Mercer County girls will be busy at the Meet of Champions after loading up on medals at the group championships.
Nine individual boys and four relay teams punched their tickets to the Meet of Champions with superb performances.
Allison Lee (WWP North) shatters the CVC 1600m record with a 4:40 — #4 all-time in New Jersey — while Agrim Jha (WWP North) earns the boys win in a quick 4:15.
NJ.com’s reporters Bakari Tice (for boys) and Corey Annan (for girls) shine a light on 8-9 talented runners in each group who have been flying under the radar this season.
The Group 2 boys include John O’Leary (Allentown, Sr.). “O’Leary has built an impressive résumé this season with a string of strong performances across major events.”
The Group 2 girls include Addison Frascella (Allentown, Fr.), along with a nice photo of her at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational. “With Allentown graduating its No. 1 runner from last year, having a freshman like Frascella step into that role so quickly has helped keep Allentown competitive.”
The Group 3 girls include Anna Wilson (Hopewell Valley, Jr.). “When Hopewell Valley is healthy, this is one of the better teams in the state. Wilson is a big part of their lineup and showed it on Thursday.”
The Non-Public A/B girls include Kayla Peckens (Princeton Day, Fr.). “Princeton Day should be excited about their future with Peckens leading the lineup.”
The Trentonian selects Allison Lee (WWP North, Jr.) and Gavin Alvarez (Allentown, Sr.) as runners of the year. The two stars share their reactions to their performances and experiences at the Meet of Champions. Honorable mentions go to Christopher Young (Notre Dame, Sr.), Sean Wilton (Princeton, Sr.), and Sonjay Baylor-Reeves (Trenton, Sr.).
NJ.com’s CVC boy athlete of the year is Gavin Alvarez (Allentown, Sr.), and they highlights his fast PRs, medals at groups and Meet of Champions, and his big improvement from last year. The boys coach of the year is Nottingham’s Kenley Souffrant, and the boys team of the year is Notre Dame.
Allentown’s Gavin Alvarez talks about coming in with confidence to break out of a slump, and about how he and his teammates are letting people know that Allentown is no joke. WWP North’s Subomi Allison talks about tactics that helped his kick and about wanting to give his best for his teammates, and coach Brian Gould credits his 4×800m boys with being “all heart” and bouncing back after not medaling in the groups 4×800.
Bartlett, Lee, Blanchard, Jha, Xiong, Casciano, Romanelli, and many others stayed sharp with big results in the break between MOCs and nationals.