Eastern States headlined by fast 400s, 1600s, hurdles, and triple jumps
Winter track is winding down, but plenty of Mercer County athletes are saving their best for last. Here are some highlights from the Eastern States Championships and a few other year-end meets.
Eastern States Championships
On Tuesday night, several schools brought top athletes to the Armory in New York for the Eastern States Championships. Eastern States is anything but a lowkey weeknight meet — it’s a prestigious and exciting meet that many athletes circle on their calendars and aim to qualify for.
Girls Highlights
Tessa Hughes (Peddie) charges off the final hurdle in the girls 55mH at the Eastern States Championships on March 3, 2026. | tspimages for MileSplit
A season of persistence paid off on Tuesday night for star hurdler Tessa Hughes (Peddie, Sr.). After running many impressive times this winter that didn’t quite match her best marks from last winter, Hughes wasted no time reaching new heights at this meet. She opened with an 8.38 in the prelims, then officially broke her PR with a 8.33 in the semis, and then dug deep to achieve another level with an 8.26 for 4th place at Eastern States. That superb mark is #11 in New Jersey, #1 in Mercer County this winter, and #9 all-time in the county.
Other sprinters hitting their stride right now are Hightstown’s 400m girls. The quartet of Madison Kelly, Aijah Somerselle, Jenna Ntori, and Karli Kelly earned the silver medal in the 4x400m with a CVC-leading time of 4:08.81. That mark also shattered a 49-year-old school record! The Rams dominated their heat and came just a half-second away from stealing gold out of the lower-seeded section. They were led by a blazing 57.76 split from the senior Somerselle.
Aijah Somerselle (Hightstown) gets the baton from Madison Kelly in the 4×400m at the Eastern State Championships on March 3, 2026. | tspimages for MileSplit
Another Ram who came home with hardware was Chloe Lewis (Hightstown, So.), who took 6th in the triple jump with a massive jump of 36-0. That 2-foot PR solidified her spot as #1 in Mercer County this winter, elevated her to #15 in New Jersey, and earned her a ticket to the Meet of Champions this weekend. Also, according to MileSplit, it made her just the 5th CVC girl to ever hit the 36’ mark indoors.
WWP North’s DMR team of Sara Secora, Nina Dixit, Evelyn Yang, and Allison Lee also claimed silver medals by breaking their school record with a 12:13.65 to take 2nd place in a very competitive race. That time is NJ #5 this winter. Major credit goes to their senior leader Lee, who chased down the other anchors — including several 5-minute milers — with a phenomenal 1600m split of 4:47.51.
In other sprints, Foluke Oladeji (Peddie, So.) took 13th in the 55m with a PR-tying time of 7.38 (#6 in Mercer County), and Samya Jenkins (Lawrence, Jr.) continued trending upward in her return to action by taking 19th in the 200m with a indoor 200m PR of 25.93 (#3 in Mercer County).
A trio of local girls delivered strong results in the mile. Anna Wilson (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) led the way by taking 2nd in her heat and 9th overall with a PR of 5:19.25. Kayla Peckens (Princeton Day, Fr.) similarly trimmed a second off her PR with a 5:20.91 for 12th, and Izzy Meth (Lawrence, Jr.) followed closely in 15th place with a time of 5:21.91.
In the high jump, Tessa Hughes (Peddie, Sr.) added to her hurdle performance with an 8th-place finish, clearing 5-2. Joining her over that height was Anamika Sertil (WWP North, So.), who took 9th after tying her PR.
In the shot put, Uchenna Obidike (Hopewell Valley, Sr.) placed 12th with a throw of 36-3, and Jaiden Bosley (Hightstown, Sr.) took 22nd with a mark of 34-5.5.
Boys Highlights
Julius Kinsler (WWP South) slides into second place at the halfway mark in the 400m at the Eastern States Championships. | tspimages for MileSplit
Topping the list of impressive performances on the boys’ side was Julius Kinsler (WWP South, Sr.), who earned the silver medal in the 400m with a blazing PR of 48.75. That’s by far the fastest open 400m time in the county this winter, and it’s #5 in the entire state! It’s the fifth-fastest indoor 400m time in Mercer County in the last 20 years, at least. The senior will have a couple more shots at climbing that list, including at the Meet of Champions and then Nationals.
Also coming home with silver medals was the WWP North DMR team (Paul Wittenberg, Karson Kwok, Krrish Sheth, Agrim Jha). The Knights’ time of 10:31.06 chopped 10 seconds off their county-leading season’s best. Their sophomore anchor Jha uncorked an incredible 1600m split of 4:17.28 — which, for reference, would be NJ #5 if it were an open 1600m. That included a blistering bell lap of 30.9 to catch and edge Morris Hills for 2nd place by a mere 0.2 seconds.
Agrim Jha (WWP North) flies down the homestretch to anchor the Knights to 2nd place in the DMR at the Eastern States Championships on March 3, 2026. | tspimages for MileSplit
Dru Chin (Hightstown, Jr.) leapt to the top of the Mercer County leaderboard with a massive triple jump PR of 42-3.5 to place 14th at Eastern States. After coming within 2 inches of the 40’ mark twice in recent weeks, Chin blew past that barrier on his third and final jump here.
In the 55m, Terrance Williams (Hightstown, Sr.) led all local sprinters, making it to the semis and running a 6.63 for 11th place. Jaquann Coleman (Lawrence, Jr.) also impressed in 36th place overall in a time of 6.75, his second-fastest time ever. Right behind Coleman was Ardanley Then (Peddie, Jr.), who trimmed 0.03 off his PR to take 39th in 6.76, which is #12 in the county.
In the hurdles, Amal Stewart (Hightstown, Sr.) and Alexander Nikolov (Lawrence, Jr.) continued their impressive form from recent weeks. Both boys ran their second-fastest times ever to advance to the semis, with Stewart going 7.79 in the prelims and Nikolov just about matching him with a 7.80. They placed 23rd and 24th overall in the semis.
Other Notable Results
The Princeton Last Chance Invitational lived up to its name for Notre Dame senior Aldric Crawford. On February 25 at Jadwin Gym, Crawford won the long jump with a mark 22-4. That 9-inch PR that not only elevated Crawford to #1 in Mercer County but also pushed him high enough up the statewide performance list to earn a spot in the long jump showcase event at the Meet of Champions.
The Ewing distance boys continued their historic year by shattering the school record in the indoor 4x800m. On February 26 at the Bubble, the quartet of Shazad Singh, Ibrahim Songu, Jayden Studivant, and Landyn Loesch ran 8:34.08 to win the exciting race by less than a second. That time is #3 in Mercer County this winter.