Boys Groups: Curley’s breakthrough headlines big weekend for CVC boys
The NJSIAA Group Championships delivered exactly what a championship weekend should: breakout performances, record-setting races, and exciting battles. Mercer County athletes rose to the occasion, bringing home titles, medals, and a host of PRs — with several earning the opportunity to compete on New Jersey’s biggest stage, the Meet of Champions on March 8.
Note: Athletes can advance to the Meet of Champions in two ways: athletes who finish Top 3 in their group qualify automatically, and then the next 12 best finishers across all groups receive wild cards. Those wild cards won’t be officially awarded until after the Group 1 and Group 4 Championships, which were postponed until Saturday.
Finnegan Curley (Hopewell Valley) celebrates across the line as he wins the 3200m at the Group 2 Championships on February 21, 2026. | tspimages for MileSplit
Hopewell Valley junior Finnegan Curley firmly established himself in the top tier of New Jersey distance runners after laying down a huge 3200m time of 9:20.62 to win the Group 2 Championship! That 11-second PR is now #8 in New Jersey and #1 in Mercer County this winter. Curley won his first group championship in style: after trading off the lead with Haddonfield’s Ryan Gibson for fourteen laps, Curley dropped the hammer and blasted away over the final 400m. With his devastating kick, he ran his last 1600m in 4:36 — truly remarkable considering his official 1600m PR is only 4 seconds faster than that. Curley has come a long way since breaking 10:00 for the first time at this meet last year.
WWP North junior Paul Wittenberg also delivered a gutsy, inspiring, and impressive performance in the 3200m. Running all alone at the front of the lower-seeded heat, he went out in a fast first 1600m of 4:42 and held on over the final laps to dip under the 9:30 barrier in 9:28.70. That massive 20-second PR held up for 5th overall in Group 3 and puts him at #18 on the 3200m/2-mile state leaderboard this winter.
Paul Wittenberg (WWP North) races the clock in the first heat of the boys 3200m at the Group 3 Championships on February 21, 2026. | tspimages for MileSplit
Wittenberg has a good shot of earning a wild card to the Meet of Champions, as do three more boys who ran very well and finished just outside the Top 3 in their events:
WWP North sophomore Agrim Jha had a great 1600m of 4:22.53 to take home the 4th-place medal in Group 3.
Princeton junior Yi-Tian Xiong took 4th in the Group 3 55mH in a time of 7.70.
Notre Dame senior Aldric Crawford finished 4th in the Non-Public A 400m, running 51.04.
With those strong results, Jha, Xiong, and Crawford are all currently first in line to get a wild card for the Meet of Champions, so they should make it barring a flood of unusually strong performances at the Group 1 and Group 4 Championships next week.
The 55m final in Group 3 featured an incredibly tight battle for the final auto-qualifying spot — 3rd place through 7th place all finished in a tiny span of 0.03 seconds. Right in that mix were Hightstown’s Terrance Williams, who earned the 5th place medal in 6.60, and Ewing’s Dasan Jones, who finished barely outside the medals in 7th with a 6.62. Both boys are on the bubble but have decent shots at getting a wild card entry to the Meet of Champions.
Princeton Day junior Avery Hall will be joining these other boys at the Meet of Champions after taking 2nd in the Non-Public B high jump with a clearance of 5-10.
Here are a few more notable results from the group championships:
Besides Curley and Wittenberg, two more CVC boys dropped big PRs in the 3200m. Princeton senior Saboor Qureshi ran 9:45.89 and used a big kick to narrowly nab 10th place in Group 3, and Hightstown senior Mason Johnson chopped over 15 seconds off his PR to break 10:00 for the first time with a 9:55.76 for 15th place.
Hightstown’s Amal Stewart made the Group 3 55mH final with a big PR of 7.77, which is #4 in Mercer County this winter. He went 8.05 in the final for 7th place.
In the Group 2 distance races, Allentown senior John O’Leary finished 13th place in the 1600m with a 4:36.58 and then doubled back in the 3200m to run 10:08 for 12th place. Both times were within 1 second of his PR.
Steinert’s Tyler Hurst took 11th in the Group 3 800m with a 2:02.13, also just about matching his indoor PR.
In the Group 3 55mH, Lawrence’s Alexander Nikolov finished 11th with a 7.95, one of his fastest times ever.
Robbinsville’s Will Strickland finished Top 10 in the Group 2 400m with a 52.43 for 1st in his heat and 8th overall.
In the Group 2 high jump, Allentown’s Justin Okorie matched his PR of 6-0 for 7th place.