Group Championships Recap
The 2025 group championships are in the books! Mercer County sent over 80 individuals and relay teams who qualified from sectionals — plus everyone from the local non-public schools — to take on the rest of the state, and they represented the county well!
The biggest prizes at stake in each event were qualifying spots at Wednesday’s Meet of Champions. The top two finishers in each of the six groups automatically qualify, and then the next best 18 marks across all groups combined qualify as wild cards. Several local athletes earned those automatic spots, and several more had marks that firmly earned them a wild card invitation.
Read on to see how things went, and congratulations to everyone who made it this far in their seasons!
Boys Results
Boys Friday Recap
Boys 4x100m. Allentown came into this meet as the Group 2 favorite, and they delivered in dominant fashion to win the group championship! Their first two legs, Cedric Mbachu and Matthew Woode, made up the stagger on almost everyone by the 200m mark, Scott Jordan handed off with only Haddon Heights within a challenging distance, and then Gavin Alvarez dropped a blisting anchor leg to win by over a half-second in 42.33. That’s a new school record! The Redbirds won’t be entirely satisfied given that they were just 0.03 off the New Balance Nationals cutoff, but they’ve booked themselves another shot and a trip to MoCs.
Robbinsville also scored a medal in the Group 2 4x100m with a 5th place finish in 43.39. That was a season’s best for the quartet of Noah Blackman, Will Strickland, Mason Jordan, and Mitchell Shapiro. In the Non-Public A race, Notre Dame just missed a medal but ran a very fast time of 43.30, which was a big season’s best and makes them #2 in Mercer County this spring. Hamilton West (Jamel Cheeseborough-Williams, Brandon Boswell, Brian Boswell, and Marcus Fortune) ran 43.61 for 18th place in Group 3, and WWP South (Aydun Hines, Eihiko Okamoto, Julius Kinsler, and Josiah Cureton) finished 19th in Group 4 in 44.30.
Boys 800m. In a very tactical Group 3 race, WWP North’s Subomi Allison ran a huge negative split of 60.9-56.4 to finish 8th in 1:57.36. Just milliseconds behind – but in the other heat – was Steinert’s Tyler Hurst, who ran much more even splits to finish 9th overall in 1:57.38. Mohamed Toure from Nottingham finished 14th in 1:58.49.
In Non-Public A, Notre Dame senior Max Whittle ran a phenomenal second lap to chop 3 seconds off his PR and break 2:00 for the first time with a 1:59.62, which got him 17th place overall.
Boys 100m. In Group 2, three Allentown boys doubled back from winning the 4x100m to race the open 100m. Gavin Alvarez led the way with a 4th-place medal, running 11.04 in the prelims and then 11.17 in the finals. Matthew Woode (11.19) and Cedric Mbachu (11.29) placed 12th and 17th.
Boys 400mH. Notre Dame’s Aldric Crawford is headed to MoCs after the junior took 2nd place in the Non-Public A championship with a 55.17. His senior teammate Christopher Young, who ran in the unseeded heat because this was his first 400mH of the year, soloed a PR of 58.39 for 11th overall. That was just ahead of another Irish runner, sophomore Matt Ryba, who took 13th in 58.73.
In Group 3, Ewing’s Tyson Brown broke 60 for the fourth straight meet with a 59.82 for 16th place. He was the top sophomore in Group 3.
Boys 3200m. In Group 3, WWP North’s Agrim Jha ran almost dead-even splits for 8 laps en route to a 9th-place finish in 9:28.02. He finished as the top freshman across all groups. His sophomore teammate Paul Wittenberg went out hard with the pack for the first 1600m and held on for a new PR of 9:48.16, good for 13th place. Hopewell Valley’s Finnegan Curley went sub-10 for the second time this season with a 9:55.71 for 15th place.
In Group 4, Hightstown senior Burke Thompson bravely stuck with the leaders for five laps and was rewarded with his first ever sub-9:30, a 9:29.78 for 10th place.
Boys Shot Put. Princeton’s Sean Wilton won his third group championship with a big last throw of 60-7.5! The senior is timing his peak perfectly – he came in with an outdoor PR of 59-2 but beat that with almost all six of his throws here, which didn’t include a single foul.
