large schools (Varsity A) and small schools (Varsity B). It was a hot day and a hilly course, but that didn’t stop Mercer County runners from churning out impressive performances. See all results here.
Varsity Boys A
The Lawrenceville boys placed second behind Pingry, who is ranked #15 in the state. They were led by Taksh Gupta’s 3rd place finish in 17:15. Nico Montenecourt had an excellent race and finished 5th in 17:28, which was one of his fastest times of the year despite the challenging conditions.
The Peddie boys took fourth in the Varsity A race. Their top runner was senior Jack Stewart, who used a big kick to snag 11th place in 18:14. Baker Pott (17th in 18:43) and James Hamnett (20th in 18:52) also secured top-20 finishes.
Hun hasn’t raced in many invitationals this year, so Prep States was one of the first times we got to see their squad in action. Their #1 runner was sophomore Justin Bibeau, who got 21st in 18:56 in what appears to be his first full 5K for Hun. Junior William Carey (34th in 20:11) was a solid #2 runner for Hun. Hun also has three freshmen in their top 7, so they have a lot of room to grow.
Varsity Boys B
Maybe the biggest highlight of the week was Princeton Day winning the Prep B State Championship! After coming up one point short last year, the Panthers got redemption with an emphatic 19-point victory over Newark Academy and Rutgers Prep. They were led by Grayson McLaughlin’s 3rd place finish in 17:23, an excellent time given the tough course and conditions. The Panthers also got top-10 finishes from Edward Letko (6th in 17:57), Alexander Chia (7th in 18:12), and Michael Zhou (10th in 18:32). This was Princeton Day’s first Prep State Championship, in just its tenth year of having an XC program.
Pennington also ran in the Varsity B race and put two boys in the top 10. Senior Alex Burton held off two others in a tight finish to get 4th in 17:56, just his second time under 18:00 in an invitational. Junior Andrew Hofacker also had one of his best races ever and finished 9th in 18:23.
Varsity Girls A
Lawrenceville was the only Mercer County school to field a complete girls team, and they got 4th in their division. Junior Essie Chafin had a great race, placing 11th in 21:22 to finish as the Big Red’s #1 runner for the first time this year. Freshman Gigi Aitken-Davies was 14th in 21:42.
Peddie’s Matilda Kardhashi was the top Mercer County finisher in the girls race, getting 8th in 21:08. Fellow senior Carolina Lopez-Watt was 30th in 23:49.
Hun also ran a partial team, and they were led by freshman Lulu Cattaneo, who placed 26th in 22:59.
Varsity Girls B
In the small school division, Princeton Day placed three girls in the top 25: Olivia Lumba (11th in 23:20), Syona Gautam (17th in 23:54), and Natalia Soffer (24th in 24:28). Thanks to the return of Isabella Li, who had missed the CVC Championships, they succeeded in fielding a complete team and took 6th in their division.
Pennington was 7th, just 6 points behind Princeton Day and just 10 points behind 4th place – it was a tight race! Sophomore Lilia Phillips was the top Mercer County girl in the race, getting 10th place in 22:49. Freshman Jacqueline Zhang was also top-20, running 23:53 for 16th place. Between Pennington and Princeton Day, Mercer County runners made up 5 of the top 17 finishers.
Stuart Country Day also had a few girls run in Prep States. Their top runner was sophomore Claire McLaughlin, who was just outside the top 20 in 24:18 for 22nd.
MAPL Championships
Lawrenceville, Peddie, and Hun had a very busy week – after racing at Prep States on Wednesday, they had a quick turnaround before racing again at the Mid-Atlantic Prep League Championships in central Pennsylvania on Saturday! See full results here.
Boys Race
Lawrenceville poses with their well-deserved MAPL trophy. | Photo courtesy of Coach Jeff Streeter.
The Lawrenceville boys were more than ready for the challenging race on short rest. Not only did they run even better in this second race, but they won the MAPL Championship! They prevailed over hosts Mercerburg in a nailbiter, 38-41.
Taksh Gupta took home the individual title in 16:51 over a moderately hilly course. The taste of victory was especially sweet for the senior Gupta, who was third here as a sophomore but had to miss last year with an injury. Sophomore Arunav Sarkar wasn’t far behind, getting 4th in 17:15 and letting Lawrenceville’s MAPL rivals know that the Big Red will still have a strong frontrunner even after Gupta graduates. Hejyule Bae-Robinson (9th in 17:41) and Nico Montenecourt (10th in 17:43) gave Lawrenceville four boys in the top 10. Also, in a tight race where every point counts, the Big Red’s sixth runner Gio Juarez deserves major credit for outleaning Mercerburg’s fifth runner for 15th place.
