Girls Sectionals: Lee crushes a super distance double, jumpers and throwers claim top medals

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.

Girls 55m. In North 2 Group 3, Princeton qualified two sprinters for groups with impressive performances from junior Maddie Hamlin and sophomore Simone Henriques. Hamlin comfortably qualified after running a 7.61 for 4th in the final, while Henriques squeaked in with some clutch leans: she was the last qualifier out of the prelims by 0.01, and then she earned the last medal by 0.02 with a 7.68 for 6th place.

In Central Group 3, Nottingham’s Arianna Crusoe Gaye continued her excellent recent form, blasting a PR of 7.35 for 4th place to finish as Mercer County’s top girl. Right behind her were Ewing teammates Angel Johnson (5th in 7.36) and Leah Daniels (6th in 7.39), who also qualified with strong races. Hightstown’s Aijah Somerselle finished just outside the medals in 7.48 for 7th place. Lawrence’s Samya Jenkins, running in her first meet since December, made a promising return to action by running 7.46 in the prelims and making the final, where she finished 8th.

Girls 55mH. Ewing’s Angel Johnson took her hurdling to a new level by blasting a NJ #12 8.35 to finish 2nd in the Central Group 3 championship. That trimmed .12 off her old PR from earlier this month. Hightstown’s Aijah Somerselle lopped even more off PR with a huge race in the final, running 8.74 for 3rd place. Ewing’s Karis Crossland broke the 9-second barrier with an 8.92 for 5th place, and her teammate Victoria Seaton gave the Blue Devils three qualifiers with her own big PR of 9.52 for 6th place. 

In Central Group 2, Hopewell Valley’s Veronica Goldsmith ran a big PR of 9.74 to finish 4th and qualify for groups. Her teammate Gwyneth Denham ran a season’s best of 9.95 for 7th place.

Girls 400m. Ewing’s Leah Daniels claimed the 6th and final medal with a 59.07, comfortably qualifying for groups by 1.5 seconds. Nottingham’s Ariana Crusoe Gaye ran 1:01.96 for 2nd in her heat and 8th overall. In Central Group 2, Hopewell Valley’s Elizabeth Eckel finished 2nd in her heat and 5th overall in 1:02.38 to qualify for her first groups meet. In Central Group 4, WWP South’s Logan Mills finished just outside the medals but won her heat and ran an all-conditions PR of 1:03.05 for 7th place.

Girls 800m. Princeton’s Lena Murray qualified for her third straight 800m groups championship by taking 3rd in North 2 Group 3 with a time of 2:24.85, just off her indoor PR. In Central Group 2, Hopewell Valley teammates Anna Wilson (4th in 2:25.52) and Elsie Rey-de-Castro (5th in 2:25.56) ran together the whole way and carried each other to medals. In Central Group 3, WWP North’s Sara Secora ran a clutch indoor PR of 2:26.56 to finish in 6th place and earn a trip to groups. 

Addison Frascella (Allentown) leads Elsie Rey-de-Castro (Hopewell Valley) in the SMR at the CVC Relays on January 4, 2026. At Central Group 2 sectionals, Frascella qualified for groups in the 1600m while Rey-de-Castro did the same in the 800m. | Photo by @jreinerimagery

Girls 1600m. WWP North’s Allison Lee opened a phenomenal distance double at Central Group 3 by crushing a 4:54.73 to win the 1600m. That cut 2 seconds off her indoor PR and moved her to NJ #7 this winter. Hightstown’s Siena Rivera also advanced out of Central Group 3 with a strong performance, taking 3rd in 5:20.74.

Princeton’s Kajol Karra ran a season’s best of 5:10.99 to take 2nd place in North 2 Group 3. Her teammate Grace Hegedus took 6th in 5:16.19, grabbing the last medal and comfortably qualifying for groups, 9 seconds ahead of 7th place. In Central Group 2, Hopewell Valley’s Anna Wilson also cruised into groups after running 5:22.05 for 4th place. Allentown freshman Addison Frascella was the next across the line in a PR of 5:38.12 to earn the 5th place medal. Her sophomore teammate Olivia Rodriguez delivered a gutsy effort and came just a half-second away from also qualifying for groups; she still came away with a new PR of 5:43.74 for 7th place. 

Girls 3200m. WWP North’s Allison Lee doubled back from an excellent 1600m to deliver an even more extraordinary 3200m, soloing an indoor PR of 10:36.33 for another sectional title. That superb time is #2 in New Jersey this winter. Lawrence’s Izzy Meth also cruised into groups by running a 11:32.72 for 4th place. In Central Group 2, Hopewell Valley senior Maddie LaChance made it to groups with a 6th-place finish in a season’s best of 12:23.80.

In North 2 Group 3, Princeton teammates Kajol Karra and Grace Hegedus both earned their second medals of the day, with Karra running an NJ #16 11:00.51 for 5th place and Hegedus following her in 11:11.07 for 6th place. Their teammate Phoenix Roth was the next across the line with a season’s best of 11:20.82 for 7th place. 

Girls 4x400m. Hightstown (Karli Kelly, Madison Kelly, Jenna Ntori, and Aijah Somerselle) qualified for groups in style, breaking their school record with a 4:13.53 for 4th place. That’s #2 in Mercer County and #1 in the CVC this winter. In North 2 Group 3, Princeton (Kacey Howes, Lena Murray, Grace Zeng, and Phoenix Roth) also advanced to groups with a 4:17.91 for 5th place.

Girls High Jump. WWP North’s Anamika Sertil continued her hot streak by clearing 5-2 to win the sectional championship. She led a group of five CVC girls who qualified for groups, which also included WWP North’s Aditi Revuri (3rd in 4-10), Ewing’s Angel Johnson (4th in 4-8), Hamilton West’s Ka’Miyah Linton-Ashe (5th in 4-4), and Ewing’s Athena Green (6th in 4-4).

In Central Group 2, Hopewell Valley’s Uchenna Obidike advanced to groups with a 4-10 clearance for 2nd place, and Allentown’s Caitlin MacInnes tied her PR of 4-8 to also qualify in 6th place.

Girls Pole Vault. WWP North’s Eva Fea cleared 8-6 for the first time ever, which earned her 4th place in Central Group 3. Hopewell Valley’s Avery Rick also cleared 8-6 in Central Group 2 to finish 4th there, and Robbinsville’s Meghann Hansen is heading to groups after clearing 8-0 for 5th place.

Hightstown’s Jaiden Bosley flings a new PR in the shot put to claim the Central Group 3 sectional title on February 12, 2026. | Photo by JB Freeze Frame (@jb_studios25)

Girls Shot Put. Hopewell Valley’s Uchenna Obidike defended her sectional title in the shot put, winning Central Group 2 by almost 3 feet with a throw of 36-0.

Mercer County’s girls dominated the Central Group 3 shot put, led by Hightstown’s Jaiden Bosley launching a 2-foot PR of 35-1 to win her first sectional championship. The Ewing duo of Zoey DeSouza (2nd in 33-6) and Jayla Little (3rd in 33-4) both launched PRs of their own to advance to groups. WWP North’s Abigail Powers continued her streak of PRing in almost every meet with a 32-3 for 5th place, and her teammate Eva Gedrich is heading to groups after throwing 30-6 for 6th place.