In Group 3, Nottingham’s Ernest Gaykai also had a great day, throwing a five-inch PR of 52-0 for 7th place. The senior just missed out on a medal but did enough to secure one of the last spots in the Meet of Champions. In the Non-Public A competition, Notre Dame’s Cameron Bailey threw a PR of 47-10 for 8th place.
Boys Javelin. In Group 2, Allentown senior Mason Marcantonio took 11th place with a throw of 152-6, and his junior teammate Evan Miller was just a foot behind in 151-6 for 14th place. In Group 3, Hopewell Valley’s Dan Pszczolkowski threw 149-9 for 13th place. In the Non-Public B competition, Princeton Day sophomore Onyx Oschwald medaled with a PR of 122-3 for 6th place, beating out 7th by just a single inch.
Boys Long Jump. Thrive Charter’s Teriyon Page jumped a PR of 20-6.5 to place 7th in Group 1. That’s #5 in Mercer County this spring. His teammate Johnny Hammock Jr. went 19-6 for 12th place. Princeton’s Ishaq Inayat took 14th in Group 4 with a jump of 20-0.5, and Notre Dame’s Zamir Jones PR’d with a 19-9.25 for 12th place in Non-Public A.
Boys High Jump. In Non-Public A, Notre Dame’s Bryce Marsh took home a medal and a new PR after clearing 6-2 to tie for 6th place. His freshman team Kendrick Mullen matched his own PR of 6-0 to finish just behind Marsh in 8th place. In Group 3, Ewing sophomore Tyson Brown also equaled his PR of 5-10 to get 10th place.
Boys Saturday Recap
Boys 400m. WWP South’s Julius Kinsler got 8th place in Group 4 and earned one of the MoC wildcards with time of 49.81, his fifth straight sub-50 performance. Robbinsville’s Will Strickland, who had gotten within 0.3 of a sub-50 three times in the past month, finally broke through with a clutch PR of 49.97 to win his heat and take 5th place overall in Group 2. Ewing’s Dasan Jones ran 51.06 for 11th place in Group 3, and Wilberforce senior Philip Schidlovsky ran a PR of 52.23 to grab a 5th-place medal in Non-Public B.
Boys 110mH. Notre Dame’s Christopher Young earned an automatic qualifier to MoCs after running a nice time of 14.43 – into a very stiff headwind of -3.0 – for 2nd place in Non-Public A. His teammate Zamir Jones ran 15.19 for 8th place in that same windy final, and a third Irish hurdler Bryce Marsh took 11th in the prelims with a 15.46.
In Group 4, Princeton sophomore Yi-Tian Xiong got 11th place in 15.01. In Group 3, Ewing’s Calvin Kallie ran 15.51 for 13th place, just barely ahead of Lawrence sophomore Alexander Nikolov in 15th with a 15.55.
Boys 4x800m. WWP North (Luke Ferrer, Jordan Andrade, Agrim Jha, and Subomi Allison) took 7th place in Group 3 with a time of 8:07.53, which is #1 in Mercer County this spring and was fast enough to get a spot on the line at MoCs. They got a boost from Allison’s 1:56.15 anchor leg, which was the second-fastest split in the whole race. Steinert (Maximilian Kostin, Tyler Hurst, Nathanial Bigger, and Nihar Kolachalama) crossed just a little further back in a season’s best of 8:19.63 for 12th place, and Ewing (Jayden Studivant, Ibrahim Songu, Shazad Singh, and Landyn Loesch) finished 21st in Group 3 with a 8:35.61. Hightstown (Mateo Abad-Delado, Matt DeAngelo, Mason Johnson, and Adisa Stewart) ran 8:32.85 for 20th place in Group 4, and Allentown (Aiden Schwartz, John O’Leary, Luke Alessi, and Amrit Moehringer) ran 8:34.08 for 16th place in Group 2. In Non-Public A, Notre Dame (Amir Mulkey, Max Whittle, Simeon Salins, and Nathan Stankus) ran a season’s best of 8:23.28 for 7th place.
Boys 200m. Allentown’s Gavin Alvarez blasted a 22.15 out of lane 8 to win the second-fastest heat, and although the top-seeded heat got more favorable wind, his time still held up for 2nd place overall. His classmate Scott Jordan finished 19th in 23.37. In Group 3, Ewing’s Dasan Jones took 18th place in a 22.73. In Non-Public A, Notre Dame’s Jayden Davis got 11th place in 22.88, and in Group 4, WWP South’s Julius Kinsler ran an almost identical time of 22.89 for 13th place.
