Groups Girls Recap: Lee dominates for Group 3 title, Princeton girls 2nd in Group 4

Mercer County runners delivered at yet another epic group championships. With at least local one team competing in every division except for Group 1, this meet featured race after race of gutsy performances and inspiring efforts — especially on a Saturday that unseasonably warm and sunny.

Congratulations also to everyone who extended their season by advancing to the Meet of Champions!

Girls qualifiers:

• Princeton girls (2nd in Group 4)

• Allison Lee (WWP North, 1st in Group 3)

• Sydney Young (Hopewell Valley, 4th in Group 3)

• Izzy Meth (Lawrence, 9th in Group 3)

• Kayla Peckens (Princeton Day, 16th in Non-Public A)

• Stella Blanchard (Wilberforce, 3rd in Non-Public B)

• Laura Sallade (Wilberforce, 6th in Non-Public B)

Girls Group 4

Princeton’s Kajol Karra finished in 12th to lead the Princetons girls to 2nd place in the Group 4 race at the Group Championships 2025. | Tom Smith for MileSplit

The Princeton girls took 2nd place in the Group 4 race with 80 points, behind Ridgewood (44 points) and ahead of Cherokee (127 points). That put them 4th overall in the merged results, which easily earned them a rematch with those other top schools at the Meet of Champions next week.

The Tigers impressively placed five girls in the top 30, led by senior Kajol Karra (12th in 19:32) and junior Grace Hegedus (16th in 19:44). They were followed by three more girls in quick succession: Eowyn Deess (21st in 20:04), Phoenix Roth (23rd in 20:11), and Rosemary Warren (26th in 20:17). With their tight pack running, their top five all finished in a 45-second span and dropped a team average of 19:57, which was very impressive in the hot afternoon sun.

WWP South’s representative, junior Risha Rao, got some nice Holmdel experience and earned a new course PR with a 20:46 for 41st place.

Girls Group 3

WWP North’s Allison Lee wins the Group 3 race at the Group Championships 2025. | Tom Smith for MileSplit

WWP North senior Allison Lee remains undefeated this season after winning the Group 3 championship! She earned her first state title in a dominant fashion, finishing a full 60 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Her time of 18:14 was a 10-second course PR, despite the warm conditions. After having finishing 2nd or 3rd place at six different groups races across the 1600m, 3200m, and 5K, it meant a lot to Lee to finally reach the top of the podium.

Behind Lee, Hopewell Valley junior Sydney Young battled with the chase pack the whole race and came away with an excellent 4th-place finish in 19:22. That’s the second-best finish at groups by a Hopewell Valley girl in the MileSplit-record era. 

Lawrence junior Izzy Meth also had a great day in the sun. She ran aggressively and was rewarded with a 9th place finish — auto-qualifying for MOCs — and an 11-second course PR of 19:42. 

The WWP North girls put together a huge race to claim 4th place in Group 3. Behind Lee’s single point up front, sophomore Juliette Halpin dropped a new course PR to take 26th place in 20:43. Freshman Anita Bhatia (43rd in 21:12), junior Sara Secora (44th in 21:15), and sophomore Isabella Lee (48th in 21:18) ran in close proximity for the whole race and pulled each other to very strong performances. 

WWP North unluckily finished just one place away from qualifying for the Meet of Champions. But Knights can still hold their head high after their tremendous effort, especially given how massively they exceeded expectations — neither MileSplit nor NJ.com had the Knights ranked in the Top 20 in the state, and yet they placed 14th in the groups merge.

Girls Group 2

Allentown’s Addison Frascella kicks to the finish in the Group 2 race at the Group Championships 2025. | Tom Smith for MileSplit

Allentown finished in the top half of the Group 2 competition with a 9th place finish. Freshman Addison Frascella took 30th place in 20:56 to dip under 21 minutes at Holmdel for the first time, junior Emma Ruchelman capped her season with one of her best race ever with 21:28 for 43rd place, and sophomore Isabella Maltese finished 62nd in 22:21 in her first-ever race at Holmdel.

Girls Non-Public A

Princeton Day’s Kayla Peckens climbs the Bowl en route to a 16th-place finish in the Non-Public A race at the Group Championships 2025. | Tom Harkins for MileSplit

Princeton Day freshman Kayla Peckens delivered an outstanding performance by taking 16th place in the very deep and competitive Non-Public A race. Her time was 20:06, which was a 17-second improvement from Shore Coaches last month and earned her one of the 30 wildcard spots to the Meet of Champions. She led Princeton Day to a 12th-place finish as a team. Her junior teammate Olivia Lumba capped her season with a nice Holmdel PR to take 57th in 22:52.

Notre Dame finished 16th in the team standings, led by sophomore Alaina Sabo in 24th with a time of 20:57. Her classmate Leah Rouse produced an incredible effort to finish 32nd in 21:20 — just 6 seconds off her all-courses 5K PR.

Girls Non-Public B

Running in the last and hottest girls race of the day, Wilberforce finished in 2nd place as a team behind defending champs Villa Walsh. Junior Stella Blanchard was their first runner across the line and earned the bronze medal, running a Holmdel PR of 20:20 to comfortably qualify for the Meet of Champions. Joining her next week will be senior Laura Sallade, who finished 6th in 20:38. Sallade hit a wall hard with less than 50m to go, but she impressively managed to grit out a few more steps and cross the line without help to book her spot at MOCs. Senior Emily Prothero followed in 11th place with a time of 22:14. She finished just 3 seconds away from qualifying for MOCs, but that was still a great effort in the tough conditions.