April Wrap: Lee smashes state 3200m record, leads flood of big results in distance and hurdles

The Penn Relays were the highlight of late April and they got their well deserved limelight, but Mercer County’s other athletes — especially distance runners and hurdlers — were very busy elsewhere. Here are a few more results from the last two weeks that you shouldn’t miss.

Allison Lee (WWP North) holds her own against the boys en route to a historic 3200m time. | Rohan Varma for @hsndistance

Holmdel Night of 3200s | April 27, 2026

One of the biggest moments of the season occurred on Monday night at the Holmdel Night of 3200s, when WWP North senior Allison Lee destroyed not just her own PR but also the state record in the 3200m by running 9:46.78!

That incredible time, which was PR by over 20 seconds, took down the prior outdoor state record of 9:53.29 by Angelina Perez (Lakeland) from 2022. It’s also US #4 this spring.

Running in a mixed heat and flanked by a few of her teammates on the boys side, Lee clipped off an opening 1600m of 4:51 and followed that up with an inspiring second half of 4:55. Those remarkable splits show just how truly incredible Lee was running on Monday night. For context, just a few days earlier, she had run 4:47 while chasing down competitors on the DMR anchor at the Penn Relays. On this night, she ran almost the same time for 1600m and then was able to hold on for another 1600m at more or less the same pace. 

There are some immense talents in New Jersey girls distance running this spring, and Lee is once again showing that she deserves her spot in that conversation. This result adds even more anticipation for the Meet of Champions, where Lee will be eyeing her first outdoor championship but will presumably have to go through defending champ Leah Starkey (Ocean Township) in what will be an exciting clash of distance titans.

Lee wasn’t the local athlete with a breakthrough performance at Holmdel on Monday.

Staying on the girls side, Lawrence’s Izzy Meth also had a great race on Monday night and tied her PR with a 10:59.72, which is #17 in New Jersey this spring. Princeton Day freshman Kayla Peckens ran a strong outdoor 3200m debut with a 11:24.09, good for #5 in the county.

The boys 3200m featured a wave of very strong times that rewrote the county leaderboard. WWP North’s Agrim Jha led the way with a big PR of 9:11.66 for 7th overall, putting him at NJ #14 this spring. Jha is already barely outside the Top 10 on the Mercer County all-time list, and he’s still just a sophomore.

Close behind Jha, Hopewell Valley junior Finnegan Curley took 11th place in 9:18.77, his second fastest time ever and his first time under 9:20 outdoors. (Also, here’s a result that shouldn’t go overlooked: on April 17 at the Nisky Elite 5K in upstate New York, Curley ran a 5000m in 15:00.06. He’s clearly in excellent shape heading into the postseason.)

WWP North flaunted a wealth of young depth in the 3200m. Junior Paul Wittenberg beat his PR with a 9:27.71, which is #3 in the county this spring. Behind him, sophomore Sushanth Karri (9:41.08, MC #4), freshman Ashvin Avineni (9:43.76, MC #5), and sophomore Soham Shah (9:44.25, MC #6) all came home under 9:45 in new PRs. Sophomore Shreyan Kagitala (9:54.12) also broke 10:00 for the first time.

Hightstown also had two boys go sub-10:00: Mason Johnson earned a new PR of 9:52.38, and Mateo Abad-Delgado got under the mark with a season’s best of 9:57.22. Between them, Lawrence’s Alden Smith joined the club with a huge race of 9:53.40 — making him the first Cardinal to break 10:00 in 20+ years.

Poreda Invitational | April 22, 2026

Just before the Penn Relays, Lawrenceville hosted its spring Poreda Invitational, which drew a strong field of Mercer County athletes.

The race of the day was the boys 110mH, which featured a faceoff between three of the state’s top hurdlers: Hunterdon Central’s Kasey Kinsley, Lawrenceville’s Corey Woodson and Princeton’s Yi-Tian Xiong. All three boys rose to the challenge and delivered season’s bests, with Kinsley in an NJ #3 14.20. Not far behind, Woodson who scored the narrow upset over Xiong for 2nd place, 14.61 to 14.65. That was Woodson’s second big PR in two weeks, and it elevated him to NJ #12. (Xiong bounced back on Saturday with a huge race of his own at the Unionville Invitational, see below.)

