Colonial Division Girls: WWP North wins behind Lee’s course record
Lee’s course record highlights a fast race up front
WWP North’s Allison Lee finishes in a new course record of 17:07 at the Colonial Division race at the CVC Divisional Championships 2025. | Track Mercer
The last race of the day was a fast one, as ten girls from six different schools went sub-20:00 in the Colonial Division race at the CVC Divisional Championships on Thursday.
WWP North’s Allison Lee led the charge by scorching a 17:07 to win by almost two minutes. With that incredible solo effort, Lee chopped over 20 seconds off her PR and lowered the course record which she had set herself at this meet last year.
This is the second straight year that Lee has unleashed a spectacular performance at the CVC Divisional Championships. While some top runners prefer to sit out this meet or at least ease back for it at the beginning of a long postseason, Lee likes to let it rip at Robbinsville. “I really like this course,” Lee shared after the race. “It’s flat and something I can use to give a good confidence boost.”
She’ll certainly take confidence from this result, since 17:07 is absolutely blazing — according to MileSplit, it’s the 11th-fastest 5K time ever run by a New Jersey girl. And she did that at the end of a heavy training week, which bodes very well for the star senior.
Princeton Day’s Kayla Peckens leads Notre Dame’s Alaina Sabo in the second mile of the Colonial Division race at the CVC Divisional Championships 2025. | Track Mercer
Behind Lee, a great duel for 2nd place unfolded between Princeton Day freshman Kayla Peckens and Notre Dame sophomore Alaina Sabo. After hitting the first mile marker together in 6:15, Peckens threw in a surge and built up a sizable lead on Sabo over the next mile. But Sabo stayed patient before making her big move in the last mile, eventually catching Peckens and powering away to take 2nd place in 19:06, a nice season’s best for her. Peckens felt the effects from the earlier hot pace but still held on for 3rd place, and she was rewarded for her gutsy run with a big PR of 19:20. That’s the 6th-fastest 5K time by a freshman girl in New Jersey this year.
WWP South’s Risha Rao closes out a big race for 4th place in the Colonial Division at the CVC Divisional Championships 2025. | Track Mercer
The biggest surprise among the top finishers was probably the performance by WWP South’s Risha Rao. The junior came into this race with a PR of 20:03 and a most recent result of 21:14 at Shore Coaches, and even halfway through this race she was just sitting towards the front of a seven-girl pack that was running roughly 20:00 pace. But then Rao absolutely turned on the jets, flying through the last 1.1 miles at 5:49 pace and crossing the line in a massive new PR of 19:24 for 4th place. She’ll look to keep that momentum going over the next few weeks.
WWP North takes home the divisional title
WWP North’s Sara Secora, Juliette Halpin, Isabella Lee, and Anita Bhatia (from left to right) run together in the second mile of the Colonial Division race at the CVC Divisional Championships. | Track Mercer
The WWP North girls completed the Colonial Division sweep for the Knights, taking the team title with 35 points. Behind Lee up front, the Knights got excellent scoring support from their underclassmen. Sophomore Juliette Halpin had a great race and closed well over the final mile to take 5th place in 19:39, which was a PR by over 45 seconds. Freshman Anita Bhatia ran with Halpin almost the whole way and grabbed 7th place in 19:47, breaking 20:00 in just her second major 5K race. Sophomore Isabella Lee also broke into the top 10 and dipped under 20:00 for the first time with a 19:59 for 10th place. Junior Sara Secora finished as their #5 girl in 11th with a time of 20:11 to seal the team title. The Knights also got good insurance from junior Evelyn Yang, who finished right after Secora in 20:22 for 12th.
Lee, the team’s senior leader, was even happier about her teammates’ big performances than about her own result. “I’m super grateful to have the team that I do,” Lee shared after the race. “To be able to uplift the girls and try to inspire them in any way that I can is basically my goal this season.”
To achieve that goal, Lee’s been leading the girls in pre-meet team bonding activities like making pink bows to wear at Shore Coaches and doing goal circles before every race. But Lee’s leadership isn’t limited to group activities or even just to helping her teammates run faster. For example, as the Knights were lining up for their post-race celebratory team photo on Thursday, Lee noticed it was missing someone, immediately jumped out of the picture, and then knelt and talked with a friend in need. She’s helping her team become a tight-knit family, and success on the cross country course is just one of many benefits to come out of that.
Highlights from the rest of the field
Princeton’s Emma Dweck comes down the homestretch in the Colonial Division race at the CVC Divisional Championships 2025. | Track Mercer
Princeton rested most of their varsity runners for this race, but even their next group of girls can compete with the best in Mercer County. Junior Emma Dweck tucked into the first big chase pack and rode it to a huge PR of 19:54 for 8th place. Sophomore Isabella Franceschi took a different tactic but arrived at almost the same result, going out more conservatively and then using a big kick over the last mile to overtake several girls and finish 9th place in a similarly big PR of 19:58. Shortly after her came a string of four straight Princeton finishers that included Lilly Ludewig (14th in 20:34), Avery Ellen Bahr (15th in 20:42), Lemnezia Meggers (16th in 20:46), and Orli Griffiths (17th in 20:46).
WWP South took 3rd place, 18 points behind Princeton. In addition to Rao’s big race up front, junior Yana Chheda made a nice return to the lineup with a 20:27 for 13th place in just her first 5K of the year. Behind her, Cecilia Szostak (18th in 20:51) and Shivani Joshi (20th in 20:56) both had nice races to get top 20 and break 21:00 for the first time.
Princeton Day finished 4th in the team standings, just 9 points ahead of Notre Dame. Junior Olivia Lumba led the Panthers with a 24th-place finish in a new PR of 21:09. Her classmate Syona Gautam followed in 29th place with a season’s best of 21:44.
Notre Dame put three girls in the top 25 en route to a 5th place finish. In addition to Sabo’s 2nd-place finish, junior Valerie Cordero-Becket (23rd in 21:05) and sophomore Leah Rouse (25th in 21:29) both had great races and came away with new PRs.
Hightstown was led by an impressive and inspiring performance from Siena Rivera, a talented sophomore who dealt with some setbacks that delayed her season debut until just last weekend. On Thursday, she shook off whatever rust there was and continued her nice comeback with a big 6th-place finish in 19:45. Finishing after her was senior Madalyne Ng in 33rd with a season’s best of 21:52, followed by PR performances from senior Hayley Watkins (40th in 22:32) and junior Amara Stewart (42nd in 22:40).
Steinert didn’t field a full team, but the Spartans were led by junior Ashley Foster, who dipped under 23:00 for the first time this season with a 22:59 for 46th place.
Trenton was led by junior Amoni Singletary with a PR of 24:11 for 56th place. Her fellow junior Camila Ronquillo Rivera also deserves credit for running 32:00 to absolutely crush her PR by nearly 6 minutes.
Full results available here.