Meet of Champions: Lee blazes to 3200m title, Blanchard battles to silver in 800m
Congratulations to all the Mercer County stars who qualified for the Meet of Champions! Local schools sent twenty individuals and two relay teams to this prestigious meet — and six of them came home with medals!
Girls Results
Allison Lee (WWP North) crosses the line to win her first Meet of Champions title in a historic time. | tspimages for MileSplit
After collecting numerous Meet of Champions medals over the years, Allison Lee (WWP North, Sr.) finally climbed to the top of the podium after winning the 3200m for her first Meet of Champions title! And she did it with a dominant and inspiring performance. After a blistering first 400m of 71 seconds, she locked in and began clicking off 38-second laps like a metronome. She had company for the first 1200m thanks to a strong challenge by Cayleigh Kaiser (Union Catholic, Jr.), but by halfway it was just a race against the clock. Pushing all the way to the line, Lee crossed in an amazing US #4 10:07.34!
Besides being one of the fastest results in the country this winter, it’s also one of the best in New Jersey ever. According to MileSplit, it ranks #3 all-time on the indoor 3200m/2-mile list. In fact, even counting outdoors, she’s #4 in state history. Of course, the 12-second PR was also a new school and CVC record for Lee, who became the first Mercer County girl to win a Meet of Champions title in any event, indoors or out, since 2018.
NJ.com had a nice post-race interview with Lee, which you can read here or watch here.
Stella Blanchard (Wilberforce) makes a move with a lap to go in the 800m at the Meet of Champions. | tspimages for MileSplit
Lee wasn’t the only local girl to post one of the top times in the country with a massive race at MOCs. In the 800m, Stella Blanchard (Wilberforce, Jr.) knocked over 4 seconds off her PR to earn the silver medal with a US #10 2:08.54!
Blanchard’s huge result came from a bold, well-paced effort. After fighting through traffic on the first lap, she moved onto the shoulder of Reagan Moore (Oak Knoll, Jr.), a 2:05 girl who came into the meet as US #3. But Blanchard was unintimidated and even made a move past Moore at the bell. Although Moore ended up retaking the lead and narrowly holding off Blanchard by just 0.3 seconds, Blanchard’s tenacity paid off with a historic PR. She’s now #2 all-time in Mercer County, behind only Trenton legend Athing Mu.
Chloe Lewis (Hightstown) soars through the air in the long jump competition at the Meet of Champions. | Tom Harkins for MileSplit
Chloe Lewis (Hightstown, So.) earned her first Meet of Champions medal by placing 8th in the long jump with a mark of 17-8. She uncorked her second-longest jump ever, just 2 inches shy of her PR. The star sophomore qualified for the Meet of Champions in both horizontal jumps but opted to focus on the long jump, and that decision paid off with a well-deserved spot on the podium.
Two other Mercer County jumpers had strong showings in the high jump. Anamika Sertil (WWP North, So.) placed 12th with a clearance of 5-2. The sophomore had been remarkably consistent this season, clearing at least 5-0 in six straight meets. Kirsten Brenya (Stuart Country Day, Sr.) closed a big senior season with a bang by clearing 5-2 for her first time ever indoors. That got her 14th at the Meet of Champions.
In other distance events, Kajol Karra (Princeton, Sr.) qualified in the 3200m and took 23rd in 11:22.99, while the WWP North quartet of Evelyn Yang, Sara Secora, Vivian Ma, and Prakavi Kumaran competed in the showcase 4x800m and finished 17th in 10:07.10.
Two sophomore sprinters got great experience in their first Meet of Champions. Angel Johnson (Ewing, So.) took 14th in the 55m with a time of 8.61, and D’Njah Tatum (Notre Dame, So.) placed 21st in the 55mH in 8.79.
In the shot put, Jayla Little (Ewing, Jr.) finished 20th with her second-farthest throw ever of 34-10.25, and Nora Schmitz (Notre Dame, Jr.) took 28th with a mark of 29-10.75.
Boys Results
Agrim Jha (WWP North) moves up at the bell in a tight battle for the 1600m title at the Meet of Champions. | tspimages for MileSplit
Agrim Jha (WWP North, So.) put on a show in the 1600m, running one of the fastest times in Mercer County history to finish 4th in 4:16.62 — less than a second off the win in an exciting race. According to MileSplit, that mark puts him at #8 all-time in Mercer County. It’s also the 2nd-fastest indoor 1600m by a sophomore in state history — just behind former WWP North star Jim Rosa and just ahead of future All-American Edward Cheserek.
Perhaps even more impressive than Jha’s time is how he ran it. When NJ #1 Brody Watt ratcheted up the pace just before midway, Jha boldly covered the move and joined a small breakaway pack, and then he battled with the leaders all through some blazingly fast final laps. Jha closed his last 800m in 2:03.2 and his last 400m in 60.0! Even as just a sophomore, he’s proven to be a fierce competitor with great racing instincts.
Julius Kinsler (WWP South) moves out down the homestretch in the 400m at the Meet of Champions. | tspimages for MileSplit
Julius Kinsler (WWP South, Sr.) dropped another blazing 400m PR to claim his first Meet of Champions medal, taking 6th place in 48.70. Running in the second-to-last heat, he stayed out of traffic, hit the bell in 3rd place, rode the rail on the turns, and then dug deep to close down on the leaders in the final strides. While he didn’t quite catch them, his all-out effort was rewarded with a new PR and a time that beat almost everyone in the last heat. The star senior has been on fire this postseason: he was already sitting at #5 on Mercer County’s all-time leaderboard after running 48.75 at Eastern States on Tuesday.
Finnegan Curley (Hopewell Valley) runs just in front of Paul Wittenberg (WWP North) at a fast early pace in the 3200m at the Meet of Champions. | tspimages for MileSplit
Finnegan Curley (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) continued to cement his status as one of the best distance runners in the state by earning a medal in the Meet of Champions 3200m, running 9:17.75 for 8th place. And he did it by taking the opposite tactic from groups: instead of going out conservatively, he didn’t shy away from going out hard with the leaders at the Meet of Champions. He split his opening 1600m in a very quick 4:34. Even with the fast start, he held strong over the second half and even blasted a bell lap of 30.6 — the fastest lap by any boy in the entire race — to seal the medal and the PR. His 9:17.75 is the fastest 3200m time by any Mercer County boy, indoors or outdoors, since 2022.
Paul Wittenberg (WWP North, Jr.) also proved that he’s a major player in the New Jersey distance scene, taking 12th place in the 3200m with a time of 9:29.98. That’s his second straight sub-9:30 effort. Like Curley, he went out at a fast early pace and was still able to summon a big finish to kick down two runners on the final lap.
Aldric Crawford (Notre Dame, Sr.) had a very busy day in his final winter track Meet of Champions. First, he earned two different 16th-place finishes after running 50.35 in the 400m and soaring 20-10 in the long jump. Later, he joined with Jayden Davis, Amir Mulkey, and Matt Ryba on the Notre Dame 4x400m team that finished 23rd in 3:30.35.
Three CVC boys competed well in their first Meet of Champions experience. In the 55m, Terrance Williams (Hightstown, Sr.) finished 22nd with a time of 6.62. In the hurdles, Yi-Tian Xiong (Princeton, Jr.) finished 16th in 7.73, and Amal Stewart (Hightstown, Sr.) placed 23rd in 7.91.
Two other jumpers also qualified for the Meet of Champions for their first time. Isaiah Grier (Lawrence, Sr.) finished 18th with a jump of 20-3.5, and Avery Hall (Princeton Day, Jr.) got his first state meet experience and took three good PR attempts at the opening height of 6-2.