Boys 1600m. In Group 4, Hightstown’s Burke Thompson took 7th place in 4:24.32, a few seconds ahead of WWP South’s Shravan Pradeep in 4:27.53 for 12th place. Notre Dame’s Max Whittle (4:30.68) took 13th place in Non-Public A, while Steinert’s Tyler Hurst (4:37.48) and Hopewell Valley’s Silas Allevik (4:40.84) finished 16th and 17th in Group 3.
Boys 4x400m. Notre Dame (Amir Mulkey, Aldric Crawford, Christopher Young, and Jayden Davis) ran a big season’s best of 3:26.61 to win their heat by over 2 seconds and place 6th overall in Non-Public A. In Group 3, Nottingham (Mohamed Toure, Liam Cox, Mathias Doliet, and Nkemakolam Uduma) went sub-3:30 again with a 3:27.35 for 11th place, and WWP North (Sid Hamsala, Luke Ferrer, Subomi Allison, and Madhav Hadagali) cut a second off their season’s best in 3:30.63 to get 17th place.
Boys Discus. After winning the shot put on Friday, Princeton senior Sean Wilton came back on Saturday to launch a 10-foot PR of 166-9 in the discus, which got him 5th place in Group 4 and qualified him in his second event at MoCs. Notre Dame’s Cameron Bailey threw 133-0 for 13th in Non-Public A, and Hamilton West’s JaQuaye Barnes placed 16th in Group 3 with a throw of 113-0.
Boys Triple Jump. In Group 4, Hightstown’s Sylvester Somerselle opened with a jump of 42-8 to make the finals and ultimately take 7th place. Ewing senior Adom Kermah went 40-5 for 23rd place in Group 3, and Notre Dame’s Bryce Marsh jumped a 12-inch PR of 39-4 for 15th in Non-Public A.
Boys Pole Vault. Notre Dame’s Connor Ahearn matched his PR of 10-0 for 10th place in Non-Public A.
Girls Results
Girls Friday Recap
Girls 4x100m. The Ewing sprinters (Faith Settles, Leah Daniels, Karis Crossland, and Angel Johnson) are groups medalists after running a terrific race to win their heat out of lane 1. Their time of 49.32 stood up for 6th place overall and qualified them for the Meet of Champions! It also makes them #1 in the CVC this spring. In Group 4, Hightstown (Chloe Lewis, Jenna Ntori, Karli Kelly, and Aijah Somerselle) snuck under 50 seconds for the third time this season with a 49.98 for 14th place. In Non-Public B, Princeton Day (Kara Vandal, Christina Sarvis, Zuri Graham, and Makena Graham) grabbed 4th place with a school record of 52.59.
Girls 800m. Wilberforce junior Laura Sallade continued impressively chipping away at her 800m PR, this time running 2:15.24 for 2nd place in a good duel against Villa Walsh’s Maggie Boler in the Non-Public B race. This will be Sallade’s third trip to MoCs in the 800m, but she’s on a different level this year after bringing her PR down 2.5 seconds. Her teammate Stella Blanchard also had a big breakthrough with her first sub 2:20, a 2:19.75 for 3rd place.
In a super competitive Non-Public A race, Notre Dame’s Alaina Sabo ran a 1-second PR of 2:15.45 for 10th place. She was the #2 freshman across all groups, and she also snagged one of the last spots at MoCs.
In Group 3, WWP North’s Zui Chinchalkar began her busy weekend with 2:18.51 for 12th place. Just a second behind her was Hopewell Valley’s Sydney Young, who broke 2:20 for the first time with a 2:19.61 for 15th place. In Group 4, Princeton’s Lena Murray also had a great race to take 8th overall with a big PR of 2:18.69, which is #5 in Mercer County this spring.
Girls 100m. Lawrence’s Samya Jenkins earned the 4th-place medal in Group 3 after scorching a 12.27 in the prelims and a 12.35 in the finals – both into slight headwinds.
