CVC Girls Championship: Princeton girls and WWP North’s Lee defend titles in impressive fashion
The 2025 CVC Championships at Thompson Park were loaded with outstanding performances and exciting finishes. Below are highlights from the individual and team competitions on the boys side. Click below for photos from the race, and find full results here.
Lee runs #3 time at Thompson Park, Karra win the battle for silver
At last year’s girls CVC Championship, pre-race favorite Allison Lee had company for two miles before making her move down the hill to pull away for the win. Lee left no such hint of suspense this year — she opened up a 15-second lead in the first mile and never looked back, cruising to the win in astounding time of 18:04.
18:04 is blazing on the Thompson Park course. While it doesn’t quite top Lee’s own incredible course record of 17:46 from sectionals last year, it’s still faster than all but one girl has ever run on the course. And in her record-setting race, Lee was pushed much farther by tough competition; here, she was solo from the gun, making her performance all the more impressive.
Behind Lee was a three-way battle between a trio of other girls ranked top-30 in the state: Princeton senior Kajol Karra, Princeton junior Grace Hegedus, and Hopewell Valley junior Sydney Young. After running side-by-side across the flat two miles of the course, the pack splintered once they hit the hills. Karra emerged from the woods with a decent lead over Hegedus, who herself had gained some separation from Young. Those gaps held all the way through the line, with Karra earning silver in 18:51, Hegedus taking the bronze in 18:56, and Young finishing 4th place in a big course PR of 19:07. Those are the 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-fastest times run by any girl at Thompson Park this year.
5th place belonged to Lawrence junior Izzy Meth the whole race. Despite being stuck in “no man’s land” almost the entire way — she finished 18 seconds behind 4th place and 22 seconds ahead of 6th place — she still produced an excellent solo effort of 19:25, just a few seconds off her course PR.
A pack of five more speedy girls rounded out the top 10. Notre Dame sophomore Alaina Sabo and Princeton Day freshman Kayla Peckens went out hard together, just as they did at divisionals last week. Several seconds behind them were two Princeton juniors, Eowyn Deess and Phoenix Roth, along with WWP North junior Juliette Halpin. That second trio caught the first duo with 1000m to go, and the five-way race was on.
It was Deess who pulled away from the group and took 6th place in 19:47, proving once again that she has a knack for delivering big results at Thompson Park. Sabo found another gear in the final 400m to earn the last medal in 7th place with a time of 19:52. Roth held off Peckens down the long homestretch to take 8th in 19:57. Peckens still dipped under 20:00 — in her first ever race at Thompson Park — with a 19:59 for 9th place. Halpin followed closely with a 30-second course PR of 20:04 for 10th place.
Hightstown sophomore Siena Rivera was never too far behind that group of girls and wound up 11th in 20:12, which was another big step forward in her comeback from injury. WWP South junior Risha Rao took 12th place after unleashed another monster kick — just like last week — to come from way back and finish only a few seconds behind Rivera in 20:16.
Princeton wins team title as WWP North edges Hopewell Valley for second place
Princeton showed why they’re one of the top teams in the state, overpowering two other highly ranked team to take a dominant victory with just 32 points. They put four runners in the top 10 and all seven runners in the top 20. In addition to Karra (2nd), Hegedus (3rd), Deess (6th), and Roth (8th), the Tigers rounded out their team with three very talented sophomores: Rosemary Warren (13th in 20:33), Sevanne Knoch (15th in 20:41), and Isabella Franceschi (20th in 21:01).
Warren’s strong return to the lineup was a welcome development for Princeton, who had been without her for a month as she nursed an injury. The Tigers’ full-strength squad is rounding into excellent form just in time for some big races at sectionals and groups.
(Check out articles in NJ.com and the Trentonian for interviews with Karra, Hegedus, and their coach Jim Smirk. Karra expressed her appreciation for the team’s depth allowing her and Hegedus to take risks up front, Hegedus shared how she is inspired by her teammates’ effort and teamwork, and Smirk talked about how the amazing partnership Karra and Hegedus has bled into similar partnerships between the rest of the girls.)
