MAPL schools start the season strong

So far this spring, most of the attention has gone to the big meets drawing lots of CVC schools, but all the other schools in Mercer County have been busy too! That includes schools in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (Hun, Lawrenceville, Peddie, Pennington) along with other smaller schools like Stuart Country Day and Thrive Charter.

Many of these schools compete at FAT-timed batch meets and small invitationals, so there were lots of results to comb through. Check out a compilation of highlights below!

Girls Highlights

Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville, Jr.) picked up this spring season right where she left off in the winter — establishing herself as one of the fastest girls in the country. She opened with a cool US #5 4:42.51 to win the 1600m at the Peddie Invitation on April 15.

At the Hill Relays, the Big Red's 4x400m and 4x800m teams both won, running 4:15.08 and 10:06.12 respectively — currently 3rd in Mercer County in both events. Rory Laubach (Lawrenceville, Jr.) set PRs in both the 400m and 800m on the same day at Bob Hayes, running 1:01.45 and 2:18.37. She was joined in a deep Lawrenceville 400m group by Yasmin Willie (Lawrenceville, So.) and Jael Gaines (Lawrenceville, Sr.), who ran 1:01.27 and 1:01.54 respectively. Gaines also won the 200m in 26.73.

Foluke Oladeji (Peddie, Sr.) has emerged as one of the county's top sprinters this spring. At the Peddie Invitational, she ran PRs in both the 100m (12.37, NJ #13) and 200m (25.77, NJ #18). She also anchored Peddie's 4x100m squad, which also included Safiyyah Malik, Madeline Hughes, and Lilyana Gordon, to a school record of 49.74 — NJ #20 this spring.

Tessa Hughes (Peddie, Sr.) added to Peddie's strong showing at their home invitational by winning the 100mH in NJ #6 14.88.

Hun's Anna Casciano (Hun, Sr.) has been a force in the circle this spring. She opened her spring with an outdoor PR of 43-7 in the shot put at the NJISAA Relays, which is still NJ #3. She also threw a season’s best of 114-9 in the discus at the Georgian Court Invitational on April 11, and that’s #18 in the state. Her teammate Mya Smith (Hun, Sr.) has been on fire in the javelin, raising her PR to an NJ #8 118-0 to win at Georgian Court.

Eden Ashiavor (Pennington, So.) has also been throwing well this spring, including a discus toss of 113-6 to win the Peddie Invitational on April 15. That’s NJ #22 and 2nd among New Jersey sophomores. Taryn Grayson (Lawrenceville, So.) has been an exciting newcomer in the county in the shot put this spring, which has included a throw of 35-4 to win the Hill Relays on April 11.

Victoria Slavov (Lawrenceville, Sr.) has been the county's top pole vaulter this spring. She cleared 8-6 to win the NJISAA Outdoor Relays, then came back with a PR of 9-6 at the Hill Relays — the top mark in Mercer County this year, indoors or out.

Kirsten Brenya (Stuart Country Day, Sr.) is one of the county’s top jumpers and picked up this spring where she left off in indoor track, winning both the high jump (5-0) and triple jump (33-11.5) at Pennington #1 on April 8. Her teammate Naomi Williams (Stuart Country Day, So.) ran 13.03 in the 100m at the same meet, which already ranks the sophomore as 3rd in school history according to MileSplit.

These have been several other notable results on the track. Eve Szeliga (Wilberforce, Sr.) opened her spring with a strong 1:01.39 for 2nd place at Pennington #1 in the 400m. Shanel Tan (Peddie, Sr.) won the 1600m at Pennington #2 in an outdoor PR of 5:21.44. Her teammate Caitlin Williams (Peddie, Sr.) picked up where a breakout cross country season left off, opening her spring with a 45-second 3200m PR of 11:31.06 to win at the same meet.

Boys Highlights

Dasyer Bullock (Peddie) sprints down the runway in the long jump at the Peddie Invitational on April 15, 2026. | Photo by Jeff Barth (full album here)

Ayodele Joa-Griffith (Lawrenceville, Sr.) is having great start to his senior outdoor season. At the Bob Hayes Invitational on March 21, he broke 50 seconds in the open 400m for the first time in his career, winning in 49.90, then doubled back to win the 800m in 1:54.77 — still the 5th-fastest 800m time in New Jersey this spring. He followed that up with a 50.44 to win the Big Red Invitational 400m on April 2, and then went wire-to-wire for an easy 800m win at the Peddie Invite on April 15 in 1:57.95.

Lawrenceville's relays have also been impressive. At the Hill Relays on April 11, the Big Red's 4x800m team of Arunav Sarkar, Joa-Griffith, Bastian Bocklage, and Mohamed Mohamed ran 8:14.63 — the program's fastest time since 2019 and currently NJ #20. Their 4x400m squad of Brian Gomez, Joa-Griffith, Sarkar, and Mohamed Mohamed won in 3:29.72 at the same meet.

In the distance events, Elie Meyer (Peddie, Sr.) hung with Joa-Griffith at the Peddie Invite 800m and was carried to a PR of 1:58.34 for 2nd place. Luca Romanelli (Peddie, Sr.) opened his spring with a promising 2:00.40 in the 800m at Pennington #2 — just a half-second off his PR. Bastian Bocklage (Lawrenceville, Sr.) won the 3200m at the Big Red Invitational in an outdoor best of 10:11.77.

Romanelli also anchored Peddie's 4x400m team of Dasyer Bullock, Luke Chon, Aldrin Bonilla, and Romanelli to a win at the NJISAA Relays in 3:31.19, holding off Seton Hall Prep in a tight finish.

The Lawrenceville throws crew has been dominant. Jabralyn Jones (Lawrenceville, Sr.) has had a remarkable spring in both the shot put and discus. At the Big Red Invitational, he cleared 130 feet in the discus for the first time in his career with a 131-2, and teammate Brian Gomez (Lawrenceville, Jr.) was right behind at 129-6 — knocking on the door of 130 himself. Jones then topped himself at the Hill Relays, launching a 142-2 to take 1st — the top mark in Mercer County this spring.

Jones also went over 50 feet in the shot put for the first time outdoors, winning the Hill Relays with a 50-9, another county-best. Joshua Witherspoon (Lawrenceville, Sr.) topped that at the Big Red Invitational with a 48-10.

Crawford Browne (Hun, So.) announced himself in a big way at the NJISAA Relays, uncorking a 4-foot PR of 138-0 to win the discus. Marjon Skillman (Thrive Charter, Sr.) also turned heads in the shot put at the Georgian Court Invitational, throwing a PR of 44-1 to put himself at #4 in Mercer County this spring.

Kim Ross (Thrive Charter, Sr.) has emerged as the county’s top high jumper this year. After clearing 6-2 to win the Don Danser Memorial Invite on April 4, he kept climbing at the Georgian Court Challenge on April 11 and cleared 6-4 to finish 3rd — becoming the first Mercer County boy to reach that height this school year. Only five boys in New Jersey have jumped higher this spring.

Dasyer Bullock (Peddie, Sr.) has also been a consistent threat in the long jump, setting an outdoor PR of 20-6.5 at the Hill Relays and matching that mark again at the Peddie Invite to take 1st.

Other notable PRs on the track include King Liu (Pennington, Jr.) winning the 100m at the Peddie Invitational in 11.25 and Justin Bibeau (Hun, So.) running 22.36 in the 200m to place 2nd at the Winslow Eagles Sprint Night on April 20.