Girls 400mH. WWP South senior Anastasia Kudin is timing her peak just right, running a big season’s best of 1:03.60 to place 4th in Group 4 and qualify for MoCs. She ran that time in impressive fashion by convincingly winning her heat after turning on the jets with 150m to go.
Also in Group 4, Trenton’s Tomaisa Tard ran 1:04.89 for 11th place and WWP South’s Saraiah Hoover got 14th place in 1:06.11. In Group 3, WWP North’s Brie Davis-Owens ran 1:06.77 for 16th place.
Princeton Day sophomore Della Gilligan had an incredible race to win the Non-Public B championship! Her time of 1:05.00 took over 2 seconds off her PR. She won by just 1 second over Mylee Bailey-Ramsey from St. Benedict’s Prep.
Girls 3200m. WWP North’s Allison Lee took 2nd place in a very competitive Group 3 race where four girls ran 10:44 or faster. Her time of 10:38.85 was just a couple of seconds behind winner Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington. A little farther back in the Group 3 race, Lawrence’s Izzy Meth snagged the last medal with a 11:12.74 for 6th place.
In Group 4, Princeton’s Kajol Karra ran at the front for much of the race and came away with 4th-place finish in 11:01.69. That trimmed a few tenths off her outdoor PR and earned her a ticket to MoCs.
Girls Discus. Trenton’s Sonjay Baylor-Reeves uncorked a big throw of 132-4 to finish 3rd in Group 4 and qualify for MoCs. That was just a few inches off her PR.
In Group 3, Hopewell Valley’s Uchenna Obidike earned a 6th place medal and a trip to MoCs with a great throw of 120-6, which added an inch to her PR. Also in Group 3, WWP North’s Eva Gedrich threw 112-8 for 8th place and Ewing’s Jayla Little threw 89-5 for 20th place.
Allentown’s Makayla Rondinelli is also headed to MoCs after taking 2nd place in Group 2. Her throw of 118-7 was her second-farthest ever.
Girls Triple Jump. Hamilton West’s Zairra Galloway claimed the 6th and final medal in Group 3 with a big jump of 36-5.75. She extended her county-leading PR by 3 inches and also qualified for the Meet of Champions. Steinert’s Anaiss Matos took 18th in Group 3 with a 33-1.5.
Girls Saturday Recap
Girls 400m. Wilberforce sophomore Stella Blanchard broke 60 – and 59 and 58 – for the first time on Saturday, blasting an incredible 57.99 to win the Non-Public B championship! That’s a school record and #3 in Mercer County this spring. Her teammate Gwen Mersereau ran a season’s best of 1:01.57 for 4th place. In Group 4, WWP South’s Anastasia Kudin won her heat in 1:00.30 and took 15th overall.
Girls 100m Hurdles. WWP South senior Adama Turay’s foray into the hurdles keeps getting better and better – after running a PR of 15.02 in the prelims, she crushed that time with a 14.85 for 4th place in the Group 4 finals! And she even ran that time into a headwind of -2.0. She’ll get another shot to go even faster at MoCs.
Lawrence’s Alicia Riggins collected a 6th-place medal in Group 3 after running 15.20 in the finals, which was fast enough to earn a ticket to MoCs. She also ran a terrific time of 14.94 in the prelims, which was almost as fast as her wind-aided PR of 14.90. Trenton’s Tomaisa Tard got 14th place in the Group 4 prelims with a 15.32.
Girls 4x800m. Princeton (Lena Murray, Mila Trkov, Grace Hegedus, and Phoenix Roth) was the first CVC team to go sub-10 this season with a 9:52.16 for 8th place in Group 4. In Group 3, Hopewell Valley (Chelsea Cahall, Clara Mayer, Elsie Rey-de-Castro, and Sydney Young) also achieved that feat with a big season’s best of 9:57.55 for 12th place in Group 3. In Group 2, Robbinsville (Rithika Bodicherla, Tanvi Chandanala, Kellianne White, and Julia Meddahi) finished 17th with a 10:31.84.
Girls 200m. Lawrence’s Samya Jenkins is headed to MoCs in the 200m after getting 3rd in the Group 3 200m with a brilliant time of 25.27, her second-fastest ever. Not far behind, Ewing’s Leah Daniels took 8th place in a nice PR of 25.66, which is #3 in Mercer County this spring. In Group 4, Trenton’s Tomaisa Tard doubled back from the 100mH to get 14th in the 200m with a 25.99, equaling her PR.
