New Balance Nationals Recap
The goal or dream of most Mercer County athletes is to finish off their season at New Balance Nationals Outdoor. This grand meet at Franklin Field in Philadelphia is consistently one of the most competitive meets in the United States every year, and it’s so close to home. Several local runners, jumpers, and throwers qualified to be part of the action this past week! Read on to see some of the highlights.
Note: Athletes at nationals compete under a club team name, which sometimes differs from their school’s name. I tried to spot and write down every result for every local competitor, but if I missed you or your teammate, please let me know on Instagram or email.
Swindell Sets Two Mercer County Hurdle Records
Sofia Swindell (Lawrenceville) wins her heat in round 1 of the 100mH. | Tavan Smith for RunnerSpace
Lawrenceville’s Sofia Swindell cemented herself as the greatest hurdler in Mercer County history, breaking the county records in both the 100mH and 400mH! The 400mH record went down first when Swindell ran 59.94 for 9th place in the championship division on Friday. Running in an inside lane, Swindell got out hard and then held on over the last 100m to become the first Mercer County girl to ever go sub-60. In the last 25 years, fewer than 20 girls from the whole state have broken that barrier.
As great as Swindell’s 400mH race was, her series of 100mH races was even better. She came into this meet having tied the county record of 13.67 two weeks ago, and she nearly ran that time in the first round after going 13.78 to win her heat on Saturday morning. Then, in the semifinals that afternoon, she actually did break the record with a 13.60 to to finished second in her heat and get the big Q to the finals. Just qualifying for the finals was a huge accomplishment, but Swindell wasn’t going to stop there – in the finals on Sunday, she popped a 13.49 to get 3rd place! Besides shattering the old county record, that’s the fourth-fastest FAT 100mH time in state history. Swindell actually upset the state recordholder, Union Catholic’s Taylor Cox, by just 0.05 to finish as the top New Jersey girl this weekend.
Swindell finished the year as NJ #3 in the 400mH and NJ #2 in the 100mH. She’s the only girl in the top 5 of both lists, so it’s definitely fair to claim her as the best all-around hurdler in New Jersey this year. The Penn-bound recent graduate is clearly comfortable on her future home track, so keep an eye on her in college!
Allison Lee Runs Historic 5000m
After crushing some 5Ks during XC season, WWP North’s Allison Lee has only gotten a couple chances to run that far on the track, but she’s definitely made them count. In the 5000m at New Balance on Thursday night, the junior ran a massive PR of 16:38.27 for 7th place! Running in a gigantic heat of 46 girls that started close to 10:00 PM following a weather delay, she clicked off eleven straight laps between 1:19 and 1:22 before blasting a 72-second final 400m to finish just 3 seconds away from All-American honors. That’s 35 seconds faster than her 5000m time at indoor nationals, and it’s also just 0.25 seconds faster than what her Central Jersey rival Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington ran in Oregon that same day. In fact, according to online databases, Lee’s run is #3 all-time in New Jersey! The state record also happens to be the county record — 15:52.10 by Lawrenceville Charlotte Bednar in 2022 — but Lee has one more year to chase that.
Lawrenceville Relays Set Two School Records and Are All-American in 4x400m
Lawrenceville has been stringing together amazing relay teams all season, and their season finale was no different — they set two more school records! First, on Friday, their girls 4x200m team (Blake Hatwood, Sofia Swindell, Jael Gaines, and Rhianna Scott) ran an incredible time of 1:40.51 to win their heat and place 12th overall. That’s the fastest 4x200m time in Mercer County since the 1980s.
Then, on Sunday, Lawrenceville’s 4x400m team (Sofia Swindell, Rhianna Scott, Yasmin Willie, and Jael Gaines) capped off the meet with a massive run of 3:45.89 to earn All-American honors with a 6th place finish! Swindell split 55-mid in her sixth race of the weekend, Scott kept the momentum with another 55-mid split, Willie went 58.3 after doubling back from the 800m just a couple hours earlier, and Gaines brought them home in a 56.9. Those were clutch performances by all fours girls – they all beat their open 400m PRs. That’s another school record, almost 3 seconds faster than their time from the Penn Relays in April.
