Non-Public Roundup: Prep States, MAPLs, and More
NJSIAA sectionals might have been the largest meet this past week, but Mercer County’s non-public schools were plenty busy with major championships of their own! Check out highlights from Prep States, the MAPL Championships, the NJCTC Championships, and the Bob Kiessling Invitational.
Prep States
Last Wednesday, Blair Academy hosted the NJISAA Prep State Championships on their difficult course. See full results here.
Prep A Boys
In the Prep A race, Lawrenceville took 3rd place as a team, led by a strong trio of boys who took 6th through 8th. Junior Hejyule Bae-Robinson finished as the Big Red’s #1 runner for the first time this season, taking 6th in 17:11, and his sophomore teammate Julius Jordan crossed just a second behind him in 17:12 for 7th place. Senior Bastian Bocklage gave them three-in-a-row with a 17:21 for 8th place.
Peddie’s Elie Meyer also cracked the Top 10 with a 17:25 for 10th place. He led the Falcons to a 4th-place finish in the team standings. Hun took 6th place overall, and their top runner was William Carey in 19:00 for 24th place.
Prep B Boys
The highlight of the day was Princeton Day capturing the Prep B championship! They beat Rutgers Prep by 18 points to defend their title from last year. Their dynamic duo of Grayson McLaughlin and Alexander Chia led the way, using big kicks over the last mile to move up and finish in the Top 5. McLaughlin earned the bronze medal with a 17:27, and Chia took 5th place in 17:32.
The Panthers’ title hopes got a huge boost from a clutch performance by senior Charles West, who ran his best race ever to take 14th in 18:29. That was just 8 seconds off his 5K PR from the much faster Robbinsville course. Underclassmen Michael Zhou (16th in 18:37) and Russell Moniak (17th in 18:40) worked together throughout the race to give the Princeton Day the strong depth it needed. Juniors Cy Cooper (25th in 19:21) and Jasper Mackey (30th in 19:43) rounded out the Prep B team champions.
Pennington also impressed at this meet and took 5th place. Despite having the smallest squad in the field, they actually were the first team to put three boys across the line. Senior Monte Huffman ran aggressively from the gun and was rewarded with a silver medal in 17:19. His classmate Andrew Hofacker had a huge breakthrough to grab 7th in 17:36, which was an outright 5K PR even on this challenging course. Sophomore Christopher Freeland achieved another very strong result with an 18:24 for 12th place.
Prep A Girls
Lawrenceville’s Blair Bartlett once again delivered a jaw dropping solo performance, breaking the tape on this hilly course in 16:56! That shattered the course record of 17:29, which was previously held by Lawrenceville legend Charlotte Bednar. Her fellow junior Rory Laubach had a huge race of her own to take 5th place in 20:04, and senior Essie Chafin broke into the Top 10 at this meet for the first time with a 20:16 for 9th place. As a team, the Lawrenceville girls finished in 2nd place behind Pingry.
Peddie finished 4th in the team standings, led by Caitlin Williams’s 6th-place finish in 20:07. The Falcons also got great support from Shanel Tan (13th in 20:36) and Charis Chien (16th in 21:10).
Hun’s Lulu Cattaneo continued her breakthrough season by finishing 10th place in 20:19. She’s just the second Hun girl to ever finish Top 10 at this meet. Hun finished 5th in the team standings, one spot behind Peddie.
Prep B Girls
The Princeton Day girls finished 2nd in the Prep B division, 25 points behind powerhouse Villa Walsh while edging Montclair Kimberley Academy by just 9 points. Freshman Kayla Peckens led the way with a strong performance for 4th place in 20:00. The junior duo of Syona Gautam and Olivia Lumba finished 10th and 11th in times of 21:52 and 21:58.
Pennington placed 4th out of the nine teams in their division, led by senior Emma Normand in 7th place with a time of 20:43. Behind her, juniors Lilia Phillips (28th in 23:47) and Grace Law (29th in 23:48) finished together, while sophomore Arie Mosquera (30th in 24:00) gave Pennington three-in-a-row, all in the Top 30.
Mid-Atlantic Prep League Championships
Lawrenceville, Peddie, Pennington, and Hun saw each other again on Saturday, but this time on Peddie’s golf course for the Mid-Atlantic Prep League Championships. See full results here.
