CVC Championships Boys Recap: Quick sprints as Notre Dame storms to the team title

Notre Dame flexed its depth to claim the team title at the CVC Championships on May 9, 2026. They finished on 103 points, 40 points clear of runner-up WWP North (63). As in the past couple of years, the Irish overwhelmed the CVC with their stellar squad of sprinters and jumpers. Aldric Crawford led the way by winning the 400mH and adding top-3 finishes in the 100m, 400m, and long jump.

The Knights earned 2nd place by racking up big points in the distance events, sweeping the 800m, 1600m, 3200, and 4×800m. That put them out ahead of a mad dash for 3rd place in the team competition: Ewing (3rd in 58.5), WWP South and Princeton (tied for 4th at 56), and Hightstown (6th in 53) were separated by just 5.5 points in a battle that came down to the final events of the day.

Sprints

From left to right, Kha-Neaf Mack Hornsby (Ewing), Julius Kinsler (WWP South), Dasan Jones (Ewing), and Aydun Hines (WWP South) fly down the homestretch in the 200m at the Mercer Coaches Classic on May 2, 2026. | Track Mercer

The cool and rainy weather didn’t stop the sprinters from dropping incredibly hot times on Saturday.

In a fast 100m final, Dasan Jones (Ewing, Sr.) was the class of the field and took the title in a PR of 10.74 — the NJ #7 time this season. Behind him, Terrance Williams (Hightstown, Sr.) edged Aldric Crawford (Notre Dame, Sr.) for the silver medal, 10.89 to 10.91, and both boys broke 11.0 for the first time. Aydun Hines (WWP South, Sr.) also cracked that barrier with a PR of 10.96 for 4th place.

Julius Kinsler (WWP South, Sr.) continued proving why he’s one of the best long sprinters in the state by winning the 400m in NJ #5 48.21. That chopped a half-second off his open 400m PR from last week. He had to run that fast to hold off strong challenges from Crawford, who doubled back from the 100m to run another PR of 49.04 for 2nd, and Nathan Bennett (Princeton Day, Jr.), who also chopped over .8 off his recent PR with a 49.10 for 3rd.

The 200m was a highly anticipated showdown between the 100m champ Jones and the 400m champ Kinsler, and those boys rose to the occasion. In the end, Kinsler outsprinted Jones down the homestretch for the win, 21.64 to 21.83. Those are the #7 and #12 times in the state this spring. And those top boys each had a teammate following close behind: Kha-Neaf Mack Hornsby (Ewing, Sr.) outleaned Hines for 3rd place, 22.01 to 22.03, as both cracked the top 25 in the state.

Fittingly, the Pirates and the Blue Devils split the two sprint relays. In the 4×100m, WWP South (Aydun Hines, Caleb Esi, Julius Kinsler, and Eihiko Okamoto) ran a season’s best of 43.49 to stay ahead of Lawrence, who took 2nd in 43.75. In the 4×400m, Ewing (Kha-Neaf Mack Hornsby, Tristan Thompson, Domonique Jones, and Dasan Jones) held off Nottingham for the win, 3:27.46 to 3:28.76.

Distance

Agrim Jha (WWP North) leads the 800m at the Mercer Coaches Classic on May 2, 2026. | Track Mercer

The distance events belonged to the host Knights on Saturday, though their competitors also delivered some standout performances.

WWP North (Krrish Sheth, Aadi Gawas-Sarma, Sushanth Karri, and Rohan Varma) started off on the right foot by running away with the 4×800m title. They won by over 12 seconds in a season’s best of 8:13.02.

Top-seeded Agrim Jha (WWP North, So.) opened his day by defending his 1600m title, winning in 4:24.23 after unleashing a 60.6 final lap. Tyler Hurst (Steinert, Sr.) outdueled Paul Wittenberg (WWP North, Jr.) on the final lap for 2nd place, 4:26.83 to 4:27.36. Wittenberg led the race through 1200m and was rewarded with a PR for his frontrunning efforts. Finnegan Curley (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) broke 4:30 for the first time with a 4:29.67 for 4th.

In the 800m, Jha won his second title of the day by running 1:58.23 to hold off a strong challenge from Amir Mulkey (Notre Dame, Jr.) in 1:58.72, as both boys set new PRs. Rohan Varma (WWP North, So.) took 3rd after negative-splitting a PR of 2:00.48 in his second 800m of the day. Landyn Loesch (Ewing, Jr.) won a close battle for 4th place with a PR of 2:01.12.