Peddie’s Elie Meyer made the most of his spring debut in the 1600m, running an outdoor PR of 4:34.89 for the win. In the boys 3200m, Allentown’s Ryan Heissler ran 9:59.84 to not just win but break 10 in what was the first major 3200m of his high school career. His teammates John O’Leary (10:01.08) and Sarth Shah (10:05.58) followed close behind, giving the Redbirds a fast 1-2-3 sweep in the event.

Lawrenceville’s Spencer Taft won the boys 800m in a 5-second PR of 2:05.78, a time that puts him #10 in Mercer County. Princeton freshman Lumnezia Meggers impressed in her first 800m at any invitational, running 2:26.80 for a close 2nd place. That time is #6 in the county.

In the throws, Lawrenceville’s Jabralyn Jones swept the boys shot put (47-5.25) and discus (138-9), while Allentown’s Makayla Rondinelli swept the girls shot put (32-2) and discus with a season’s best of 116-8, which is #2 in the county. Princeton’s Caleb Mildenberg PR’d in the boys javelin at 140-10, moving to #3 in the county for the event. 

In the jumps, Allentown’s Braxton Rondinelli won the boys long jump in 21-1.5, #3 in Mercer County.

Pennington #3 | April 22, 2026

At Pennington #3, the headline performance came from Pennington sophomore Eden Ashiavor, who threw a massive PR of 120-10 in the discus to break her own school record, take the county lead, and move up to NJ #15. Pennington junior King Liu was one of the busiest athletes on the boys side, sweeping the 100m (11.39) and 200m (23.53), with that 200m time currently at #3 in Mercer County.

Unionville Invitational | April 25, 2026

Princeton traveled to West Chester, PA on Saturday and got many PRs along with a strong group showing in the distance events.

Yi-Tian Xiong delivered the headline performance in the 110mH. After easing through the prelims, he blasted a 14.50 in the final to not just win decisively but enter the Top 10 on the state leaderboard with a new PR. The junior also raced the 300mH for 5th in 43.03, showing range across both hurdle events.

The Princeton distance group was a force at this meet. On the girls side, a trio of girls delivered formidable doubles: Kajol Karra won the 3200m in 11:08.24 (MC #3) and then came back to take 8th in the 1600m (5:26.91), Grace Hegedus placed 3rd in the 3200m in 11:14.74 (MC #4) and then 7th in the 1600m with a 5:21.39, and Phoenix Roth ran 11:33.41 (MC #7) for 7th in the 3200m and 5:34.52 for 13th in the 1600m. On the boys side, Saboor Qureshi ran 9:48.19 in the 3200m for 6th place, good for #6 in the county. Sophomore Lachlan Arnold wasn’t far behind with a 9:54.06 for 8th, which is #10 in Mercer County. 

In the shorter events, junior Felix Yu ran an 800m PR of 2:03.23 for 10th place, and Lena Murray ran 1:01.59 in the girls 400m for 4th place. In the field, Zachary Nelson had a productive multi-event day with PRs in the high jump (5-10) and discus (102-0). Nishika Singh won the discus at 113-5, #5 in the county for the event this spring.

Lawrenceville JV Invitational | April 28, 2026

Lawrenceville hosted a JV Invitational on Tuesday, with a couple Mercer County athletes turning in performances that easily slotted into the tops of the varsity leaderboards.

Allentown sophomore Maura Goddeyne, who has already established herself as one of the county’s top 800m runners, showed off her range in the longer sprints by winning the 400m in 1:01.42. That’s #7 in the county this spring.

In the jumps, Lawrenceville junior Vivian Blessing cleared 9-0 in the pole vault for the first time outdoors, winning the event and moving to #2 in Mercer County.