Boys Sectionals: Hurdlers and distance runners lead qualifiers for groups
Sectional week is always one of the most exciting stretches of the winter track season. Athletes work all winter to be in peak shape for this one meet, with the hope of being in contention for a coveted top-six finish that will book them a ticket to the group championships.
This year’s CVC athletes were spread across four different sectional meets on four different days:
Princeton is the only CVC school not in the Central Jersey section; they are in North 2 for winter track, and they competed at the North 2 Group 3 sectional meet back on February 6.
Almost half of the CVC competed at the Central Group 3 championship on February 12. That included Ewing, Hamilton West, Hightstown, Lawrence, Nottingham, Steinert, and WWP North.
The two largest CVC schools, Trenton and WWP South, competed next at the Central Group 4 championships on February 13.
The smallest public schools in Mercer County — Allentown, Hopewell Valley, Robbinsville, and Thrive Charter — rounded out sectional week with the Central Group 1 & 2 championships on February 14.
Across all four meets, CVC athletes rose to the occasion. Here are the groups qualifiers and other top finishers at each of these sectional championships.
Boys 55m. After finishing 2nd at this meet last year, Hightstown’s Terrance Williams claimed his first sectional title with a superb performance this year. He came on strong in the last few strides to win by 0.06 with a 6.55.
Behind Williams, Ewing’s Dasan Jones also earned a trip to groups by placing 5th in 6.69. His teammate Kha-Neaf Mack Hornsby set a PR of 6.81 in the prelims to make the final, where he finished just barely outside the medals with a 6.83 for 7th place. Lawrence’s Jahlil Whitten also finished in the top 10 with a PR of 6.88 for 10th place.
Other notable sprint results included WWP South’s Aydun Hines taking 15th in Central Group 4 in 6.83, Allentown’s Justin Okorie making the final in Central Group 2 and finishing 8th in 6.84, and Princeton’s Kyle Carr getting 9th in North 2 Group 3 in 6.88 for 9th place.
Amal Stewart (Hightstown) clears the final hurdle en route to winning the 55mH championship at Central Group 3 sectionals on February 12, 2026. Alexander Nikolov (Lawrence) finishes right behind him for 2nd place. | Photo by JB Freeze Frame (@jb_studios25)
Boys 55mH. Princeton junior Yi-Tian Xiong dropped a big PR of 7.65 to claim the silver medal at North 2 Group 3. (A few days later, he popped a massive 7.59 at the Garden State Invitational — that’s #1 in Mercer County and #13 in New Jersey!)
CVC hurdlers were on fire at Central Group 3 sectionals. Hightstown’s Amal Stewart had an amazing day: he came in with a PR of 8.03 but then unleashed a 7.89 in the final to win the sectional title. Right behind him was Lawrence’s Alexander Nikolov, who similarly broke his PR with a 7.88 in the prelims before going 7.96 in the final for 2nd place. And the Ewing coaches had their hurdlers ready to race: Tyson Brown (4th in 8.19), Triston Bulluck (5th in 8.38), and Thomas Burkart (6th in 8.48) all ran big PRs to send a large Blue Devils contingent to groups.
In Central Group 2, Allentown’s Dylan Voehl ran a big PR of 8.40 to make it into the final, where he finished 8th in 8.45.
Boys 400m. In Central Group 4, WWP South’s Julius Kinsler booked his spot at groups with a 50.91 for 4th place. Robbinsville’s Will Strickland also advanced to groups from Central Group 2 with his 2nd-place finish in 52.66. In Central Group 3, Ewing’s Dasan Jones finished just outside the medals with a 52.21 for 7th place.
Boys 800m. Steinert’s Tyler Hurst advanced out of Central Group 3 with a strong 3rd-place showing in 2:01.61. Ewing’s Jayden Studivant is also heading to groups after digging deep in the homestretch to claim the 6th and final qualifying spot in a new PR of 2:05.90.