Wittenberg doubled back from his 1600m to win the 3200m convincingly in 9:39.06 — he went out hard and never let anyone come within two seconds of him. Saboor Qureshi (Princeton, Sr.) and Aron Zola (WWP South, So.) staged a great duel for 2nd over the final 1200m, with Qureshi eventually edging Zola by just a tenth, 9:42.71 to 9:42.86. Alden Smith (Lawrence, Sr.) moved up for 4th place in a PR of 9:47.04.

Hurdles

Yi-Tian Xiong (Princeton) competes in the 110mH at the Mercer Coaches Classic on May 2, 2026. | Track Mercer

Yi-Tian Xiong (Princeton, Jr.) lowered his county-leading 110mH mark to 14.35, upgrading from 2nd place at last year’s CVCs to claim the title this year. That time moves him to NJ #13. Zamir Jones (Notre Dame, Sr.) took 2nd in a PR of 14.57 and Bryce Marsh (Notre Dame, Sr.) placed 3rd in 14.78 to give the Irish valuable points.

Aldric Crawford (Notre Dame, Sr.) defended his 400mH title with a victory in 57.27. His teammate Matt Ryba (Notre Dame, Jr.) followed closely in 58.47 for 2nd, and Amal Stewart (Hightstown, Sr.) rounded out the top 3 in 59.77.

Jumps

Hamilton West’s Jamel Cheeseborough-Williams charges down the long jump runway at the Mercer Coaches Classic on May 2, 2026. | Track Mercer

Jamel Cheeseborough-Williams (Hamilton West, Sr.) produced the standout moment of the field events in the long jump. After hitting 22 feet on his 2nd and 3rd jumps, he unleashed a massive 23-9 on his 5th attempt — a two-foot PR that vaults him to NJ #4, just half an inch off NJ #2. Aldric Crawford (Notre Dame, Sr.) placed 2nd in a PR of 22-3.5 to add more points to his total on the track, and Sullivan Spagnoli (Princeton, Jr.) also PR’d at 21-9.5 for 3rd place.

Stephen Kusi (Nottingham, Sr.) won the triple jump in 44-3.5, a PR by almost two feet and his first victory at a major invitational. Damario Marshall (Hamilton West, Sr.) placed 2nd in 43-2, and Amari Baker (Hightstown, So.) pulled off a 4-foot PR of 42-7 to grab 3rd place.

The high jumpers were on their game — seven boys in the CVC cleared 6-0 on Saturday, compared to four boys in the entire county who cleared 6-0 all last spring. Kendrick Mullen (Notre Dame, So.) and Dylan Voehl (Allentown, Sr.) went jump-for-jump and both kept clean sheets all the way through 6-2, but Mullen broke the deadlock with a second-attempt clearance of 6-4. That new PR won him the title and moved him to NJ #18. Voehl took 2nd place on the tiebreaker over Khalil Hardwick (Hamilton West, Jr.), who cleared 6-2 on his third attempt to seal 3rd place.

Thomas Weis (Robbinsville, So.) won the pole vault in a PR of 11-3, adding to his CVC title in this event from winter track. Behind him, Hamilton West teammates Gabriel Pierre (Jr.) and Jonah Dixon (So.) both cleared PRs of 10-6, with Pierre taking 2nd over Dixon on the tiebreaker.

Throws

Christian Houvig (Hightstown) readies his throw in the Mercer Coaches Classic shot put on May 2, 2026. | Track Mercer

Christian Houvig (Hightstown, Sr.) won the shot put with a throw of 47-2.5, sweeping the indoor and outdoor CVC shot put titles this school year. Behind him, Brandon Williams (Ewing, Sr.) rose for 2nd with a PR of 44-4.5, and Dominic Cuniglio (Notre Dame, Sr.) scored more points for the Irish with a 3rd-place throw of 42-8.25.

The discus featured surprise winner Zachary Nelson (Princeton, Jr.), who launched a 20-foot PR of 120-8 on his final throw to take the lead by just a foot. Aidan Edwards (WWP South, Sr.) finished in 2nd with his own PR of 119-1, and John Sequinot (Nottingham, Jr.) earned 3rd in 116-7.

Dylan Voehl (Allentown, Sr.) won the javelin with another big throw of 153-2, extending his county lead this spring. Sean Chen (WWP North, Jr.) placed 2nd with a PR of 137-4, and Caleb Mildenberg (Princeton, So.) earned his first CVC medal with a 133-0 for 3rd place.