WWP North Sets School Record in Girls DMR
The WWP North girls broke their own school record in the DMR with an excellent 11:55.49 for 9th place in the championship race. The all-star team of Zui Chinchalkar (3:41.62), Brie Davis-Owens (58.45), Sara Secora (2:21.02) and Allison Lee (4:54.42) combined for a 6-second improvement on their time from the Penn Relays. That makes them #2 in New Jersey this year and #2 all-time in Mercer County, just 2 seconds off the county record.
WWP South Blasts Very Quick Mixed 4x400m
WWP South loaded their mixed 4x400m team and produced one of the fastest times in the state this year, a 3:40.02. That was a 4-second improvement over their time at the Mercer Coaches Classic last month. Aydun Hines opened with a 51-low to hand off in 2nd place in their heat, Adama Turay kept them in 2nd place after a 61-mid leg, Julius Kinsler split an incredible 48.15 – one of the fastest splits in the entire event – to make up ground and put the Pirates right on the heels of first place, and then Anastasia Kudin made the pass on the backstretch before leaving everyone in the dust with a 58.87 anchor leg. Despite running in just heat 2 of 6, their time held up for 10th place overall.
Other Notable Results
Lawrenceville’s Ayodele Joa-Griffith won his heat of the 800m with a new PR of 1:54.08. He’s was 4th in his heat at the bell but moved up and grabbed the win in a tight finish. The junior is #14 in New Jersey this spring, and he’ll be the #5 returner next year.
WWP North’s Agrim Jha placed 15th in the freshman mile with a time of 4:23.97 for the full 1609m, which is slightly even better than his 1600m PR of 4:22.50.
Hun junior Anna Casciano showcased her power and her consistency by going over 40’ in all three of her throws, finishing with a best of 41-4.5 for 18th place in the championship division at New Balance.
Wilberforce’s squad of strong middle distance girls (Gwen Mersereau, Laura Sallade, Emily Prothero, and Stella Blanchard) ran 9:41.80 in championship 4x800m. That’s #2 in Mercer County this year.
The WWP North boys DMR team (Paul Wittenberg, Madhav Madagali, Subomi Allison, and Agrim Jha) ran 10:30.20 in the DMR. That’s the fastest DMR by any Mercer County team this year, indoors or out.
Lawrenceville’s Rhianna Scott went 56.73 in the championship 400m. Scott was the only Mercer County girl to go sub-57 in the open 400m this spring, and she did it three times.
Princeton’s Sean Wilton, one of the top throwers in the state, finished off his decorated high school career with a 59-9.75 for 13th place in the championship shot put.
Congrats to the other Mercer County runners who qualified for and competed at New Balance Outdoor Nationals:
Allentown’s Gavin Alvarez ran 11.00 in the 100m.
Notre Dame’s Alaina Sabo ran 5:16.61 in the freshman mile and 2:23.12 in the freshman 800m.
Lawrenceville’s Yasmin Willie ran 1:00.35 in the freshman 400m and 2:20.83 in the freshman 800m.
Princeton’s Kajol Karra ran 11:20.21 in the championship 2 mile.
Princeton’s Phoenix Roth ran 7:40.82 in the 2000m steeplechase.
Peddie’s Courtney Cane ran 5:10.98 in the girls championship 1 mile.
The Princeton girls DMR (Phoenix Roth, Kacey Howes, Lena Murray, and Kajol Karra) ran 12:52.45.
Hightstown’s Chloe Lewis jumped 16-10 in the freshman long jump.
In the freshman high jump, WWP North’s Anamika Sertil cleared 5-0.25 for 16th place and Peddie’s Madeline Hughes cleared 4-9.