WWP North teammates Paul Wittenberg (left) and Rohan Varma (right) track the Colts Necks boys closely in the middle stages of a fast 1600m at the Central Group 3 sectionals on February 12, 2026. | Photo courtesy of @hsndistance
Boys 1600m. WWP North’s Agrim Jha delivered a spectacular performance at Central Group 3 and went wire-to-wire to hold off Colts Neck star Jay Adimala to claim his first sectional title. Jha’s time of 4:21.12 beat even his outdoor PR and puts him at #13 in New Jersey this winter (and #1 among non-seniors). His fellow sophomore Rohan Varma also hugely impressed by running a big PR of 4:27.65 and narrowly holding off Colts Neck’s Rowan O’Connor for 3rd place. WWP North’s Paul Wittenberg hung right with those other runners the whole way and broke 4:30 with a great PR of 4:28.51 for 5th place. Those are three of the four fastest times in the county this year.
Also in Central Group 3, Hightstown’s Mason Johnson won the battle for the final qualifying spot, chopping 6 seconds off his PR in 4:36.65 for 6th place. Steinert’s William Conway (7th in 4:41.06) and Lawrence’s Alden Smith (8th in 4:42.15) also dropped big PRs for top-10 finishes.
In Central Group 2, Allentown’s John O’Leary also advanced to groups after a close battle for the final qualifying spot. He wound up 5th in 4.37.55, just .2 ahead of 7th place. Hopewell Valley’s Julian Hiraldo just a few seconds back in 4:40.85 for 8th place. In North 2 Group 3, Princeton’s Saboor Qureshi ran a 3-second PR of 4:35.51 for 8th place.
Boys 3200m. In Central Group 3, WWP North’s Agrim Jha (2nd in 9:48.72) and Paul Wittenberg (3rd in 9:56.71) booked their tickets to groups with strong performances after doubling back from a very fast 1600m race. Hightstown’s Mason Johnson earned his second 6th-place medal of the day with a PR of 10:12.47.
In North 2 Group 3, Princeton’s Saboor Qureshi doubled back from the 1600m to place 5th in the 3200m with his second PR of the day, a 9:53.33. In Central Group 4, WWP South’s Aron Zola came just 4 seconds away from qualifying but still impressed by finishing 7th in 9:56.27 to join the sub-10:00 club.
In the Central Group 2 3200m, after a conservative first four laps, Hopewell Valley’s Finnegan Curley hit the gas and never looked back, running away with the sectional title in 9:41.53 for an 11-second victory. Behind him, two Allentown boys were involved in a dramatic four-way finish for the last three qualifying spots: senior John O’Leary made it through in 5th place in 10:11.97, while junior Sarth Shah was the unfortunate odd man out after getting jostled a bit in the final strides; he finished 7th in 10:12.10.
Boys 4x400m. Ewing (Tristan Thompson, Domonique Jones, Dasan Jones, and Kha-Neaf Mack Hornsby) booked a ticket to groups with a 3:35.96 for 4th place, while Nottingham (Josiah Keith, Dharry Victor, Praise Obisesan, and Michael Juliano) also advanced after running a season’s best of 3:37.44 for 5th place. Qualifying out of Central Group 2 was Robbinsville (Liam Stratton, Ved Saparia, Nish Seshadri, and Will Strickland), who finished 4th in 3:40.98.
Boys High Jump. Hamilton West’s Daveron Jallah won the Central Group 3 sectional title with a PR-tying clearance of 5-8. He edged Ewing’s Tyson Brown on a tiebreaker, as Brown also finished at 5-8 for 2nd place. In Central Group 2, Allentown’s Dylan Voehl cleared 6-0 to take 2nd place, and his teammate Justin Okorie will join him at groups after going 5-8 for 4th place.
Boys Pole Vault. In Central Group 2, Hopewell Valley’s Will Flannery set a new indoor PR of 10-6 to finish 4th and book his ticket to groups. Robbinsville’s Thomas Weis also qualified for groups with a clearance of 10-0.
Boys Shot Put. Hightstown’s Christian Houvig qualified for groups and added a quarter-inch to his PR with a 3rd-place finish in 49-5.75. His teammate Justin Edwards threw 44-11 to finish just outside the medals in 7th place. In North 2 Group 3, Princeton’s Eddie Del Cid went 42-11.5 for 9th place.