MAPL Boys Championship
The Lawrenceville boys defended their title and picked up a dominant win over their rivals from The Hill School, 37 to 73. Sophomore Julius Jordan led the way with a 9-second PR of 16:36 for 4th place. He became the Big Red’s fourth different #1 runner this season, showcasing how much talent they have on their team. Senior Bastian Bocklage finished close behind in 16:40 for 5th place, followed soon after by junior Hejyule Bae-Robinson in 16:44 for 7th place. Arunav Sarkar took 9th in 17:12, and Matthew Fu earned a new PR of 17:17 for 12th place.
Peddie finished in 4th place in a tight competition between the them, Hill, and Mercersburg. Senior Elie Meyer, who had previously run between 16:32 and 16:33 three different times, finally broke the 16:30 barrier and ran 16:25 for 2nd place, making him the top Mercer County boy on the day. Senior Jerry Wang, who missed much of the season before easing back into by winning the JV race at the Prep County Meet last week, showed that he’s very fit again by running a PR of 17:05 for 8th place here.
Pennington’s Monte Huffman used a nice kick to grab 6th place in an 11-second PR of 16:44. Senior Andrew Hofacker PR’d by even more, running 17:16 to beat his old time by 20 seconds and finish in 11th place. Christopher Freeland broke into the Top 20 with a 17:52 for 20th place, which was third-best among all freshmen/sophomores.
Hun didn’t field a complete team, but senior William Carey led the squad with a time of 18:16 for 29th place. Freshman Jay Datz finished close behind with a PR of 18:31 for 34th place.
MAPL Girls Championships
The Lawrenceville girls won their first MAPL Championships since 2021, beating defending champs Mercersburg by just 11 points. Junior Blair Bartlett ran the second-fastest 5K in New Jersey history — second only to her own PR of 16:16 on his same course last month — to win the MAPL championship in 16:22. Her fellow junior Rory Laubach set a PR of 19:37 to finish in 7th place. A string of five Lawrenceville girls from 11th to 15th sealed the win for the Big Red. That group was led by senior Essie Chafin (11th in 19:59), who went sub-20 for the second time in just over a week, and sophomore Gigi Aitken-Davies (12th in 20:02), who set a 13-second PR.
Peddie senior Caitlin Williams had a great race to take 4th in 19:06, which was her fourth consecutive PR on her new home course. Senior Shanel Tan trimmed a few seconds off her own PR with a 19:32 for 6th place, while junior Charis Chien cracked the Top 10 and broke through the 20-minute barrier for the first time with a 19:50 for 10th place.
Hun and Pennington both had representatives at the front of the race, with Pennington senior Emma Normand setting a 13-second PR of 19:45 to finish in 8th place and Hun sophomore Lulu Cattaneo finishing just behind her in 19:49 for 9th place. Hun’s Sabine LeBlanc finished 17th in 21:56, which helped lead Hun to 5th place, just eight points ahead of Pennington.
Bob Kiessling Invitational
Wilbeforce headed south to DREAM Park for the Bob Kiessling Invitational on Saturday, and both their boys team and girls team ran great. On the girls side, senior Laura Sallade and junior Stella Blanchard continued their stellar seasons, with Sallade taking 4th in 18:39 and Blanchard finishing just behind her in 18:45 for 5th place. Senior Emily Prothero took 12th in 21:19, and the girls finished 2nd place overall behind Paul VI. On the boys side, junior Elias Edwards (9th in 17:09), sophomore Caed Wilson (16th in 17:47), and junior Henry Jepson (18th in 17:53) all set new PRs to lead the Wilberforce boys to 3rd place out of eight teams.
NJCTC Championship
Notre Dame traveled to Morris Plains for the NJCTC Cross Country Championship at Greystone Central Park on Saturday. On the boys side, Timothy Ellingson ran 17:27 to finish in 14th, improving on his 22nd-place finish from last year. His freshman brother Kevin Ellingson wasn’t too far behind, running a PR of 17:43 to place 18th. On the girls side, sophomore Alaina Sabo led the way with a 7th-place finish in 19:47, sophomore Leah Rouse ran a 26-second PR of 21:14 for 21st, and junior Valerie Cordero-Beckert finished right with Rouse for 22nd place.