Behind Princeton was a great battle for 2nd place between WWP North and Hopewell Valley, who are ranked NJ #18 and NJ #20 by NJ.com. The Knights got out hard and built a 20-point lead over the first two miles, but a stronger last mile by the Bulldogs made it too close to call as everyone crossed the line. The finalized scores eventually showed that WWP North had held on just long enough to secure a 3-point victory, 75 to 78.
In addition to Allison Lee’s win and Halpin’s top-10 finish, WWP North got a great result from sophomore Isabella Lee, who stepped up as their #3 girl and placed 19th in 20:54. Freshman Anita Bhatia finished close behind in 21:02 for 21st place in her first full 5K at Thompson Park. Junior Sara Secora sealed the team’s 2nd-place finish by crossing in 21:21 for 24th place. Prakavi Kumaran took 28th in 21:40, and Evelyn Yang crossed right behind her in 21:46 for 29th, meaning the entire Knights lineup finished in the top 30. With this additional experience on the Thompson Park course, the WWP North girls look poised for a great race at sectionals.
Hopewell Valley almost nabbed the runner-up finish thanks to their solid depth and nice teamwork. The junior trio of Elsie Rey-de-Castro, Sophia Pellegrino, and Anna Wilson ran as a pack for two miles and pushed each other to great results. Rey-de-Castro finished 14th in 20:37, her fastest Thompson Park time in two years. Pellegrino finished 16th in a new course PR of 20:43. Wilson caught two WWP North girls in the final 200m and finished 18th in 20:54, just 2 seconds off her course PR. Rounding out the Bulldogs’ lineup was senior Madde LaChance (26th in 21:38), junior Laine Smith (20th in 21:59), and freshman Cecelia Carsky-Wilson (31st in 22:02).
Other Team Highlights
WWP South (4th with 139 pts). Led by Rao in 12th place, the Pirates edged Allentown for 4th place by just 5 points. Junior Yana Chheda also ran well and finished 23rd in 21:10, just a couple seconds off her course PR in what was only her second 5K of the season. Junior Shivani Joshi (32nd in 22:02) and freshman Cecilia Szostak (33rd in 22:08) paced each other to new Thompson Park PRs.
Allentown (5th with 144 pts). The Redbirds ran great races to almost take down WWP South for 4th place. Freshman Addison Frascella delivered an impressive performance of 17th place in 20:44 on just her first time racing the full 5K course at Thompson Park. Sophomore Isabella Maltese ran her best XC race ever to finish 22nd in 21:07, and junior Emma Ruchelman wasn’t far behind in 25th with a big course PR of 21:27.
Princeton Day (6th with 178 pts). The Panthers were led by the freshman Peckens in 9th place, but they also got solid races from the six other juniors on the squad. Syona Gautam (34th in 22:19) and Olivia Lumba (38th in 22:34) are rounding into form nicely, running faster here than they did in much flatter races from last month.
Notre Dame (7th with 190 pts). Behind Sabo’s first-team all-county performance, her fellow sophomore Leah Rouse took 27th in 21:40, which was 16 seconds faster than at the XC Fall Classic twelve days earlier. Junior Valerie Cordero-Beckert finished 35th in 22:25.
Hightstown (8th with 202 pts). In addition to Rivera’s 11th-place finish, the Rams got a 36th-place finish from senior Madalyne Ng in 22:27, one of her fastest times this season on any course. Junior Amara Stewart was their #3 girl in 23:27 for 47th place.
Robbinsville (9th with 235 pts). The Ravens’ young squad was led by sophomores Snigda Gonugunta (40th in 22:42) and Sahaili Patel (42nd in 23:00), who ran some of their fastest 5Ks of the season on this hilly course.
Lawrence (10th with 260 pts). The Cardinals fielded a complete team of five girls to secure a 10th place finish out of the 15 schools in the CVC. Behind Meth up front, senior Talya Weiss was their #2 runner in 59th place with a time of 24:51, which was 50 seconds faster than at the Thompson Park Class Meet last month.
Incomplete teams. Steinert junior Ashley Foster ran her best race of the season to take 44th in 23:07, a full minute faster than on this same course last month. Nottingham freshman Natalie Wiebesiek finished 62nd in 25:22, just one spot ahead of Hamilton West’s top runner, junior Lyla Solayman, who dipped under 26:00 with a 25:59 for 63rd place.