Peddie finished in fourth place. They were led by All-MAPL runner Baker Pott who took 6th in 17:25, his fastest 5K of the year and his best finish in four years of strong running at MAPLs. Fellow senior James Hamnett worked with Pott for much of the way and came across in 17:48 for 12th place.
Hun was led by sophomore Justin Bibeau in a 5K PR of 18:45 for 23rd place. Junior William Carey was 31st in 19:44, his second-fastest 5K time.
Girls Race
On the girls’ side, Lawrenceville narrowly lost to Mercerburg, 41-46. But the Big Red still ran very well, putting four girls in the top 10. Yasmin Willie led the way with 5th place in 20:54, followed by Gigi Aitken-Davies (7th in 21:26), Essie Chafin (8th in 21:31), and Emily Zhang (9th in 21:38). Each of those four girls has been Lawrenceville’s #1 runner in at least one major race this season, which goes to show how strong and balanced their top pack is.
The top Mercer County girl in the race was Peddie’s Matilda Kardhashi. The senior continued her strong form in recent weeks and took 2nd in 19:54. Senior Eliza Lamar ran 21:57 to just snag the last top-10 spot, and sophomore Charis Chien ran 22:27 to get 12th in her first race back from injury.
Hun had two girls run in this meet, and they both took 40+ seconds off their times from Prep States earlier in the week.
Bob Kiessling Invitational
Wilberforce went south on Saturday for the Bob Kiessling Invitational, which serves as the non-public championship for South Jersey. It was held at DREAM Park in Logan Township, which also hosted the NJSIAA Sectionals for South Jersey earlier that day. It’s a fast course when it’s dry — and it was very dry on Saturday — so many runners took advantage to drop big 5K PRs.
The Wilberforce boys were led by sophomores Micah Brox (18th in 17:43, just off his PR from last year) and Henry Jepson (23rd in 18:14, a new 5K PR). The rest of the team all crushed their 5K PRs by over a minute! Collectively, the Wilberforce boys averaged 18:55 and took fifth place. With three sophomores and a freshman in the top 5, this is a young squad with a lot of potential.
The Wilberforce girls took second behind Paul VI, who is ranked #8 in New Jersey. They were led by star junior Laura Sallade, who finished 3rd in a new PR of 18:24. That’s the 30th-fastest time in the DREAM Park’s seven-year history – which is especially impressive considering that DREAM Parks hosts the Olympic Conference Championship and South Jersey sectionals every year. In fact, if Sallade had raced in the South Jersey sectionals a few hours earlier, she would’ve placed 6th in the merge, ahead of several other girls ranked in the top 50 in the state. Behind Sallade, senior Adeline Edwards matched her PR with a 19:25 for 7th place, and sophomore Stella Blanchard – whom NJ.com recently called one of the most underrated runners among non-public schools – had a breakout race, taking 70+ seconds off her personal best with a 20:03 for 9th place.
NJCTC Championship
Notre Dame went north on Saturday to compete in the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Championship. The NJCTC is a very competitive conference that includes multiple state-ranked schools. Its conference championship is held at the Greystone course, the same day and same place as the NJSIAA Sectionals for North 2. According to NJ.com, Greystone is the second-toughest course in New Jersey, after only Holmdel Park. (The same article considers Thompson Park the eighth-toughest.)
The Notre Dame boys ran very well and took 3rd, behind NJ #1 CBA and NJ #18 Oratory. Tarun Kovoor led the team with his 7th-place finish in 16:36, a new school record on the Greystone course! Max Whittle wasn’t far behind and also had a really impressive race to get 15th in 16:53, only a few seconds off his PR despite the tough course. Sophomore Timothy Ellingson actually did PR, running 17:40 for 22nd. Overall, the Irish averaged a very solid 17:24.
The Notre Dame girls were led by freshman Alaina Sabo’s massive race – she got 2nd in 19:25! To put that in perspective, if she had run that time earlier in the day at the North 2 Sectionals, she would have gotten 13th overall in the merge. Behind Sabo, Meghan Connolly ran her best race of the season to get 32nd in 22:09.