Wilberforce’s Stella Blanchard’s great day continued in the 200m, where she booked her second ticket to MoCs by getting 2nd in the Non-Public B 200m. She ran a PR of 26.76 into a stiff headwind and nabbed the last auto-qualifier by just 0.03 over 3rd place.
Girls 1600m. In Non-Public B, Wilberforce’s Laura Sallade got her second silver medal of the meet with another very fast race, this time going 5:04.78 in the 1600m. That’s a 2-second PR for the junior. Her teammate Adeline Edwards took 5th place in 5:18.89. In Non-Public A, Notre Dame freshman Alaina Sabo broke 5:10 for the first time with a 5:09.85 for 7th place.
In Group 3, WWP North’s Zui Chinchalkar ran with the lead pack for three laps and held on for a 4th-place medal with a time of 5:09.41. Hopewell Valley’s Sydney Young took 7th place in that race with a 5:12.60. In Group 4, Princeton’s Kajol Karra ran 5:13.45 for 12th place.
Girls 4x400m. Wilberforce (Stella Blanchard, Adeline Edwards, Gwen Mersereau, and Laura Sallade) won the Non-Public B 4x400m championship in a season’s best of 4:08.93! Their last two legs both ran 60-second splits to leave the competition behind and win by 10 seconds.
The WWP North girls (Nina Dixit, Mahima Bansal, Zui Chinchalkar, and Brie Davis-Owens) were the top Mercer County team overall this weekend, running 4:05.14 to place 10th in Group 3. That put them just ahead of Lawrence (Zuzanna Trzasko, Sophie Trzaskus, Sarah Conver, and Samya Jenkins), who got 15th in a season’s best of 4:06.84, thanks in part to a big 57.67 split by 100/200 specialist Jenkins. The Princeton girls (Kacey Howes, Leah O’Neill, Grace Zeng, and Lena Murray) also ran well in Group 4 and took 13th in 4:07.31.
Girls Shot Put. Hopewell Valley’s Uchenna Obidike was the top Mercer County shot putter on Saturday, going 34-10 for 13th place in Group 3. Also throwing in Group 3 were Nottingham’s Zi’Asia Williams (19th in 32-8.25), Hopewell Valley’s Vanessa Bartnikowski (21st in 31-2), Ewing’s Jayla Little (22nd in 30-10.75), and WWP North’s Afua Apau (23rd in 28-5.5). In Group 2, Allentown’s Makayla Rondinelli placed 10th with a throw of 32-9.5, and in Non-Public A, Danielle Marsh took 3rd place in 32-6.75.
Girls Javelin. In her first season, Nottingham sophomore Ti’Kayla Smith earned a 5th-place medal in Group 3 and qualified for MoCs with a big throw of 109-4, her second-farthest ever. Also throwing in Group 3 were WWP North’s Eva Gedrich (14th in 99-11) and Nottingham’s Zi’Asia Williams (21st in 83-3). In Group 4, Hightstown’s Elizabeth Reisbord threw 84-10 for 20th.
Girls Long Jump. Princeton Day’s Kara Vandal is headed to MoCs after taking 2nd place in Non-Public B with a jump of 16-11.75, just an inch off her PR Joining her will at MoCs will be Hightstown freshman Chloe Lewis, whose final jump of 16-11.50 not only vaulted her from 8th to 6th but also helped her make the MoCs cutoff by just 0.25 inches. In Group 3, Hamilton West’s Zairra Galloway went 16-0 for 18th place, and in Group 4, WWP South’s Adam Turay jumped 15-4.5 for 17th place.
Girls High Jump. Hamilton West senior Nyviah Pacheco cleared a PR of 5-2 on her third attempt to earn a 6th-place medal and qualify for her first MoCs. Hopewell Valley’s Uchenna Obidike tied for 7th place with a clearance of 5-0. In Group 2, Allentown senior Amanda Hoglund took 11th in Group 2 after clearing a season’s best of 5-0, tying her PR. Stuart Country Day’s Kirsten Brenya also cleared a new season’s best of 5-0 for 5th place in the Non-Public B competition, just ahead of Princeton Day’s Kara Vandal in 5th with a jump of 4-8.