Valley Division Girls: Young holds off Meth for the win, Hopewell Valley takes team title
Sydney Young (Hopewell Valley) finishes ten seconds ahead of Izzy Meth (Lawrence) for the win in the Valley Division race at the CVC Divisional Championships 2025. | Track Mercer
The girls Valley Division race at the CVC Divisional Championship was highlighted by a great battle for the individual title between two of the county’s star juniors. Hopewell Valley’s Sydney Young came into this race as the top seed after winning the Cherokee Challenge and the TCNJ Invitational and then taking 2nd in the Shore Coaches varsity C race, where she crushed a 19:14 at Holmdel. Lawrence’s Izzy Meth was the #2 seed but also a bit of an unknown factor — she was certainly in good shape this fall, as evidenced by her 5th-place finish at the Thompson Park Class Meet in a very quick 19:30, but she also hadn’t raced since September.
These two separated themselves from the field as soon as the gun went off, and it wasn’t long before Young started to put a few strides between her and Meth. One mile into the race, Young had opened a 10 second lead and looked like she might run away with the win unchallenged. Over the next mile, however, Meth actually started to reel Young in, and by the two-mile mark Meth had trimmed the deficit nearly in half.
That was as close as Young let it get, though. Young dug back in over the last mile and slowly pulled away again, eventually taking the win in a very quick 18:28. Meth crossed the line just 10 seconds later in 18:38 for 2nd place.
Those were great results for both girls. Young showed resilience and toughness in securing her first divisional individual title while also leading her teammates to the divisional team title. Meth earned a huge new 5K PR and showed that she’s narrowed the gap between her and one of the state’s top-ranked runners. Both of them look poised for big things in November.
Team Highlights
Elsie Rey-de-Castro (Hopewell Valley) finishes in 3rd place in the Valley Division at the CVC Divisional Championships 2025. | Track Mercer
Hopewell Valley’s depth dominated the team competition, with five runners in the top 8 and seven in the top 12. Behind Young up front, Elsie Rey-de-Castro finished 3rd and broke 20:00 for the first time, crossing in 19:47. Anna Wilson finished right behind her in 19:52 for 4th place, and Sophia Pellegrino gave the Bulldogs three in a row with a PR of 20:07 for 5th place. Maddie LaChance, the lone senior on the varsity squad, rounded out the scoring with an 8th-place finish of 20:45. Factoring in Young’s fast time, the Bulldogs’ top five averaged a very impressive 19:48.
Hopewell Valley’s #6 and #7 girls both did some displacing with nice new 5K PRs. Laine Smith placed 10th in 21:32, and Cecelia Carsky-Wilson finished 12th in 21:42 in her first major 5K after stepping up from the freshman two-mile races.
Allentown put four girls in the top 11 to place 2nd behind Hopewell Valley. Freshman Addison Frascella closed hard to place 6th in 20:24, and junior Emma Ruchelman crossed right after her in 7th with a time of 20:41. Isabella Maltese also had a very strong last mile to go sub-21 for the first time and run 20:54 for 9th place. Freshman Vivian La Froscia placed 11th in 21:35, a PR that put her just a few seconds outside the top 10.
Robbinsville placed 3rd with a tight compression that saw all five scorers finish in the top 20. Sophomore Snigda Gonugunta led the way with a 21:57 for 13th. She was followed by a trio of other underclassmen in Kavya Senthilkumar (15th in 22:20), Sahaili Patel (16th in 22:37), and Sunaya Nayee (17th in 22:47). Senior Meghann Hansen rounded out their scorers with a 23:07 for 19th place.
Lawrence took 4th in the team standings. In addition to Meth’s big race up front, senior Tayla Weiss ran a PR of 23:29 for 22nd and another senior, Baeleigh Thomas, finished 29th in season’s best of 24:35.
Nottingham, Hamilton West, and Ewing didn’t run complete teams, but they each had individuals runners who displayed the inspiring dedication it takes to practice and race despite having fewer teammates and training partners. Nottingham freshman Natalie Wiebesiek led the Northstars with a strong 24th-place finish in 24:08. Hamilton West junior Lyla Solayman took 34th in 25:52, while her freshman teammate Carley Nazario finished close behind with a PR of 26:13 for 39th. The Narmah sisters represented Ewing well, with Daralis running 32:01 and Danielle setting a big PR of 37:10.
Full results available here.